Monday, February 21, 2011

 

Many British Columbians think a huge criminal act was perpetrated on the province with the corrupt transfer of BC Rail to the CNR. They want criminal investigation.

.

Fakery, Disinformation, Manipulation: The Release of RCMP Basi, Virk, and Basi Investigation Documents (“Everywhichway”) to politically “safe” insiders. 



By Robin Mathews
February 21, 2011


Two questions hang over this latest shame and charade - never broached by the small list of in-group people allowed to see the investigation documents.

One: if the documents nail the accused to the mast (as claimed), why didn’t the Prosecution continue the trial to its proper end and see the accused convicted as originally - and much more fully - charged than they were in the closing “deal”? And why were they literally “paid off” to make guilty pleas?

Two: why weren’t there applications from press and media – as well - to see the BC Rail documents, the cabinet documents, the third party documents – all the documents disclosed in the course of the pre-trial and trial?

The sleight-of-hand, the chicanery here, is almost more than can be believed.

Fact.  On the unopposed application by the Globe and Mail and CTV for RCMP investigation documents, Associate Chief Justice Anne MacKenzie ordered the release to a strictly limited, in-group, safe list of Mainstream Press and Media people.

Fact.  She was opposed in that decision by Defence lawyers who requested that the release of documents “to the public” should mean just that, and that they should be examinable by the public.  She rejected that request.

Interpretation:  The documents – I have no doubt – show a great deal more than the ‘chosen few’ have revealed to the public.  Both William Berardino (wrongfully appointed Special Prosecutor) through his ventriloquist doll Janet Winteringhm QC (and Associate Chief Justice Anne MacKenzie) appeared determined to prevent any critical eyes from looking at the documents.

The references made by Defence for the need to open the documents to others than “accredited journalists” was meant, I believe, to refer to the fact that I was denied “accreditation” though I have been reporting on the case since pre-trials began four years ago.  I was denied accreditation, I believe, for wholly political, revenge reasons.  The denial is supported by Associate Chief Justice Anne MacKenzie. I can’t look at the recently released documents – nor can any other British Columbian.  The documents were not released to the public.

I call Ms. Winteringham “ventriloquist doll” because she is not Special Prosecutor and she acts on behalf of William Berardino, wrongfully appointed  to that position.  Ms. Winteringham speaks for William Berardino.  She doesn’t make Prosecutorial policy. In a sense she mouths his words.

Fact.  The narrowness of the ‘permission to see’ the ‘released’ documents insults the grand tradition of “open courts”.  It insults the right of British Columbians to know what is being done in their name.  It puts a near-Fascist interpretation on the public’s “right to know”.

In the years of pre-trial and trial, I argued (a) that the most significant, the enormous crimes in the BC Rail Scandal were not effected by Basi, Virk, and Basi but by Gordon Campbell and associates in the corrupt transfer of BC Rail to the CNR. And I have argued (b) that “targetting” of Basi, Virk, and Basi took place, that it was diversionary, and that it extended to racist targetting.

Fact:  Keith Fraser, reporting for the Vancouver Province paper (Feb.18, 2011) quotes a conversation in the released material between Dave Basi and Bruce Clark, lobbyist for the Washington Marine Group.  Clark wants confidential information.  He says: “Yeah, but are you going to be able to get me those docs?” Basi assures him he will.  Confidential materials were found in Clark’s hands when the RCMP executed a search warrant on his property.  Investigation of Bruce Clark stopped quickly.  He was not charged.  He is white.

Nothing more needs to be said – except – think of little vignettes like that one repeated, we can’t know now many times, in the documents – and how explosive they would be in the ‘wrong’ hands.

I am as certain as I can be that the careful exclusion of any except ‘the safe in-group’ was undertaken because the documents unloaded were unloaded to be used to whitewash major Liberals involved with the BC Rail Scandal, and can only be used in that way if the documents are not made available “to the public”.

Fact.  Through the whole long process of pre-trial and trial that took four years, a persistent pattern was present.  Members of the public seeking to know when and where procedures were taking place by consulting postings on the Supreme Court website were frequently misinformed, or, when processes were cancelled could find no notice of cancellation.  As someone who went to the court regularly, I came to see that the in-group circle of approved court hirelings were always told … somehow.  I would sometimes arrive – the only one not informed of a change, a cancellation, because not posted on the website.  Why should the Supreme Court care if British Columbians want to know about scheduling?

Fact.  William Berardino was wrongfully appointed to the position of Special Prosecutor through the agency of the of the Attorney General’s ministry in which the Attorney General and the Deputy Attorney General were Mr. Berardino’s long-time partners and colleagues, and so accusable of making the appointment with strong political motives to assure the ‘safety’ of cabinet members and other ‘friends’.

Fact.  William Berardino was wrongfully appointed before the famous “legislature raids” (of December 28, 2003) on the offices of Dave Basi and Bob Virk (and others elsewhere).  Mr. Berardino was connected to all further matters arising from the raids. In fact, at one point when press and media were asking to see the Search Warrants, Associate Chief Justice Patrick Dohm had Mr. Berardino write a synopsis.

Fact. Any reasonable and prudent Canadian may fairly claim that NOTHING about the Basi, Virk, and Basi trial can have legitimacy in the light of the wrongful appointment of the Special Prosecutor.

Fact:  Mr. Berardino presented a motion to Associate Chief Justice Patrick Dohm to have Madam Justice Elizabeth Bennett moved from the case in favour of someone different … the someone became Justice Anne MacKenzie.

Fact.  Not one of the Mainstream journalists revelling in their reporting on the sleaze of Dave Basi and Bob Virk from the dumped RCMP documents – not one – has reported that William Berardino was appointed Special Prosecutor in violation of the legislation covering the process and is, therefore, not legitimately Special Prosecutor.

Fact.  When Madam Justice Anne MacKenzie was appointed to replace Madam Justice Elizabeth Bennett, I wrote to the Supreme Court.  Saying that the public would like to know something about the new judge on a case which was probably the most important public criminal action in B.C. history, I asked for Justice MacKenzie’s professional resume.  The Court wrote me and told me they did not have one and would send me nothing.

Fact.  Associate Chief Justice Anne MacKenzie (twice formally acquainted with the matter) refused to act in any way to remedy Mr. Berardino’s wrongful appointment, and she continued pre-trial and trial knowing the Special Prosecutor was, in fact, illegitimately in the courtroom.

Fact.  Shortly before the “sudden” deal which ended the trial, William Berardino was in a media scrum outside the courtroom.  I intended to join it.  He turned to me and said that he was in a private conversation.  I asked if the Special Prosecutor could have a private conversation with members of the press and media.  Mr. Berardino told me that the conversation they were having was not about the case.  I left.  Several minutes later he approached me in the lounge area and repeated that the people gathered were not talking about the trial.  I thanked him and said I didn’t want to intrude….

Ian Reid [blog: The Real Story] who was present in the scrum reported that those present WERE talking about the trial, and what Mr. Berardino said to me was … simply not true.

Fact:  On the famous day, October 18, 2010, when the “deal” was reached, the charges against Dave Basi and Bob Virk were considerably lessened and those against Aneal Basi erased altogether.  The Defence costs of $6 million would be paid by the British Columbia taxpayer (in a very unusual move).  And the sentence imposed upon the two men was – many believed – extraordinarily light.  I was standing near William Berardino when the press asked him, in effect, who was responsible for the deal.  His answer was (as I witnessed it) that he did it all; the decisions were his.

Within hours, his statement came crashing around him – and an embarrassing game of hide-and-seek was conducted all the way up to Gordon Campbell to try to find who had okayed that the  $6 million be paid by taxpayers – who had really “made” the deal.  Mr. Berardino might easily have said he made all the decisions, but of course had to have the Attorney General check that the $6 million would be forthcoming.  Why didn’t he?  Because there is more to the story than meets the eye?

Fact. From that day forward, William Berardino has not appeared in court.  He was in Vancouver, but his ventriloquist doll Ms. Winteringham has spoken for him in court since then, saying what he would say if he were there.

Interpretation.  When the deal-making was going on in order to prevent the trial from continuing, and to prevent top Liberals and Corporate representatives being exposed in a way that would have created rage among British Columbians, (and – critically – would have focused on the major crime, the corrupt transfer of BC Rail to the CNR) the real story was exposed again.

Whatever personal, self-aggrandizing wrongdoing the accused were involved in, they were also instruments of cabinet policy in the corrupt transfer of BC Rail to the CNR.  They had a huge story to tell about that odious deal.  They had to be stopped.

That was why there was a “deal”.  That’s why the February 16 splash of sleazy information about the personal wrong-doings of Basi and Virk is all over the Mainstream Press and Media.

The “deal” stopped the trial.  It allowed the single story of the personal corruption alleged against the accused to take centre stage.  It provided for the outrageous release (on February 16) of RCMP materials to “selected” in-house journalists so that they could whitewash suspect Liberals and others and could focus on the three accused as if their’s was the only story in the BC Rail Scandal.

If anyone reads the seven or eight thousand pages of material the NDP got released before Madam Justice Elizabeth Bennet ‘moved on’, it is plain that in the ‘preparation’ to dump BC Rail, Bob Virk took an active part for the cabinet.  He had major work to do for his superiors – and did it.

He attended the top-level Evaluation Committee meetings, representing the Transportation Minister and clearly, from questions asked Brian Kenning, Virk took active part.

 The papers released at the request of the NDP also make clear that there was, elsewhere, much planning, much meeting (in which Mr. Virk took part), and there is much to question about legality. Some believe those pages alone provide a basis for criminal investigation (which  RCMP refuses to undertake).

At all the meetings was Yvette Wells, Executive Director of the Crown Agencies Secretariat.  She mattered.  She kept reams of notes.  Here’s a little entry from October 22, 2003:

“dilema:

-       don’t want to mislead other bidders


-       don’t want to tell them CN are getting other info – don’t want them to do work, spend $


-       don’t want them to drop out b/c if can’t resolve issues – we may go back to other bidders.


-       CN got data from CIBC that they shouldn’t”


And then there’s the Dave Basi ‘memo to file’ of November 25,03.  Mr. Basi writes:

“The bc rail deal was concluded yesterday!!  After a long and tortuous path that had many peaks, valleys, stresses, strains, plots, sub-plots, agendas, egos and old fashioned politics the deal was finally done.  The Minister seemed relieved and happy that the process was over.  The next step after Caucus and some meetings was to call the unsuccessful bidders to thank them for their participation….

I briefed the Minister ….  I advised the Minister ….  I advised the Minister…. I made phone calls to a number of mayors up and down the line….”

Dave Basi and Bob Virk were in the thick of the corrupt transfer of BC Rail to the CNR.  They know more than is good for … Gordon Campbell and associates in the transfer. Many British Columbians think a huge criminal act was perpetrated on the province with the corrupt transfer of BC Rail to the CNR.  They want criminal investigation.  Forces  located in the cabinet, in the mainstream press and media, in the RCMP, in the Supreme Court of British Columbia – it would seem – will move heaven and earth to prevent that criminal investigation. 

What other candy floss will they throw into the eyes of the public to keep it away from the real story?


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 Read also, from Pacific Gazette:


... The Liberal The Prosecutors Did Not Exonerate

 ... the past week's much-trumpeted exoneration of any and all BC Liberals with a pulse by CTVBellGlobeTSNRDICHUMMUCHBatonLabattMedia in the RailGate affair was based on cherry-picked info that the prosecution provided, it would appear, to said media outlet BEFORE Wednesday's court hearing.

All of which means that, if you have been paying attention, you know that the Headline --Wurlitzering and endless breathless promos that ran above, and swirled around, Mark Hume and Jim Beatty's reverse-hit pieces that instantly wormed their way into every single Lotuslandian proMedia nook-and-cranny were pure unadulterated codswallop.

But, regardless, when all the walling-off of our local LINO's was done, the prosecutors and the hitmen still had to leave one of their own outside in the cold.

Here is the passage that makes that clear, taken from a transcript of an RCMP wiretap* that left FedLib Rainmaker Bruce Clark shivering, naked, out on the narrow gauge tundra:

Basi: ... you can take it and look at it, show it to them [OmniTRAX]. They can ... y'know change some of the words around ... some buzz words they wanna see in there, right?

Clark: Yeah.

Basi: And these, these companies know how to ... get the fluff out of this shit and how to tailor it towards themselves, right?

Clark: Of course ...

{Big, significant SNIP ... }


RossK's complete posting is HERE, or at:

http://pacificgazette.blogspot.com/

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Comment by "Thank You" ... Most British Columbians are getting extremely fed up with the seemingly "untouchable corrupt government of Gordon Campbell" and are taking steps to ensure that nothing like this will ever happen again in this province. There is talk of a general strike, longshoremen striking and general unrest through out the province.

Even the court system is loaded against the public's right to properly understand and know about the corrupt sale of the BC railway - involving government officials from the premier down to clerical assistants.

The Supreme Court of BC, BC Rail Government Corruption Trial in particular, has many, many people upset and questioning what is exactly going on in the court system ? Is the judicial system broken - judges being bought, intimidated and coerced ??? Blatant political interference to protect ministers from prosecution ???

See links below for details.

http://bctrialofbasi-virk.blogspot.com/2011/02/many-british-columbians-think-huge.html#links

http://alexgtsakumis.com/2011/02/17/breaking-news-ctv-and-the-globe-and-mail-had-documents-in-advance-of-hearing/#respond

http://billtieleman.blogspot.com/2011/02/judge-orders-release-of-basi-virk.html

http://howbadtherecord.blogspot.com/2011/02/and-so-whitewash-of-bc-liberals-in-bc.html#links

http://powellriverpersuader.blogspot.com/2011/02/gordon-muir-campbell-liar-and-thief.html#links

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BC Mary laments:  Nobody is allowed to start croaking "Conspiracy Theory" until AFTER reading this Globe and Mail report published today:

 CRTC Paving the way for fabricated news.

In Today's Globe.

CRTC plan to lift ban on false news prompts political investigation


A CRTC proposal that could make it easier to broadcast false or 
misleading news has prompted confusion and criticism among opposition 
MPs and consternation in at least one of the unions that represents 
Canadian journalists ...

Read more HERE -- and here:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/crtc-plan-to-lift-ban-on-false-news-prompts-political-investigation/article1898147/


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Comments:
Most British Columbians are getting extremely fed up with the seemingly "untouchable corrupt government of Gordon Campbell" and are taking steps to ensure that nothing like this will ever happen again in this province. There is talk of a general strike, longshoremen striking and general unrest through out the province.
Even the court system is loaded against the public's right to properly understand and know about the corrupt sale of the BC railway - involving government officials from the premier down to clerical assistants.

The Supreme Court of BC, BC Rail Government Corruption Trial in particular, has many, many people upset and questioning what is exactly going on in the court system ? Is the judicial system broken - judges being bought, intimidated and coerced ??? Blatant political interference to protect ministers from prosecution ???

See links below for details.

http://bctrialofbasi-virk.blogspot.com/2011/02/many-british-columbians-think-huge.html#links

http://alexgtsakumis.com/2011/02/17/breaking-news-ctv-and-the-globe-and-mail-had-documents-in-advance-of-hearing/#respond

http://billtieleman.blogspot.com/2011/02/judge-orders-release-of-basi-virk.html

http://howbadtherecord.blogspot.com/2011/02/and-so-whitewash-of-bc-liberals-in-bc.html#links

http://powellriverpersuader.blogspot.com/2011/02/gordon-muir-campbell-liar-and-thief.html#links
 
rw,

Very kind of you. Thanks.
 
There was an almost full page picture of Gary “the ferret” Collins in the BC section of the Globe and Mail on Saturday.
I almost fell out of my chair when I saw the sleazy bastard staring back at me.
The piece was written by Mark Hume and was truly sickening in the spin to make Collins look like the innocent victim in the BC Rail debacle.

Collins even had the balls to say that he was disappointed that he was denied his day in court. What Crap!
I happen to know, by way of a person who’s firm did business with the outfit that Collins works for, that, and I quote “he was scared shitless that he would have to testify in court at the BC rail trial”.

Hume claimed that the documents released to the Glow ball showed that no elected officials were implicated.??
WTF is that supposed to mean?

Is the Globe now sanctioned to be BC’s legal authority on who is innocent and who is not in this travesty when they receive only a fraction of the REAL story?
I was so pissed off that I had to get up and walk away. What the hell is going on? In the space of two days we get two stories that completely pervert the BC Rail theft.
I could not find the story on the Globe web site, looks like they took so much heat from the first slime ball piece ( which they cut off all comments to) that they were afraid to put this pail of crap piece up.

You should be ashamed of yourself Mark Hume for writing such drivel!

I am going to write the Editor every day for the next week or so to remind him what bullshit looks like.

CGHZD
 
it is doubtful we will ever see the "true" documents regarding B.C. Rail and all the fun and games which took place if we rely on the current court system and msm.
Oh, that we would have something like Wikileaks or Anynomous to access the documents so everyone in B.C. would know the truth.
Between B.C. Rail, the highest child poverty rate in Canada 7 yrs running and the lowest min. wage in Canada we are in my opinion truly looking like a third world country. Yes of course it is the best place on earth if you are campbell & crew and the rest of the lieberals but not for the rest of the population.
 
I've been fully engaged for almost 5 years, in this battle to find out how BC Rail slipped from public ownership into private pockets.

Often, I wonder if my readers realize how encouraging their words can be ... or, on the other hand, how discouraging it is, to listen to moaning and groaning.

I love it when someone digs up new information and leaves a comment about it here; but it becomes a burden of concern when moans are heaped upon groans, like "we're doomed, there's no way out ... " I don't believe that. Do you?

I firmly believe that we're fighting the good fight ... I believe we're fighting for the province we love ... and that we're winning. OK?

We're winning.
 
Mary, there must be some way for justice to be served up to the people of BC in this whole dirty scheme. It all began with Campbell lying to get elected and then do the opposite once in control. All the checks and balances in place did not work. RCMP, courts, elections BC. TRuly a masterful work of deceit was perpetrated upon us all, and to go after the man after the fact is our only hope. Is there any legal beagle out there willing to do this? WE could start a justice fund and go after everything he has and hope to see him in jail.
 
Also, thank you for all your excellent research!

One of my questions is as follows: Can Madam Justice Anne MacKenzie's ruling that restricts access of the Basi/Virk documents that were released last week to several media/entertainment corporations be challenged in the Supreme Court of BC? Why do entertainment companies have more access than the "public"?

It is not as if these entertainment companies were solely "news" companies. They are not. They are in the business of entertainment and selling it. Now, Madam Justice Anne MacKenzie has given documents that BC tax payers paid for through a 6 million hush fund to companies that are going to sell back to us!

Its all backwards. These are documents we paid for and want to see - unedited, and uncensored. We shouldn't have to pay to see them. Why should entertainment companies make a profit from our documents?

There must be recourse!
 
Anonymous 1:45,

I hope and pray that someone will activate a lawyer or a cop who knows the protocol for laying a criminal charge ...

an appropriate, proper, well researched, criminal charge

and then does it.
.
 
outsourced wrote:

"It is not as if these entertainment companies were solely "news" companies. They are not. They are in the business of entertainment and selling it. Now, Madam Justice Anne MacKenzie has given documents that BC tax payers paid for through a 6 million hush fund to companies that are going to sell back to us!

Its all backwards. These are documents we paid for and want to see - unedited, and uncensored. We shouldn't have to pay to see them. Why should entertainment companies make a profit from our documents?"

Well said, outsourced! You nailed it. Where are OUR rights in this decision? Especially since we, not the entertainment companies paid for these documents.... as you state above.
 
brilliant Robin Matthews article, outlines what I'm thinking but can't quite articulate.

Too bad about Mark Hume's article in the Mop&Pail, can't believe that a Hume wrote that.

And thank you very much BC Mary for running your blog. You're a beacon of light.

And if the Egyptians can throw off the yoke of tyranny . . . then so can we British Columbians.
 
The Province went to Court to get a copy of a report to Crown Council from Project Halo which investigated the Hells Angels on Vancouver Island between 2001 and 2003.

The goal was to prove club members were involved in illegal activity which would then allow the Province to seize property. In particular, the Province has its eyes on several plots of land, some bar equipment and three Harley's.

The Angels don't want the report released, citing privacy concerns. But a Judge has ordered the police to remove any private information from the report and hand it over to the Province.

Goes both ways doesn't it? Release all of the documents requested by Matthews and others.
Curt
 
Curt,

Many thanks for this. It really shows the solid information that's floating around in public places, without most of us knowing.

Can you tell me how I'd find this:

... a Judge has ordered the police to remove any private information from the report and hand it over to the Province.
 
Good morning Mary.

Link: http://www.cknw.com/Channels/Reg/NewsLocal/Story.aspx?ID=1367921

Cut and pasted the article as you know how things disappear. Need to do more research on this.

A win, of sorts
VANCOUVER/CKNW(AM980)
Charmaine de Silva | Email news tips to charmaine.desilva@corusent.com
2/22/2011


A partial victory for BC's Director of Civil Forfeiture, in a bid to seize property belonging to several Hells Angels members in Nanaimo.

The Province went to Court to get a copy of a report to Crown Council from Project Halo which investigated the Hells Angels on Vancouver Island between 2001 and 2003.

The goal was to prove club members were involved in illegal activity which would then allow the Province to seize property. In particular, the Province has its eyes on several plots of land, some bar equipment and three Harley's.

The Angels don't want the report relased, citing privacy concerns. But a Judge has ordered the police to remove any private information from the report and hand it over to the Province.

Just last year the Province seized over 5 million dollars in property they say came from the proceeds of crime.

Curt
 
Campbell's corrupt sale of the BCR, was a dirty deal right from day one. If there is a fund to throw him and every other @#$$involved, in prison, count me in.

I hope the next party in office, will fire the entire, corrupt judicial regime. They are a disgrace and, an abomination in our province. Justice was served?? Not yet, but, I am happy to say, there are people working on it.
 
ACJ Mackenzie, for the purposes of this case, is the Supreme Court. The superior court, able to verturn her decisions, and override the power of the Supreme Court, is the BC Court of Appeal. I'm not sure if that court's justices can be targeted directly, but surely a petition to the judge formerly "seized" of this case, Justice Bennett, might draw at least her attention, if not the media's. Not that she's not watching, but unless we ask, she has no mandate to act.

She showed herself previously to ahve establ ished hte rpinciple in this case that the public interest was of paramount concern; on that premise, overturning ACJ Mackenzie's peremptory blocking access to documents of any kind from public viewing, and to only select "accredited" journalists, should not be that hard. I'm not sure if this action needs to be taken by B&V's lawyers, or if because it's the public interest that's intervening, a combined letter from concerned/interested parties - namely us, as members of the public - might suffice.

ACJ Mackenzie is not all-powerful. she may be behaving like she is, but she's not.
 
Skookum1 said "should not be that hard. I'm not sure if this action needs to be taken by B&V's lawyers, or if because it's the public interest that's intervening, a combined letter from concerned/interested parties - namely us, as members of the public - might suffice." -

- so, in very practical terms, how does one go about challenging the decision? Which level of court and how to file? Let me know here. Thanks.

All it takes for evil to prosper is for good people to do nothing -- or something like that...
 
The Court of Appeal is the superior provincial court, but I'm not sure of the necessary process i.e. "how to file". Maybe one of the lawyers frequenting this list can explain in detail.
 
CRTC changes its mind:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-notebook/crtc-ditches-bid-to-allow-fake-news/article1921489/
 
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