Pubdate: Thu, 08 Jan 2004
Source: Arrow Lakes News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2004 Arrow Lakes News
Contact:  http://www.arrowlakesnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2309

NO SHORTAGE OF SCANDAL, OR OF POLITICAL PURE WIND

What is it about the changing of the annual calendar that brings scandal to 
our B.C. Liberal government?

Twelve months ago, 2003 was barely a couple of weeks old when Premier 
Gordon Campbell downed one too many martinis and wound up in the Maui drunk 
tank.

And how else would we ring in another year, but with the sight of cops 
carting off boxes of evidence from the legislature in Victoria?

The police say the search warrants executed at the legislature and in homes 
and businesses in the Vancouver and Victoria areas are connected to what 
began 20 months ago as a cross-border drug smuggling investigation.

That probe has apparently led to investigations of other crimes, and is 
somehow connected to a police corruption probe within the Victoria Police 
Department.

What is known is that the cops are interested in David Basi, ministerial 
assistant to Finance Minister Gary Collins, and Bob Virk, ministerial 
assistant to Transportation Minister Judith Reid.

Premier Gordon Campbell and Collins remain on vacation, technically, but 
found time to have Basi fired and Virk suspended with pay.

Why was Basi fired and Virk suspended? Why was Pilothouse Public Affairs, a 
consulting company that lobbied on behalf of a company bidding for BC Rail, 
searched by police?

What, exactly, did the cops seize from the legislature?

What is known is the latest intrigue in Victoria can not surprise even the 
most casual observer of politics in this wacky province; remember the 
trials and tribulations of Bill Vander Zalm, Mike Harcourt, Moe Sihota, 
Dave Stupich, Glen Clark and Bill Bennett?

When listening to the comments of various politicians and pundits, keep in 
mind the words of George Orwell: "Political language - with variations, 
this is true of all political parties - is designed to make lies sound 
truthful, a murder respectable and give appearance of solidity to pure wind."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom