Pubdate: Mon, 05 Jan 2004
Source: Ottawa Hill Times (CN ON)
Contact:  http://www.thehilltimes.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/192
Author: Paco Francoli

B.C. RCMP PROBE SHOULD FORCE MARTIN TO HOLD OFF ELECTION CALL

'It's Obviously Going To Be A Big Issue In The Next Couple Of Months In 
Parliament': John Reynolds

Prime Minister Paul Martin should hold off calling a general election until 
the criminal investigation into a drug trafficking and money laundering 
scheme that has drawn in some of his senior campaign workers in British 
Columbia is complete, says the Alliance's House leader John Reynolds.

"We need to know what the results of this investigation are before we go 
into an election, to know exactly who was involved here and should these 
people be involved in any political party at all," said Mr. Reynolds (North 
Vancouver Sunshine Coast, B.C.).

Mr. Martin (LaSalle-Emard, Que.) is preparing to take voters to the polls 
this spring, possibly as early as April or May, in a bid to get a fresh 
mandate from Canadians after becoming Prime Minister on Dec. 12. The last 
election was held in the fall of 2000.

Mr. Reynolds, a veteran MP from British Columbia, said it would be wrong to 
follow through with those plans until more is known about the investigation.

RCMP police in B.C., as part of a 20-monthdrug and organized crime 
investigation, raided the work offices of several of Mr. Martin's 
(LaSalle-Emard, Que.) cam-paign workers, and questioned and obtained 
documents from others.

As of Friday, Jan. 2, the details of the probe remained sketchy. The RCMP 
has only said it involves illegal drugs, organized crime, and that no 
charges have been laid.

The Martin government, meanwhile, has steadfastly maintained that it is not 
directly involved. Yet several of its high-ranking members in B.C. have 
been targeted, including Dave Basi, ministerial assistant to B.C. Finance 
Minister Gary Collins, and Bob Virk, ministerial assistant to B.C. 
Transportation Minister Judith Reid.

Both were key organizers in B.C. for Mr. Martin during last year's federal 
leadership race. Their B.C. ministerial offices were raided on Dec. 28 by 
RCMP and Mr. Basi has since been fired from his job, while Mr.Virk was 
suspended.

The investigation has also touched Mark Marissen, Mr. Martin's campaign 
director in B.C. who received a visit from the RMCP and subsequently handed 
documents to them. Police also raided a lobbying firm connected to Erik 
Bornman, another Martin organizer.

Scott Reid, a spokesperson for the Martin government, stressed that almost 
nothing is known about the emerging scandal and that the only Martin 
campaign worker publicly identified is Mr. Marissen but that Mr. Marissen 
received written assurance from the RCMP that he is not part of the 
investigation. Mr. Marissen is married to the province's Deputy Premier 
Christy Clark.

Mr. Reid said Mr. Marissen was told by the RCMP that he may be the 
"innocent recipient" of information related to their work.

"This is an extraordinary step for the police to take in the midst of an 
investigation.It tells you something about the degree of certainty they 
have that Mr. Marissen has conducted himself appropriately," he said, 
adding that there is "no basis" for the Martin campaign to take action 
against Mr. Marissen.

As for whether the investi-gation will affect Mr. Martin's plans on calling 
an election, Mr. Reid said Mr. Reynolds is "playing politics" and betraying 
his own concerns over the electoral chances of the newly-formed 
Conservative Party of Canada.

"What is obvious is that there is no issue that the Alliance are willing to 
employ in an effort to ensure that Mr. Martin doesn't turn to the people. 
It doesn't betray a very confident pos-ture does it," he said.

Mr. Reynolds, mean-while, predicted the issue will dominate Question Period 
when Parliament is recalled next month.

"These are pretty serious issues here. And I don't take them lightly," he 
said. "The public has a right to know who's involved. It's quite nice for 
them [the government] to be saying, 'It's got nothing to do with the 
federal Liberals.' But the same people that are involved are very much 
involved in the federal machine."

He added that the Liberals, when headed by former prime minister Jean 
Chretien, called a general election in 2000 under similar circumstances 
while details of the government's controversial advertising program began 
surfacing.

"The Liberals quite successfully convinced Canadians that the advertising 
scandal in Quebec had nothing to do with the Liberal Party,"he said, noting 
that since then the RCMP has decided to look into the books of the Quebec 
wing of the Liberal Party suggesting that there may have been political 
interference in the now defunct $50-million-a-year program, run by Public 
Works Canada, as the opposition has charged.

"Canadians are starting to think maybe the Liberals are willing to do 
anything to attain power and will deal with anyone who will help them 
maintain power," he said.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman