Pubdate: Sat, 17 Jan 2004 Source: Duncan News Leader (CN BC) Copyright: 2004 Duncan News Leader Contact: http://www.cowichannewsleader.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1314 Author: Chris Foulds CAMPBELL MUST EXPLAIN BASI'S FIRING AFTER RAID Where exactly is this open, honest and transparent government promised by Gordon Campbell following a reign of error by the NDP administration? The premier returned from Maui and decided to answer questions about the recent police raids at the legislature. Well, at least he returned from sunny Hawaii. Campbell showed why he is the master of the non-answer, repeatedly insisting that Dave Basi was fired, and Bob Virk merely suspended with pay, based on information he, as premier, has. If Campbell is to be believed, that information consists of essentially what the public knows about the police raids that apparently have links to organized crime, international drug smuggling and money laundering - which is to say, Campbell knows next to nothing. If the premier of this province knows little more about this story than does Joe Sixpack, why then was Basi fired? "We have acted appropriately," Campbell repeated again and again. What does that mean? He refused to answer the question, as he refused to explain why dismissal was proper in the case of Basi - who has not been charged with a crime, or accused of any wrongdoing. Campbell claimed to not know what the police carted from the offices of Basi and Virk, or what information was contained in the search warrants. Solicitor General Rich Coleman was involved in dealing with the police as they sought information in the legislature. One would assume that Campbell would have been briefed on the matter, in detail a tad more intricate than that afforded the unwashed masses. If that's the case, then the premier should simply say as much. However, if he is truly as clueless everybody else, then he needs to explain why Basi was fired (with a $54,000 severance payment) and why Virk was not. After all, such reasons could not possibly hinder a police investigation, considering Campbell knows nothing about the police investigation. And standing like a robot, repeating that the moves were "appropriate," without offering anything else, is hardly the mark of the open, honest and transparent government Campbell promised when asking for your vote in 2001. But what's one more in an already impressive string of broken pledges? * Chris Foulds writes for our sister paper, the Abbotsford News. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom