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| David Basi, centre, Bob Virk far right, leave court after guilty plea October 18, 2010 - Bill Tieleman photo |
Convicted Railgate figure says 'Who's your daddy' wiretap comment was a joke, not about procuring sex
Bill Tieleman's 24 hours/The Tyee column
Tuesday February 22, 2011
By Bill Tieleman
"Sex is full of lies."
- Jim Morrison, The Doors
Lurid headlines suggest that sex, lies and videotape starred in the B.C. Legislature Raid case, according to selected new police evidence released by the courts last week.
But an exclusive 24 hours/The Tyee interview with David Basi -- one of two ex-B.C. government aides who pled guilty of breach of trust and fraud charges -- and a separate exclusive interview with a man Basi allegedly procured sex with a young woman for -- paints a very different picture.
The newly disclosed wiretap evidence gives a distasteful view of Basi and Bob Virk, the other ex-ministerial aide who made a surprise guilty plea last October after only two witnesses testified.
In obscenity-filled transcripts released only to B.C. Supreme Court accredited journalists, they discuss providing confidential government information on BC Rail to lobbyists Erik Bornmann and Brian Kieran, who represented losing bidder OmniTRAX.
But in the most widely-reported passage, Basi appears to have procured a woman to have sex with another man as part of a request to obtain "membership lists" for "my guy," as Basi puts it.
"She'll be putting out like you wouldn't believe, pal.... Let me put it this way. She is so crazy, you'll be going home tired," Basi is taped as saying, and adding later in a subsequent call: "Who's your daddy? Do I come through?"
But the man Basi is speaking to -- who agreed to an interview with 24 hours/The Tyee on the condition his name not be used because he is in public life -- says reports on the conversation are completely misleading.
And so does Basi, who says he and his friend were merely joking, in admittedly bad taste.
"There were no prostitutes procured for anyone, for gosh sakes!" an exasperated Basi told me Sunday. "How completely and utterly ridiculous this is that people can't joke on the phone."
'Let's get it all out'
Basi says the selective release of only a small portion of the millions of pages of evidence, including more than 7,000 intercepted phone conversations, is wrong.
"I want everything released, all the transcripts of the wiretaps -- not just snippets -- let's get it all out," Basi said. "I have consistently called for all documents in this case to be released and for a public inquiry, which I will fully cooperate with."
"Christy Clark and all the other B.C. Liberal leadership candidates refuse to hold a public inquiry -- what do they have to hide?" Basi asked. "That speaks for itself."
The other man on the wiretapped conversation told me he was already having a brief sexual relationship with the woman at the time of Basi's call.
"Conversations that were taped, transcribed and edited can create an impression that diverges from the reality," he said. "It was not 'procuring a prostitute.' It was a jocular conversation, albeit in poor taste."
Regardless of the situation, the wiretap transcripts of that conversation and many others appear to have no bearing on the charges Basi and Virk pled guilty to, and received a two-year house arrest sentence for.
The need for a public inquiry
Basi and Virk also had their $6 million legal fees in the marathon case paid for by government, even though they admitted guilt, a decision that stopped the trial before dozens of possible witnesses -- like Basi's boss former finance minister Gary Collins or Christy Clark -- could have testified.
Why were these pages released by police and the Crown in negotiations with CTV news and the Globe and Mail newspaper in response to their court application, and not other documents -- like those obtained by the defence that might tell another side to this important story?
We will never know what really happened in this complex and confusing case unless, as the New Democrat opposition is demanding, a public inquiry is held into the $1 billion deal in 2003 that saw publicly-owned BC Rail sold to CN Rail.
Please join my group Basi-Virk Public Inquiry on Facebook and demand accountability.
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19 comments:
Bill, can you get 24 Hours and The Tyee and whomever else you write for to launch a similar disclosure of materials case like that that CTV et al. pursued re this? You're one of the only so-called "accredited journalists" allowed access too all these reams of released materials, which Justice Mackenzie true to her form as hired gun, refuses to allow the public access to (I daresay Justice Bennett wouldn't have been anywhere near so restrictive - speaking of which is there any way to appeal to her vis a vis the Court of Appeal about all this?). I might also suggested that the "accreditation" of journalists be struck down as unconstitutional and monopolistic in nature....as Robin Mathews has noted on Mary's blog, and you also here, the selective nature of what's been released is only part of what's in even the Crown/RCMP affidavits/wiretaps, and it brings to mind the RCMP's unofficial motto "we specialize in smear campaigns"......their words, not mine.
What we are seeing here is trial by media - defamation by official means - with only one aspect of the case being unsealed; namely discrediting the main available witnesses to the systemic corruption of the BC Liberal government since it came to power so that their comments about the rigged bidding process and more can be discounted. If the Crown's evidence were so damning towards whatever Basi and Virk might have to say, why was the trial not proceeded with? Oh well, we do know the answer to that don't we?
And Dave, Mr Basi, I know you must be reading this. Two can play their game, surely you have things you could say about "sex, lies and videotape" within the Liberal cabinet and probably the Premier's Office. Not that I want you to stoop to their level, but a few well-placed stones thrown against the glass windows, and the glass ceiling, could probably get a few birds flying, and others singing....
But mostly I've always wanted to exhort you to "tell all", and to "stay the course".....you've been triply double-crossed now, quadruply even, with this "trial by media" and the Crown/RCMP getting them to present their case, without you having had a chance to complete your own exposition of your defence. Not just about BC Rail, but about anything you may know about BC Hydro and the IPPs, about the privatization of government agencies and the shenanigans of the P3 contracts, about other lobbyists than just Messrs Clark and Bornmann.
We need to hear more from you before this week is out, before the sucked-in Liberal membership anoint a new potentate and trot up a new masquerade of decency and reform, only to betray the voters again, just as they betrayed you. Surely there's more to tell, and a few bombshells even bigger than BC Rail and the associated CN-BC Liberal tango and lobbyist two-step.....
They're trying to discredit you to keep anything you say from being given credence. But if anything, the public looks at what's been published about you and knows instinctively that this is being done to you because you "know too much". You have more credibility than any of those fools running for the Liberal party leadership. Use it, and don't stop. We need you.
Good column Bill. There is one nagging question that keeps bothering me. If these guys are guilty and the evidence was so overwhelming - WHY MAKE A DEAL WITH CRIMINALS?? WHY BUY THEM OFF??
Can somebody, anybody answer that for me.
If everything is so straight forward and on the up-and-up, pray why all the secrecy ?
It is blatantly obvious this is just a government coverup - to shield mainly Pinocchio Campbell and his entourage of inept Circus Clowns.
BRITISH COLUMBIA GOVERNMENT CORRUPTION
A full public enquiry is needed - nothing less would do.
What a decade we have gone through - it would make a best seller book, if only it wasn't so serious.
Keep up the good work Bill - your efforts and those of other bloggers, are greatly appreciated.
Thank you
Great research Bill.
And, Skooum1 is obviously right on all points.
But what gets me is why do entertainment companies, and they are primarily entertainment companies, have more "right" to court documents than the "public"?
These companies are in the business of selling entertainment, and selling it for a profit. Now, Madam Justice Anne MacKenzie has given them documents that BC tax payers paid for through a 6 million hush fund and they have now turned around and are selling "news" back to us!
To make this more intolerable, the entertainment companies and "news" readers got it WRONG (again). Do you think that the news readers will apologize (not).
Its all backwards. These are documents we paid for and want to see - unedited, and uncensored. We shouldn't have to pay twice to see them. Why should entertainment companies make a profit from our documents?
Second, can Madam Justice Anne MacKenzie's ruling that restricts access of the Basi/Virk documents to entertainment corporations be challenged in the Supreme Court of BC? There must be recourse!
Where is fairness and justice. Its a corrupt province run by corrupt politicians and drug gangs. They are giving the province away.
Warning OFF TOPIC:
The BC CBC is NOT ALLOWING COMMENTS on a story that is vital to the state of our province (and critical of the BC Liberals):
"B.C. Hydro bills could rise sharply"
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2011/02/22/bc-hydro-proposed-rate-increases.html
Let the CBC know you do not appreciate silencing dissent:
# Email cbcnewsvancouver@cbc.ca
# Call 604-662-6801
Madam Justice Anne MacKenzie has given them documents that BC tax payers paid for through a 6 million hush fund a
No, these aren't what that $6 million hush fund bought. What that bought was a premature end to the trial before all the evidence was heard, and before our famous cast of characters had to hit the stand, and face an even worse grilling than the amnesiac Mr. Brown or the disappearing "birthday boy" Mr. Kenning.
Given that we know the defendants slandered in these "uncensored" documents were offered incentives, and also mildly threatened, to come back to the fold and keep their mouths shut, and they would be rewarded and should be concerned for their families yadayadayada (all mob-talk dressed up in finery), you do have to wonder what led to the case dropped against the third defendant in this trial. And y'know, we still don't really know what went on the related ALR trial, do we, and what that cost. And what evidence we were not allowed to hear during that trial, nor is it available for our viewing now.
The price of what we paid for not being allowed to see these documents ourselves is not just the cost of the trial and proceedings but also the time paid to staff of Crown lawyers and RCMP who prepped and selected these materials. And we paid for it with a railway, which proper court proceedings would have shown to be have been improperly shucked off and which should be rightfully returned to us WITH DAMAGES. Not having that railway anymore, nor its revenues, nor the tax indemnities and other locked-in benefits in contracts which are still marked "confidential", and debates about which are marked "confidential" - we don't have that.
We also don't have our democracy, or what we thought was our democracy. And we don't have an honest press. We have a press that is part of the machinery of lies and thievery and institutionalized deception and systemic corruption and closed proceedings, and courts and police and Crown lawyers beyond reproach by the public. Indeed, even showing contempt for the public, in no small measure.
Can you spell "parochialism"? I can, but this is something much more than simply parochialism.
It is piracy. In Her Majesty's much-benighted name.
Madam Justice Anne MacKenzie has given them documents that BC tax payers paid for through a 6 million hush fund a
No, these aren't what that $6 million hush fund bought. What that bought was a premature end to the trial before all the evidence was heard, and before our famous cast of characters had to hit the stand, and face an even worse grilling than the amnesiac Mr. Brown or the disappearing "birthday boy" Mr. Kenning.
Given that we know the defendants slandered in these "uncensored" documents were offered incentives, and also mildly threatened, to come back to the fold and keep their mouths shut, and they would be rewarded and should be concerned for their families yadayadayada (all mob-talk dressed up in finery), you do have to wonder what led to the case dropped against the third defendant in this trial. And y'know, we still don't really know what went on the related ALR trial, do we, and what that cost. And what evidence we were not allowed to hear during that trial, nor is it available for our viewing now.
The price of what we paid for not being allowed to see these documents ourselves is not just the cost of the trial and proceedings but also the time paid to staff of Crown lawyers and RCMP who prepped and selected these materials. And we paid for it with a railway, which proper court proceedings would have shown to be have been improperly shucked off and which should be rightfully returned to us WITH DAMAGES. Not having that railway anymore, nor its revenues, nor the tax indemnities and other locked-in benefits in contracts which are still marked "confidential", and debates about which are marked "confidential" - we don't have that.
We also don't have our democracy, or what we thought was our democracy. And we don't have an honest press. We have a press that is part of the machinery of lies and thievery and institutionalized deception and systemic corruption and closed proceedings, and courts and police and Crown lawyers beyond reproach by the public. Indeed, even showing contempt for the public, in no small measure.
Can you spell "parochialism"? I can, but this is something much more than simply parochialism.
It is piracy. In Her Majesty's much-benighted name.
I meant to add that, given the previous rulings to do with this case, that the public interest is paramount and the public is an interested party - as made by Justice Elizabeth Bennett, who also lifted the original publication ban and also ordered released thousands of pages of documents - that that should be the basis of a case to the Court of Appeal to release all the evidence to the public and also to make it digitally available, so easily searchable and sources. Even what she released was only in physical copy and limited access - a primitive method rooted in the colonial, pencil-and-pen driven past.
Like Dave Basi, we want everything released without filter and without control. It's our right, as interested parties to a transaction that affected all of us, to demand that. If Justice Bennett does not live up to her own prior principles here and "does the right thing", the next step up is the Supreme Court of Canada, and the other apparatus of the federal justice system.
But Justice Bennett, as previous presiding justice on the case (if not on the trial itself, though that's debatable), has the power and interest and, we hope, the same generosity towards the public interest before the Crown's complaints saw her removed from the case.
And THAT, also, should be part of the public inquiry. As should the mysterious and heavy-handed role of ACJ Dohm, in so many ways...
Somewhere there's a fox ready to rampage through the chicken coop. We need to find that fox.
We need to hear more from you before this week is out, before the sucked-in Liberal membership anoint a new potentate and trot up a new masquerade of decency and reform, only to betray the voters again, just as they betrayed you. Surely there's more to tell, and a few bombshells even bigger than BC Rail and the associated CN-BC Liberal tango and lobbyist two-step.....
Not bad Skook, so how do you reconcile the NDP's two step for the NDP leadership esp. if Adrian Dix wins our leadership?
Remember dear boy, Glen Clark wasn't a saint either, and it was Dix that was front and center with that dumb idea of the FastCats as he would have been privy to the decision process.
Be smart and vote Mike Farnworth!
Now that all the hoopla is over and after getting screwed, blued and tattooed by the BC Lieberals, I don't understand why Basi and Virk aren't upset enough at the betrayal to be screaming the truth from the rooftops.
Dave Basi is now telling the Truth, the Whole Truth, and nothing but the Truth.
There were no busty hookers involved, that's a Rahim Jaffer trick!
" I don't understand why Basi and Virk aren't upset enough at the betrayal to be screaming the truth from the rooftops."
Because they see what most people see in regards to their activities.
The truth. They do not have anything left in terms of honesty and integrity (but neither does Campbell).
This topic has been done over and over again. Seems to be more endless time consuming rants.
If Dix was true to his word, he would cancel the HST within 6 months and forget the idea of any inquiry (there isn't much more to be uncovered, and some people just want to keep this fire burning even though all the good wood has been used up).
The reason for releasing a "misleading sex story" was to detract from the real issues around B.C. Rail and to vilify Basi/Virk. People won't be talking about what the case is about but about "the sex conversation".
I don't care what Basi and his friend were talking about. It is not unheard of sex trade workers being used by politicians, etc. Its like "who cares".
What I care about is the how and whys of the B.C. Rail give away.
B.C. Rail made money, it was part of the B.C. heritage, it was useful to the people of B.C.
It wasn't up to Campbell & crew to give it away to some corporation which had ties to him.
What Campbell did was screw the people of B.C. and we didn't even get kissed.
As a taxpaying citizen I want full disclosure of the documents pertaining to B.C. Rail Sale, the documents which led to the Raid, etc. and I want a full public enquiry into the whole mess and I don't want some one appointed by the current lieberals and their friends.
If there is nothing to hide why doesn't the government want an inquiry. yOu would think, given all their saying they did nothing wrong, they would want to prove it.
"As a taxpaying citizen I want full disclosure of the documents pertaining to B.C. Rail Sale, the documents which led to the Raid, etc. and I want a full public enquiry into the whole mess and I don't want some one appointed by the current lieberals and their friends. "
Would not happen. The NDP government wouldn't do that if they want to waste taxpayer money on it.
"If there is nothing to hide why doesn't the government want an inquiry. yOu would think, given all their saying they did nothing wrong, they would want to prove it."
Why bother with the inquiry? It would cost alot of money, and there would be complaints from within here as to who chairs it, what the scope is, and so on.
It would NOT please anyone here after the second day of hearings.
I'd rather see money spent on health care and infrastructure than waste any more tax money on an inquiry that wouldn't please everyone.
Seems that everyone here has their own "inquiry" happening with "expert opinions".
Be smart. Vote Mike Farnworth.
"Somewhere there's a fox ready to rampage through the chicken coop. We need to find that fox."
I'm sure a lot of people are more than interested in going public but are scared about their careers, etc., etc.. Nevertheless, there are still bits and pieces being made public on this or that blog. Your questions are helping educate me and I am sure others.
The point of my earlier post was to express outrage over the practice of giving court documents to entertainment companies and not the public. I suppose in some earlier periods, some had more trust in the media and so it must have seemed alright to release documents that would then be released by "reporters". Those days, if they existed at all, have changed. News companies are simply profit making machines and in most cases "news" desks are part of larger entertainment for-profit companies.
As a result, its just not right to restrict access of any document to so-called accredited news outlets.
The point of all this is to find a way to challenge the whole practice of restrictive releases. It makes no sense in the times of wikileaks anyway,
But fundamentally it is an injustice to have all these tax dollars used to gather information and then to have entertainment companies using that information to make a profit from the people who paid for the information in the first place.
The important question is how to challenge the whole system. Can a class action or whatever suit be launched to get the Basi/Virk docs? Can a member of the public sue the courts for the release of docs. I don't want to be accredited with all the idiots who claim to be "investigative journalists" (i.e., news readers). I want as a member of the public to see what the docs released about Basi/Virk say. Certainly Basi/Virk want the docs released. So who doesn't and why. Can Madame so and so's ruling be challenged? How?
To all the anon's it is not just a BC Rail Inquiry I want. I want all public assets returned.
Cost too much? No way. It would cost too much to ignore corruptions. It costs too much to ignore crime.
The lieberals won't do it for sure. There's too much at risk. The NDP have much to gain. They get my vote. Very, very simple. They are on record wanting an inquiry. That's what scares all the anons/lieberals. The anons sound really scared. They've given up posting on Bill's blog.
They seem to be rooting around here. I'm surprised they aren't using 'sockpuppets' (google abgary and sockpuppets)
Not fighting the corrupt sale of the BCR, just gives this government permission to keep on, ripping off the BC people, at their will. That pisses me off. We need a full criminal investigation of, Campbell's corrupt sale of the BCR. We are all fully aware, the BC Liberals use dirty tactics, to get out of their criminal actions. Sex, lies and videotapes, would be right up their alley, to throw up a smoke screen, to hide their own underhanded theft, in selling the BCR. I don't buy that smoke screen either. Shame on Campbell and Liberals. Shame on the judicial system. Shame on the RCMP. Double shame on the media. Shame on Elections BC. That's how all of them will go down, in the future children's history books. In shame and disgrace.
"We need a full criminal investigation of, Campbell's corrupt sale of the BCR."
Wow, is that ever something new..
"To all the anon's it is not just a BC Rail Inquiry I want. I want all public assets returned. "
Good luck on that one. I want ICBC to be exposed to more competition.
Cost too much? No way. It would cost too much to ignore corruptions. It costs too much to ignore crime. "
Other than Basi Virk, no one else has been convicted of a crime in a court of law.
So how would this be paid for? There's very little money available right now, and health care is a more important priority.
"The lieberals won't do it for sure. There's too much at risk. The NDP have much to gain. They get my vote. Very, very simple. They are on record wanting an inquiry"
The NDP is on record on almost anything that involves appeasing their supporters and spending money.
The NDP has never held any inquiry over misdeeds of their own government actions.
Anonymous 4:31 - you might as well just have signed your self "Liberal Party spin doctor"....
As for this The NDP has never held any inquiry over misdeeds of their own government actions.
Well, they let the Auditor General go over the Clark matter; but more to the point, both Harcourt and Clark DID do the proper thing, constitutionally, when they or their parties were tainted (even though neither of them was guilty of anything).
Campbell should have resigned because of the Maui Affair; a crime committed in another country where it's not a crime, but misdemanour, but which would be a crime at home, was sufficient in terms of parliamentary requirements that he should have resigned immediately.
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