The Basi-Virk case just gets curiouser and curiouser. As we now learn, Basi’s Cousin, Aneal, as part of the deal, has been let off on his bribery charges.
How the hell did that happen?
Because, says a spokesperson for the AG’s office, Basi and Virk wouldn’t have made the deal otherwise!
Huh?! Are we to believe that the accused’s lawyers went to Crown Prosecutor and said “Look here, we’re prepared to plead guilty but you must do this: pay all our legal costs, promise not to try to collect this back from the assets you have under lien, remove those liens, and no jail time – and, oh yes, you must drop all charges against cousin Aneal who has admitted he took a bribe.” This isn’t a plea for mercy but a diktat as if they were winners doing the Crown a favour!
I think we can all guess what Mr. Berardino said which was something like this: “I’m honour-bound to put that to my client, and I will, and get back to you when I have an answer.”
Mr Berardino would have also, of course, told the AG’s ministry what the prospects of winning are and he would have told them something like this: “We are, as certain as you can get in court cases, going to win and they will certainly get jail time.” In effect, I’m sure he would have said, “It should be us who is stating the terms, not the accused.” Moreover, the Aneal Basi case is completely another matter all together. He would not have given Basi and Virk cause for celebration leaving it to cabinet.
As I traced it in a recent column, this offer would have gone, as quickly as lightening, to Gordon Campbell who would have heard what I just recited and, in order to save his skin, agreed to these outrageous terms dictated by the accused.
He would have had two concerns that we haven’t spoken much about – as stated by the Globe and Mail and by Mike Smyth in an excellent article in the Vancouver Province this past Friday – the deal whereby Basi and Virk would have all their legal costs taken care of included a deal that there would be no effort by the Crown to get the money back, even though there was about $600,000 assets under lien by the government for just that purpose..
The second matter is Aneal Basi’s case, which had nothing to do with Basi-Virk.
Now, Basi and cousin and Virk have admitted they took bribes in a case where, thick as thieves (an apt metaphor, I think) Campbell and his colleagues, sold off an iconic part of BC’s culture, BC Rail, for a song to CN. Surely this question arises: who paid these bribes? Were they in fact paid by one of the losing bidders through a lobbying company? Why weren’t they charged?
There can be no rational reason for the Crown to drop charges against Aneal Basi.
What we have here is like a country losing as war then dictating to the winner the terms of the peace treaty. We have the Premier of British Columbia accepting an outrageous settlement offer with unseemly haste and we have to once more ask, “Why?”
But there’s more. Where have the Liberal lickspittles who sit as MLA’s having sworn to do the people’s business been, and where are they now? By sitting on their hands, they actively support this disgraceful corruption. Are they devoid of principles? Does their love of office and the salaries and perks mean that they are prepared to ignore this disgusting settlement?
I direct this question especially to Ralph Sultan, MLA for West Vancouver -Capilano, one of the, if not the safest seat in BC. Sultan is a very successful businessman and has three Harvard degrees and a professorship in his resume. Sultan has been overlooked for cabinet even though, and I risk damning with faint praise, he is better qualified than any member of the cabinet, very much including the premier. Why wouldn’t this man holler foul from his safe perch? Show some backbone and stand up for decency and principles?
As Bob Simpson and Norm Macdonald of the NDP have demonstrated, it takes courage to speak out against your leader BUT isn’t it the duty of an MLA to refuse to go along with corrupt deals?
Toadies, lickspittles all.
On another matter, NDP president Moe Sihota hit the Labour Movement for money as a stipend for his duties saying that is standard practice though that appears not to be true.
Question for Moe: What if, while you were in government, the Liberals had paid their party president by funds from realtors or car dealers? Would you and your colleagues not scream from the heavens at this disgraceful practices? Nothing illegal here – just a health dose of hypocrisy.
Damien: So you are saying you support the NDP? If not, who do you support? What do you call centrist? Obviously I don’t have time to explore your entire site looking for the gems you suggest are within – please point me to something which resembles a platform of political ideas. Power, whether we like it or not, does not come from a centrist party which doesn’t exist. As Rafe was a member of the Socred party for years, it is not unreasonable to think that he may be centre right politically. I forgive him. I know that he doesn’t support recall of the current crop of rightists and can’t agree with that or see how maintaining them in power could further his environmental concerns. What I see is a disdain for letting the people of BC run the government, and I would suggest that if you look to salmon management in Alaska or Japan you will find indications that government can indeed be managed by the people it affects the most.
Spring Grass, what is it that makes you think Rafe or this site support a new centre-right government? Centrist – with a strong commitment to the environment, social justice and the public interest, yes – but you’re wrong to suggest we support a centre-right government. And you’re preaching to the choir when it comes to corporate control over our political process or the loss of our democracy. Why don’t you spend a little time on our site – you might learn a little more about who we are and what we’re about before you start leveling these sorts of criticisms. In particular, check out our recent video post of Corky Evans’ speech on social democracy.
Having deplored your politics Rafe, I must now commend you on the above article which; like other articles on other good sites, held Mr Campbell’s feet to the fire to such an extent that he found it necessary to vacate his shoes. Did he have something to hide which came too close to the surface to stand further scrutiny? Does Mr. Campbell now realize that there is more involved than losing the seat of power? That there may; and indeed should have been, a criminal investigation which might unearth so much dirt in the Liberal party that they could cease to exist. Can we expect you, Rafe, to campaign for the return of our railway? White collar crime is still crime, and we all know that 300,000 dollars bought the sale of BC Rail.
While your writing is good and you bring out many points which otherwise might have been ignored, I cannot support a site which supports a centre right concept for the next government. What we need is a left wing government with the balls to take a serious look at how China operates. Forget the wise cracks about human rights and Tibet; China has control of its banks and economy, and until a few bright sparks over this side of the pond realize that that is the future paradigm, we are all screwed. I don’t know if you’ve ever noticed Rafe, but we don’t live in a democracy. We live in a country where political power is controlled by donations to the party in power when it is right wing, and when it’s the NDP the right wing spend like crazy rich people to destroy the government. When foreign owned corporations can contribute huge amounts to the local party which will grant their wishes one can only say, ‘With leaders like these, who needs enemies?’