B.C. premier's aide grilled again at trial

Premier Gordon Campbell called a government aide frequently to assure him he'd be taken care of the day after an RCMP raid on the man's legislature office and up until a year later when charges of fraud and breach of trust were laid, a defence lawyer alleged at a political corruption trial.

"Did you know that Premier Campbell was telling Mr. [Bobby] Virk that the Liberal Party would take care of him and that he was to keep his mouth shut?" Kevin McCullough asked Campbell's chief of staff Martyn Brown.

"I would say I would be shocked, completely shocked, if that was the case, because I don't believe it ever happened ... but I can't speculate," Brown said Thursday in B.C. Supreme Court.

McCullough also accused Brown, along with Campbell, of phoning Virk every three to four weeks while his client was suspended with pay after the Dec. 28, 2003 raid on the legislature in connection with the controversial sale of B.C. Rail.

"You assured him that the government would be taking care of him and that he just needed to play the game," McCullough said.

"That is absolutely untrue," Brown said. "I never, ever, ever initiated a call with Bob Virk, and certainly nothing along those lines you're suggesting."

Lawyer alleges political dirty tricks

Mounties with search warrants carted away dozens of boxes of evidence from their 2003 search of the offices of Virk, who worked for then-transportation minister Judith Reid, and his co-accused Dave Basi, whose office was also raided.

Basi, who faces the same charges, was immediately fired from his job as an aide to then-finance minister Gary Collins.

Basi and Virk are accused of leaking confidential government information to a lobbyist who worked for Denver-based OmniTrax, one of three companies vying for B.C. Rail, which was sold to CN Rail in November 2003.

McCullough alleged the two men were being used as "political operatives" as part of the government's "dirty political tricks" agenda that included staged calls to Campbell while he was speaking on a radio talk show about the merits of the B.C. Rail sale.

"Was leaking confidential information with respect to B.C. Rail part of the strategy that the premier's office employed?" McCullough asked Brown.

"Not to my knowledge," Brown said. "In fact, I would very much say that we did everything we could as a government, including the premier's office, to safeguard the integrity of the process."

Radio phone-ins cited

Campbell had promised during the election campaign that the Liberals would not be selling the company.

The Crown alleges that in exchange for providing the cabinet information to the lobbyist, Basi and Virk received thousands of dollars in cash and meals, tickets to an NFL game and assurances of federal political job opportunities.

Basi's cousin, Aneal Basi, is accused of money laundering in the alleged scheme.

On his third day of cross-examining Brown, McCullough also alleged that during the B.C. Rail auction, the premier's chief of staff ordered Virk to phone a Victoria radio talk show and lob "softball questions" at the premier.

Brown denied the suggestion and also told court he had no knowledge about whether Dave Basi's boss, Collins, had any discussions with his aide about calling any talk shows.

He said he only ever encouraged political staff to ask others to call such shows, although it was a "perfectly acceptable practice" for government employees who weren't on the clock to phone in with favourable questions during the run-up to an election.