AndWomenVille
Which Deputy "Minister", that is....
Not too surprisingly it is Mr. Mason of the Globe, with a take that is highly conversant with the RailGate defense's position, that raises the issue:
"....The defence has already come into possession of some e-mails through freedom of information applications that have demonstrated the potential importance of some of these third-party conversations. For instance, it has obtained e-mail correspondence between the lobbyists at the centre of the scandal that suggests there was a former deputy finance minister who might have been a key source of insider information for them."
Hmmmmm......Now which former Deputy Finance Minister "might" that be?
Well, there is technically, only former Deputy Finance Minister on that RailGate Hit List that was released by Mdme Justice Bennett yesterday.
And, as long as you're not colour blind, you shouldn't have too much trouble spotting that fine former public servant below, from the list:
Premier Gordon Campbell
Martyn Brown, chief of staff
Mike Morton, press secretary
Lara Dauphinee, deputy chief of staff
Ken Dobell, former deputy minister to premier and cabinet secretary
Brenda Eaton, former deputy minister to the premier
Jay Schlosar, former director of issues management
David Cunningham, former deputy communications director
Tom Syer, former deputy chief of staff
Jessica McDonald, deputy minister to the premier
(Ministry of Finance)
Gary Collins, former finance minister
Paul Taylor, former deputy minister
Chris Trumpy, deputy minister
David Morhart, former assistant deputy minister
Yvette Wells, former exec-dir. of the crown agencies secretariat
Judith Reid, former transportation minister
Christy Clark, former deputy premier
Shirley Bond, formed Northern caucus member, minister of education
Richard Neufeld, former northern caucus MLA
(Search of the Legislature on December 28, 2003)
Rich Coleman, former solicitor general
Kevin Begg, assistant deputy minister
(Communications with lobbyists at Pilothouse – Brian Kieran, Erik Bornmann, Jamie Elmhirst and their respective companies)
Christy Clark
Richard Neufeld
Gary Collins
Judith Reid
Paul Taylor
Shirley Bond
And....
While it is not an absolute indicator of anything connected to the BC Rail deal or the Basi/Virk/Basi case with any certainty whatsoever, I do seem to remember that the 'lobbyists' allegedly involved in the case did have some dealings back in the day with at least one Deputy Finance Minister.
Luckily the Blogspot never forgets, so maybe if I fish around a little bit in the archives I might be able to find it.
Just a sec.....(insert Jeopardy theme music here)
Ah........Yes..........Here it is..... From a two year old column by Les Leyne in the Victoria Times-Colonist*:
"....Former ministerial aides Dave Basi and Bobby Virk are on trial for influence-peddling in relation to the B.C. Rail sale.
One aspect of the case involves the activities of a Victoria lobbying firm run by Brian Kieran and Jamie Elmhirst.
But it's another activity that duo were involved in that caught the attention of the Opposition yesterday. And that was sparked by a rather careless exchange of e-mails four years ago (ie. in 2003) that took an entirely too nonchalant approach to discussing a former deputy minister of finance.
Kieran, Elmhirst and Erik Bornman -- a colleague of theirs then who is expected to be a star witness in the Basi-Virk trial -- were e-mailing one another about a potential new client. This was months before the raid on the legislature and has nothing to do with B.C. Rail.
And if the e-mails are to be believed, then-deputy minister of finance Paul Taylor was only too happy to be of service in facilitating the new business relationship.
At the time Taylor and Kieran were friends and neighbours on Pender Island.
After a day fishing with Taylor, Kieran e-mailed his partners with news that Taylor had given him a detailed outline of how to go about securing a consulting contract with the B.C. Automobile Dealers Association, an outfit that employed Taylor prior to his move to government....."
(insertion of date in bracket above, mine)
Imagine that!
____
*And for the record, lest any proMedia pundit choose to suggest that I'm just making this stuff up, here's my original post that led back to the Les Leyne piece.
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