Monday, July 04, 2011

RailGate Repo Men...Names My Archives Tell Me

AllTheDeputiesThatFit
CampbellClarksVille

So.

Not everything Auditor General John Doyle will be using to put together his report on the Six Million Dollar RailGate Payoff need come from super secret solicitor-client-privileged sources.

For example, while Vaughn Palmer dared not say their names, the monikers of the Deputy Ministerial Duo who pulled the trigger on the Cabinet Fingerprint-Free deal are a matter of the public record.

Here they are, named in a Victoria Times-Colonist piece by Rob Shaw from last fall that no longer exists except in the fringes of the Google-Cache and/or in our archives:

".....(W)hen special prosecutor Bill Berardino made the B.C. government aware on Oct. 5 that he had proposed to let the two men plead guilty, it fell to the deputy minister of finance, Graham Whitmarsh, and (Deputy Attorney General David) Loukidelis to figure out whether they would actually have to come up with the money, Loukidelis's statement read.

"A major consideration was the relatively small amounts that might be recovered from Mr. Basi and Mr. Virk compared to the millions of additional dollars it would cost the government to continue to fund defence, prosecution and court-related costs through to the completion of the trial, and to fund any appeals, with no guarantee of convictions," said Loukidelis.

"Based on the above, in our respective capacities the Deputy Minister of Finance and I decided to release Mr. Basi and Mr. Virk from their liability to repay. I communicated that decision to the Attorney General on October 8, 2010....."



OK?


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And, ya, I know I essentially wrote the same post, with a little more focus on the Voldemortianism being practiced by Mr. Palmer on the weekend, but I have learned by fiddling with the hit counter that hardly anybody actually clicks through on cliff-hanger links....Sheesh.

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5 comments:

Ian said...

Ross K
The real question I've wondered about is who told Whitmarsh and Loukidelis to do this part of the deal. Berardino may have told them that he had proposed to let them plead guilt but he didn't or shouldn't have toldthem that to pull it off they would have to sign the indemnity against government policy. I believe that was done by the deputy to the premier, seckle. So Berardino to Seckle, Seckle to Loukedelis and Whitmarsh. That kind of puts Campbell into it as well.

North Van's Grumps said...

let's not forget about Hansard Blues...

http://www.leg.bc.ca/hansard/39th3rd/d10531x.htm

Search Criteria in Google was this from your blog RossK:

A major consideration was the relatively small amounts that might be recovered from Mr. Basi and Mr. Virk compared to the millions of additional dollars it would cost the government to continue to fund defence, prosecution and court-related costs through

results: 140 hits

Here's another one from GlobalTVBC:

"Discussions then took place between the Legal Services Branch and defence counsel, including with respect to their clients' liability to repay their legal costs," Loukidelis said in a written statement released Wednesday.

The statement said the province had agreed to that point only to cover legal fees for the two men's defense if they were acquitted on all counts.

Loukidelis said that by Oct. 8, he and deputy minister of finance, Graham Whitmarsh "decided to release Mr. Basi and Mr. Virk from their liability to repay."

http://www.globaltvbc.com/mobile/negotiated+with+lawyers+Basi+Virk/3705686/story.html

Whitmarsh has received a Premier Christy Clark award of a BRDO appointment:

http://blogborgcollective.blogspot.com/2011/04/schoenborn-why-didnt-premier-christy.html

Just look for :Whitmarsh"

RossK said...

Interesting conjecture Ian.

Why not coming from, say, Finance?

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NVG--

Yup, that was the explanation/rationale (excuse) which makes me think it might have come through Finance which was then run by the good Mr. Hansen.

However, Mr. Reid has a way of knowing how these things really go down...

My only point is, that there is lots of non-confidential info out there for the proMedia folks to follow up on WITHOUT having to wait for a report from Mr. Doyle.

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Ian said...

RossK and NVG

The politics do not work for the deal to have been made bottom up.

No DM in their right mind would do a deal of this political magnitude without clearing it with the Premier's office - which means either the Premier or the Deputy to the Premier. Remember, the Attorney General wouldn't even take the fall for this one. No, this was a top down deal because the people at the top wore it. The only consideration was how to wipethe fingerprints clean.

RossK said...

Thanks for the insight about how things work Ian.

Much appreciated.

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