CHARGES EXPECTED SOON IN DRUG PROBE

Search warrants for raid on B.C. legislature stay sealed

Charges may soon be laid in connection with a 20-month drug investigation
that sparked a spinoff commercial crime probe that resulted in raids at the
provincial legislature.

Federal prosecutor Johannes Van Iperen said in court Wednesday that another
federal lawyer is beginning the process of charge approval in the drug case.

Nine people were arrested in Toronto, Vancouver and Victoria in early
December in connection with the case, but at the time they were released
without charges.

Van Iperen did not say in court when the charges might be laid.

B.C. Supreme Court Associate Chief Justice Patrick Dohm heard applications
from media lawyers Wednesday to have search warrants made public in the drug
case and the legislature case.

The hearing was adjourned until Jan. 22.

Nine search warrants were executed in Victoria and the Lower Mainland Dec.
28, which resulted in the homes and offices of several prominent provincial
and federal Liberals being visited.

Van Iperen said in court that five search warrants executed Dec. 28 were
part of the drug case. The locations of the warrants and the identities of
the people they targeted remain sealed by the courts.

However, Van Iperen said Wednesday that although the RCMP is still
investigating the drug case, it does not feel it will jeopardize the
investigation to make the search warrant-related information public. He said
he was willing to release edited versions that protect the names of
informants and any wiretap information.

Although it is not clear who is named in the warrants, the lawyers for two
ministerial assistants whose legislature offices were searched Dec. 28
indicated they would make arguments in court next week before any
information is released. The lawyers also backed the provincial prosecutor,
who is handling the spinoff commercial crime case, in his efforts to keep
the other warrants sealed.

Special prosecutor William Berardino is opposed to the other search warrants
being released to protect the privacy of people named in the documents and
the integrity of the continuing police investigation into the commercial
crime case.

He said "we are not even close" to the police investigation being completed.
"It would be irresponsible for me to take any other position in the face of
an ongoing investigation," he said.

But media lawyer Barry Gibson, who represents The Vancouver Sun, said a
recent Court of Appeal ruling contradicts Berardino's argument that the
warrants should be kept sealed to protect the privacy of those named in
them.

He also said Berardino's argument that sealing the warrants is necessary to
protect the integrity of the police case can't apply to every piece of
information in the warrants.

"It seems inconceivable that everything in there could prejudice the
investigation," Gibson said.

An estimated 30 boxes of documents were taken from the legislature offices
of fired ministerial assistant Dave Basi and suspended ministerial assistant
Bob Virk. They have remained locked up in the courthouse while officials
worked out a protocol for enabling investigators to look at them without
violating cabinet privilege.

"We have worked and have obtained a protocol to address the cabinet
privilege issues," Berardino said Wednesday.

George Copley, the lawyer representing the provincial government, said the
boxes will be opened today for the first time, and he hopes all the
materials will be looked at over the next three to four days.

Unprivileged documents will be sent to the RCMP, who will begin reviewing
them immediately.

The documents considered privileged will go through a longer vetting process
that can involve the provincial government's executive council.

Dohm adjourned the hearing until Jan. 22, when he will receive a report on
the state of the new protocol and the police review of documents. He is also
expected to rule that day on how much information the media can access from
the drug warrants.

Media lawyer Michael Skene argued the judge should release even an edited
summary of all the search warrant material to stop public speculation in
this high-profile case.

"The government of the province and people could then get on with all the
other matters," Skene said.

Van Iperen told Dohm that on Jan. 9 and Jan. 13 he was contacted by Chris
Considine, the lawyer for fired ministerial assistant Dave Basi, who was
concerned that sealed information was being leaked to the media. Van Iperen
said he passed Considine's concerns to the RCMP.

On Jan. 9, the Sun ran a front-page story reporting that RCMP are
investigating whether Basi breached the public trust in his handling of the
province's privatization of BC Rail, or was involved in the financial
aspects of a scheme to trade B.C. marijuana for U.S. cocaine.

On Jan. 13, several media outlets reported that Mandeep Sandhu, whom Basi
had hand-picked to sit on a federal Liberal riding executive on Vancouver
Island, had his home searched by police and his computer hard drive seized
as part of the investigation.

While Berardino argued in favour of keeping the search warrants sealed,
several cabinet ministers are advocating they be opened up as soon as
possible to restore public confidence in the government.

Attorney General Geoff Plant told reporters in Victoria that a speedy
resolution of the matter will lift the dark cloud over the B.C. government.

"The lack of resolution and the lack of certainty should be a reason for
everyone involved in this, from the police to the lawyers to the courts to
do their jobs as quickly and as thoroughly as possible so that we can get
some resolution as quickly as possible," Plant said. "I believe it is in the
public interest to get this matter moved forward as quickly as possible."

Plant cautioned that nothing should be done that would compromise the police
investigation.

"I believe we should err on the side of disclosure," Plant said of the
process to screen the boxes of documents taken from the legislature.

"I don't know how long it will take to examine the documents ... I'm
certainly hopeful they will work as hard and as fast as they can."

Even though the case involves alleged breach of trust, Solicitor General
Rich Coleman said the integrity of the government has not been challenged.

"I have every confidence that the integrity of government has been
protected," he said. "I think the integrity of this government is very
strong."

The allegations of breach of trust centre on the government's privatization
of BC Rail.

Although the offices of two political aides were raided, no other government
official -- including the top bureaucrats responsible for negotiating the
deal -- have been contacted by police.

That, government officials say, is evidence the integrity of the $1-billion
deal to privatize BC Rail is sound.

"Given the people who have been looked at, with regard to how the entire
bidding process was handled and the fact that the fairness commission looked
at it and said it was handled extremely well, I have no concerns about the
integrity of the BC Rail deal," Coleman said.

THE SEARCH WARRANTS: WHAT'S NEXT

Special prosecutor William Berardino worked out a protocol to search through
the estimated 30 boxes of documents taken from the legislature offices of
fired ministerial assistant Dave Basi and suspended ministerial assistant
Bob Virk during raids on Dec. 28.

At issue is whether police can look at the documents, which may be protected
by cabinet privilege.

STAGE ONE

A lawyer chosen by the province will begin today reviewing all the documents
to determine whether they fall under cabinet privilege or solicitor-client
privilege.

The lawyer and all others who view the documents will put in writing that
they won't reveal the contents of the documents.

The lawyer could deem a document protected by cabinet privilege if it
reveals deliberations of the province's executive council, including policy,
legislation or regulations.

A criminal trial coordinator and a police officer (the exhibits officer)
will be present when the documents are viewed in the court registry, but
will not read them.

If a document is deemed to be privileged, it will be sealed in an envelope
with an explanation of why the material is sensitive and sent to B.C.
Supreme Court Associate Chief Justice Patrick Dohm.

The lawyer can appear before Dohm, in a closed courtroom, to explain why the
documents should be privileged.

STAGE TWO

Dohm will review the documents considered privileged, and decide if they are
relevant to the police investigation.

Berardino and the federal prosecutor in the drug case, Johannes Van Iperen,
can make submissions before Dohm in a closed courtroom on why the material
may or may not be relevant to their cases.

STAGE THREE

If Dohm concludes privileged documents are relevant to the investigation,
they will be sent to B.C.'s deputy cabinet secretary, Joy Illington, for
review. She will determine whether the provincial government's executive
council agrees the documents are privileged.

If Illington requires the assistance of the executive council, she must
appear before Dohm in a closed courtroom and ask permission to discuss the
confidential matter with the executive council.

STAGE FOUR

If Dohm determines that a document deemed privileged is relevant to the
investigation, he will advise Berardino, Van Iperen, and the government
lawyer to argue in a closed courtroom whether the document is actually
privileged "in law" and whether the privilege can be maintained "in all
circumstances."

STAGE FIVE

All documents deemed not to be privileged will be turned over to RCMP
Corporal Mimi Mar (the exhibits officer) so police can review them.

All documents whose relevance to the ongoing investigation has not yet been
determined will be kept in a safe and secure place by the RCMP.