WARRANTS RAISE TOUGH QUESTIONS FOR LIBS

"I can say in general that the spread of organized crime just in the
past two years has been like a cancer on the social and economic
well-being of all British Columbians."

- -- RCMP spokesperson Sgt. John Ward, after search warrants were
executed at the B.C. legislature, December 2003

There is one overwhelming question looming after the release of information
related to search warrants executed at the B.C. legislature last December:
how far has the cancer of organized crime spread in our political system?

The allegations made by police in search-warrant "information to
obtain" statements filed in B.C. Supreme Court are powerful and, if
proven true, devastating to both the Gordon Campbell Liberals and the
Paul Martin government.

There are dozens of other unanswered questions raised by the
search-warrant applications, including the role of many prominent
political and business figures named in the documents. About 80
percent of the search-warrant information has been excised with the
agreement of B.C. Supreme Court Associate Chief Justice Patrick Dohm
as the investigation continues.

While media reports have said that the named individuals are not under
investigation, the actual wording of the released information states
that "the following people are not at the present time the subjects of
this investigation," leaving open the possibility of future scrutiny.

The search-warrant information concerns alleged influence-peddling.
This is a separate investigation from a major drug probe that
triggered the raid on the legislature offices in the first place.

Shortly before the Straight went to press, the RCMP announced that
drug charges had been laid against eight men, including David Basi,
the fired ministerial aide to B.C. Finance Minister Gary Collins.
Basi, also a key Paul Martin leadership-campaign organizer for B.C.,
faces one count of possession of marijuana for the purpose of
trafficking, and another count of production of a controlled
substance. In addition, Basi is being investigated for alleged
influence-peddling in connection with the government's $1-billion
privatization of BC Rail, specifically for breach of trust and fraud.

Bob Virk, the still-suspended ministerial aide to former B.C.
transportation minister Judith Reid, is also under investigation for
alleged influence-peddling in the BC Rail situation.

And although Collins and B.C. Solicitor General Rich Coleman have done
everything they can to downplay the significance of the investigation,
the political connections in this case are widespread in both the B.C.
and federal Liberal parties. The list of other individuals whose names
appear as "identified" but not under investigation in the
search-warrant information to obtain include:

BRUCE CLARK

Most prominent of the other individuals cited is Bruce Clark, brother
of deputy premier Christy Clark and brother-in-law of Mark Marissen,
Prime Minister Paul Martin's top Liberal organizer in B.C.

Until the December 2003 raids, Bruce Clark was Paul Martin's top
fundraiser in B.C. and served as an executive member of the federal
Liberal party's B.C. wing.

Clark is alleged to have received government documents from Basi
pertaining to another privatization, the proposed sale of BC Rail's
Roberts Bank spur line for up to $100 million. B.C. Transportation
Minister Kevin Falcon was forced to cancel that sale in March after
being informed by RCMP that the process had been compromised by the
leak of confidential information to a bidder. Clark's home was
searched by police last year, as was Basi's.

ERIK BORNMAN

Bornman is a former executive of the federal Liberals in B.C. and
communications director for Paul Martin's leadership campaign in B.C.,
as well as a provincial lobbyist. OmniTRAX, the U.S. rail company that
bid on both the BC Rail and Roberts Bank privatizations, was a client
of Pilothouse Public Affairs Group, the firm owned by Bornman and
former Province newspaper columnist Brian Kieran. Police also searched
Pilothouse's Victoria offices.

Bornman is alleged to have offered Basi and Virk a benefit--help in
obtaining $100,000-plus jobs with the federal Liberal government--in
exchange for getting confidential information about the BC Rail deals.
Bornman is also alleged to have known that Basi and Virk had given him
resumes with "flaws and fabrications" regarding their academic records
but forwarded them to Marissen, who sent them on to the prime
minister's office unaware they were inaccurate.

Although Basi and Virk may face charges of breach of trust and fraud
for allegedly accepting a benefit, Bornman is not listed as under
investigation despite allegedly offering the benefit. In fact, Bornman
issued a statement several months ago saying police had told him he
was not being investigated.

The search-warrant information would appear to raise two
possibilities: that if Basi and Virk are charged in the
influence-peddling probe, Bornman may yet come under investigation for
his role, or that he may have made a deal with police to avoid
possible charges.

KEYVAN SHOJANIA

Shojania is listed in the information to obtain but his name does not
appear elsewhere in the document.

Shojania is a Victoria lawyer who specializes in real-estate law. He
was found guilty of professional misconduct in July 2004 by the Law
Society of B.C., which reprimanded Shojania and fined him $2,000 for
breaching an undertaking with a client and for paying his own legal
fees out of a client's trust fund.

Shojania is a B.C. Liberal government appointee, serving on the board
of directors of Royal Roads University in Sooke.

Elections Canada lists Shojania as a donor to the federal Liberal
party, contributing more than $1,700 in the 1990s. Shojania also was
registered as a third party in the 2000 federal election when a group
called "Victorians for a Strong Canada" spent $2,894.99 on an ad in
the Victoria Times-Colonist newspaper the day before the election.

Elections Canada defines such advertising as being intended to
"promote or oppose the election of one or more candidates in a given
electoral district."

LYALL KNOTT

Knott, a lawyer and a well-known supporter of both the B.C. Liberal
party and the federal Conservative party, is also listed, but his name
appears nowhere else in the search-warrant information.

Knott, who has given the B.C. Liberals more than $4,700 since 1999,
found himself being criticized by the NDP and media outlets in 2002
when he set up a $2,000-per-person private fundraising dinner at
Vancouver's Four Seasons Hotel for Stan Hagen, then B.C. minister for
sustainable resource management. Knott sent a letter to private-sector
mining, forestry, energy, and other executives reminding them that
Hagen can "provide faster approvals and greater access to Crown land
and resources to protect and create jobs in tourism, mining, forestry,
farming, ranching, oil and gas production."

The Web site of Clark, Wilson, the law firm where Knott is a senior
partner, says Knott's specialties include real-estate law and
public-private partnerships.

GLEN RINGDAL

Ringdal is CEO of the BC Automobile Dealers Association, which last
year alone contributed $54,967 to the B.C. Liberals. He was previously
president of the B.C. Lions and vice-president of the Vancouver
Canucks. There is no reference as to why his name is listed in the
search-warrant information.

COLIN TOPHAM

Topham is executive director of the federal Liberal party in B.C. and
was campaign manager for failed federal Liberal candidate Shirley Chan
in Vancouver East in this year's election. The former University of
Victoria Young Liberal is listed but appears nowhere else in the
search-warrant information.

AMAR BAJWA

Bajwa is another Paul Martin leadership organizer who has publicly
defended David Basi, a friend since high school. Bajwa was membership
chair of the federal Vancouver South=ADBurnaby riding where
then=ADcabinet minister Herb Dhaliwal lost control of his executive.
Dhaliwal blamed Basi for that hostile takeover and said Gary Collins
should be questioned by Gordon Campbell about his political staff's
actions.

Collins introduced Bajwa in the B.C. legislature on two occasions, in
1999 and 2001.

MANDEEP SINGH SANDHU

The RCMP just announced that Sandhu has been charged with conspiracy
to traffic in marijuana. In December, Sandhu was appointed to the
federal Liberal party executive in the Esquimalt-=ADJuan de Fuca
riding at Basi's request, but he was later removed when it was
discovered he was not a party member. Two days later, Sandhu's home
was searched by police as part of the drugs and organized-crime
investigation.

Sandhu is cousin to and owned property with Ravinder Dosanjh, the
Victoria police constable who has been suspended with pay because of
what Victoria police Chief Paul Battershill has called Dosanjh's
indirect links to the organized-crime investigation that led to the
legislature raid. Sandhu is related to Amar Bajwa, according to the
Vancouver Sun.

So, although the reasons for the raids at the B.C. legislature have
become clearer, much remains a mystery, including the political damage
this will do to the B.C. and federal Liberal parties.

But we do know that there are connections between a police
investigation into drugs, money-laundering, and organized crime, two
privatization deals worth more than $1 billion, and allegations of
breach of trust and fraud by top provincial government officials who
have extensive connections with the federal Liberal party and the
campaign to make Paul Martin leader and prime minister.

It doesn't get much bigger than that.