B.C. RAID CONTROVERSY FOLLOWS PM DOWN EAST

OTTAWA AND WOLFVILLE, N.S. -- The clouds of political controversy on the
West Coast followed Prime Minister Paul Martin on his first official trip to
the East Coast.

Mr. Martin promised in Nova Scotia yesterday to "act very rapidly" if a
police investigation into organized crime in British Columbia uncovers links
to the federal Liberal government.

But he said the recent police raid of the B.C. Legislature does not have any
ties to the federal wing of the party.

"We really don't know what the nature of the investigation is," he told
reporters at a news conference in Wolfville, his first official trip since
being sworn in as Prime Minister on Dec. 12. "We have not been contacted by
the police, so essentially, we don't know really what it is they're looking
for."

Details of the 20-month investigation into drug smuggling and money
laundering are sketchy, with search warrants sealed from a raid of two B.C.
Legislature offices more than a week ago.

Police served search warrants at the legislature offices of David Basi, an
assistant to B.C. Finance Minister Gary Collins, and Bob Virk, an assistant
to Transportation Minister Judith Reid.

As part of the probe, the RCMP has also talked to some top federal Liberals,
including Mark Marissen, Mr. Martin's B.C. campaign chairman and the husband
of the province's Deputy Premier Christy Clark; Bruce Clark, Ms. Clark's
brother and the chief fundraiser for the federal Liberals in B.C.; and Erik
Bornman, who runs communications for the B.C. wing of the federal Liberals.

NDP Leader Jack Layton called a news conference yesterday urging all three
men to step aside during the investigation.

"We're asking Paul Martin to demonstrate some leadership here," he said. "It
would be wisest [for them] to step aside during the investigation process."
He emphasized that none of the three officials has been accused of any
wrongdoing, but said for them to remain "leaves an inappropriate situation
in place."

John Reynolds, the Canadian Alliance House Leader and a Vancouver MP, also
called on Mr. Martin to address the federal Liberal's problems in B.C.
during the highly-publicized police probe.

Mr. Martin said Mr. Marissen, who was asked to hand over documents, is not
under investigation.

"Police have said that Mark Marissen is in no way implicated," Mr. Martin
said, adding that Mr. Marissen has also received a letter from police
absolving him of any involvement.

Mr. Martin admitted police have requested e-mails from Mr. Marissen but
stressed several times that he has not been implicated.

"The police specifically said was that he was in no way implicated and was
the innocent recipient, perhaps, of some e-mails," Mr. Martin said. "We
really don't know what it is exactly they're looking for.

"But when the investigation is complete, if there are any consequences
flowing from that, we will act very rapidly. We'd like to see the
investigation completed as quickly as possible. As far as we know there
would appear to be no federal involvement at all."

Mr. Marissen, who could not be reached for comment yesterday, said earlier
this week that reports documents were seized from his home office were
incorrect and "devastating." Mr. Clark and Mr. Bornman also did not return
phone calls.

Bill Cunningham, president of the B.C. wing of the federal Liberal Party,
said yesterday that none of the three officials named by Mr. Layton would
step down.

"What Mr. Layton fails to recognize is that these individuals aren't under
investigation. They have information the RCMP are interested in . . . but
are not under suspicion."

Mr. Martin was in Nova Scotia to boost former Tory leadership hopeful Scott
Brison's profile and help him on his campaign to run for the Liberals.