ANOTHER CLOUD OVER LEGISLATURE

Once again, the B.C. political scene is providing amusement for the rest of
the country. It seems impossible for the province to go a year without some
sort of scandal plaguing the capital.

A weekend raid on the offices of two senior cabinet ministers is the latest
incident to get the country talking. Armed with a search warrant, police
removed materials belonging to two ministerial assistants, both political
appointments.

Investigators stressed at a news conference Monday that no elected
politicians were being investigated and that it was not a political
investigation.

It will, however, have political fallout if the two people involved were
close to government ministers. People are going to want to know if people
connected to an organized-crime drug case had the trust of elected
officials.

It is too early for B.C. residents to become overly concerned about the
raid, the investigation and the impact on the provincial government. Almost
no information is available yet about what led to the search.

Even if the search warrant details become public, it will still be necessary
to proceed cautiously before reaching any conclusions about whether
wrongdoing has occurred.

Search warrants are notoriously exaggerated and often contain information
that is later revealed to be irrelevant or unacceptable in a court of law.

It's unfortunate, however, that if the investigation is not political in
nature that a search of legislative offices was necessary and that two
political appointees have already either been suspended or fired as a
result.

It casts a cloud over the government in the eyes of the rest of the country.