Thursday, May 15, 2008

Raid opens old political wounds

By Dan Hilborn
Published Jan. 3, 2004


A political scandal that is swirling around the legislative building in Victoria has reached into Burnaby.

One of the most successful Liberal politicians to represent this city over the past two decades - Vancouver South- Burnaby MP Herb Dhaliwal - is calling on B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell to come home from his Hawaiian vacation to answer exactly what involvement he had with the two senior political staff people who are under investigation by the RCMP.

"The premier should be asking some tough questions of his two ministers," Dhaliwal said after the Sunday morning raid on the offices of two aides to B.C. cabinet ministers in Victoria. "I think that some of the people involved should certainly come out and make it clear what their involvement was."

Dhaliwal, who has served as a member of Parliament in Burnaby since 1997, said that David Basi, who was fired from his post as ministerial assistant to B.C. Finance Minister Gary Collins on Monday, was instrumental in organizing a coup of Dhaliwal's riding executive in November 2002.

Last Sunday (Dec. 28), as part of an ongoing investigation into the illegal drug trade, the RCMP commercial crime section removed more than 30 boxes of materials from where Basi worked in Collins' office, plus the office of the Bob Virk, a ministerial aide to Transportation Minister Judith Reid.

Basi was fired by Premier Gordon Campbell and Virk was suspended with pay.

No charges have yet been laid in the case, however, police spokesperson Sgt. John Ward confirmed the investigation revolves around allegations of organized crime and drugs.

"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. Today, the value of the illegal marijuana trade alone is estimated to be worth in excess of $6 billion. We are seeing major increases in organized-crime related murders, beatings, extortion, money laundering and other activity which touches many innocent lives," Ward said.

Dhaliwal, the former senior political minister for British Columbia, believes Basi was one of the organizers of a controversial November 2000 meeting that resulted in his loss of support in the riding.

"I was quite concerned that people from Victoria were involved in meddling in my riding," said Dhaliwal, who announced earlier this month that he will be retiring from politics to go back into his family-run businesses. "I was the senior minister for B.C. who was worked closely with the premier and they had their own political staff trying to undermine me. I find that incredible.

"I think the premier should be asking some tough questions of his ministers Collins and Reid," Dhaliwal said. "I was just amazed that there were people in Victoria who were actively trying to take over my riding."

The November 2002 meeting resulted in SFU political science professor Shinder Purewal being installed as the new riding president.

Purewal, a former BVNPA candidate for Burnaby city council who now lives in Surrey, has already announced his intention to run for the federal Liberal party nomination in the new South Vancouver riding.

"Mr. Purewal should come out an clear the air," Dhaliwal said. "This was an orchestrated coup, and that's unfortunate. This is the sort of sleazy part of gutter politics that people have to sometimes deal with, and it's regrettable."

Purewal refuted the allegations, and said that while he does know Basi, the people from Victoria had no involvement in the controversial meeting.

"If there's any evidence that Mr. Dhaliwal can show that these people from Victoria were involved, then he should present it," said Purewal.

While Purewal admits to knowing Basi, he also claims that their relationship ends there. "I know him but I also know Liberal party operators in Ontario. So does that mean that all the Liberals I know are friends?"

Purewal also said that Dhaliwal was simply looking for excuses for his own inability to hang onto the riding. "In November 2000, he (Dhaliwal) was saying that I did it (organized the coup). Then Dhaliwal said Paul Martin did it, and now, all of a sudden with the bad publicity, they what to associate this with the events in Victoria. It has absolutely nothing to do with it."

Meanwhile, according to press reports from Victoria, several other prominent names from Burnaby have possible connections to the two ministerial aides who are the focus of the investigation.

Bill Cunningham, a longtime city resident and the president of the B.C. wing of the federal Liberal party, said the link between the two provincial ministerial assistants and the federal Liberal party is tenuous at best.

"First of all, other than some irresponsible speculation, there has been no inference that the investigation in Victoria really had anything to do with the federal party. I know there's quite an absence of facts and there's rampant speculation.

"People are trying to find links and ties that are probably being quite exaggerated."

Cunningham said the controversy in the Vancouver-South Burnaby constituency was simply an airing of animosities between supporters of current Prime Minister Paul Martin and his predecessor Jean Chretien.

"The people we're talking about, David Basi in particular, certainly has been active in the federal party for some time. He was a supporter of Paul Martin and his primary circle of influence was in Victoria. He may very well have connections with friends and family that extant beyond that, but to suggest that he was a key player in what happened in Vancouver-South Burnaby is clearly an exaggeration."

Meanwhile, another well-known local name may have other connections to the case.

Erik Bornman, a 27-year-old employee of Pilothouse Public Affairs Group in Victoria who had his office raided by police on Sunday, worked as a campaign manager for Burnaby Coun. Lee Rankin, when he ran unsuccessfully for the federal Liberal party in the general election of November 2000.

Rankin, a former NDP member who quit that party in disgust in the aftermath of North Burnaby Inn casino scandal, said his involvement with Bornman ended after that election.

"He (Bornman) was assigned to manage my campaign. Let's put it that way," Rankin said, noting that he became a candidate after the election was underway, and needed to put a campaign team in place quickly. "I see him from time to time, but that's it. I have absolutely no other information."

Rankin noted that he is following the media reports of the investigation with as much interest as anyone.

When asked if he is concerned about the investigation tarnishing the image of the B.C. Liberals, Rankin said he wants to see how events unfold over the coming months.

"I've been reading with interest what the RCMP are saying and, hopefully, they are doing their jobs with a dispassionate, professional investigative approach. However, it is not clear to me exactly who are the suspects.

"The individuals who worked for the ministers, it's not clear if they are the focus of the investigation or if they just have material that might be of importance to the investigation.

"I concur with the statement from the RCMP that criminal activity associated with drug production and trafficking and the money laundering associated with that activity is a serious and corrupting factor in society and needs to be rooted out forcefully," Rankin said. "The potential for corrupting the body politic as well as the serious criminality of assassinations and criminal influence of organizations is profoundly dangerous for our society."

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