BC Rail corruption trial delayed again

The long-awaited trial of three former B.C. government employees charged aftera 2003 raid on the B.C. legislature has been adjourned until Tuesday.

The trial involvingtwo formerLiberal cabinet aides on corruption charges got off to a slow start in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver on Monday when, because of "unresolved issues," Justice Anne MacKenzie dismissed the jury until later in the day.

But when the jury filed back into the Vancouver courtroom at 2 p.m. PT,MacKenzie told themanother issue had come up and the trial would not resumeuntil Tuesday.

News media are prohibited from reporting on issues heard in the courtroom without the jury present.

The trial, which is expected to lastsix toeight weeks, has already been delayed by several years of legal proceedings about which evidence will be admissible.

David Basi and Bob Virk have pleaded not guilty to charges of breach of trust and fraud. A third man, Aneal Basi, a cousin of David Basi, has pleaded not guilty to money laundering.

The charges followed a raid on the legislature by the RCMP on Dec. 28, 2003,after the government's billion-dollar deal to sell off the provincially owned BC Rail corporation.

The Crown alleges David Basi and Virk leaked sensitive documents to one of the bidders in the sale, and took money and benefits in return. But the defence alleges the two were only following the directions of their political masters.

This has steeredthe trial into the sacrosanct world of the provincial cabinet, andthedocuments and emails ofhigh-level civil servants and cabinet ministersare expected to play a key role in the trial.

The Crown has said it will call 30 witnesses, includingtop government officials, former finance minister Gary Collins and former transportation minister Judith Reid.

The NDP's attorney general critic, Leonard Krog, says he hopes British Columbians get the true story about what happened.

"It was a major Crown asset," Krog said. "British Columbians were entitled to know what happened to their railway, and they can pass judgment on Mr. Campbell and his government at the next election accordingly."

MacKenzie, the associate chief justice,is presiding over the trial with a jury of seven men and five women.