BC Rail prosecutor defends Liberal donation

More questions are being raised about the links between special prosecutors and the B.C. Liberal government, this timeinvolvingthe BC Rail corruption case.

On Thursday, it was revealed the firm of special prosecutor Bill Berardino who was appointed to prosecute two former Liberal cabinet aides in the BC Rail case donated $600 to the campaign of former attorney general Wally Oppal at a fundraising breakfast in 2005.

The charges of corruption and fraud against the two former ministerial aides, Dave Basi and Bobby Virk, stem from RCMP raids of cabinet office in the legislature in 2003. But the twohave always maintained that whatever they did during the sale of BC Rail to CN Rail was on government orders.

Berardino said he doesn't see a problem with his firm's donation to a B.C. Liberal cabinet minister, but he double-checked with former Supreme Court Justice Thomas Berger, who said he looked at all of the facts and believed there is no conflict of interest.

Furthermore,Berger said he doesn't believe there is an appearance of a conflict and told Berardino it was his public duty to continue with the case.

Law society investigates conduct

Special prosecutors in B.C. have been under scrutiny for their political links after the lawyer who cleared former solicitor general Kash Heed of wrongdoing then stepped aside because he donated money to Heed's election campaign.

The conduct of the special prosecutor, Terrence Robertson, is now being investigated by the British Columbia Law Society

Victoria lobbyist Mike Geoghegan says the B.C. Law Society should investigate Berardino as well.

"He's making key decisions about who gets prosecuted, what documents get released or don't get released. I mean, it creates an appearance of bias," said Geoghegan.

The law society says it will look into the complaint, as it does with all complaints.

Process under review

Meanwhile, the Criminal Justice Branch said it's looking at making changes to the way it appoints special prosecutors.

Spokesman Neil Mackenzie said that in the future, special prosecutors should be aware of the "optics" of political donations, but the branch has no intention of reviewing Beradino's role as special prosecutor in the Basi-Virk case.

Special prosecutors are senior lawyers from private firmswho are appointed for politically sensitive cases in B.C. to replace Crown prosecutors, who work for the Criminal Justice Branch.

The appointments are made without the input of the elected MLAs, in order to prevent political interference.

Solicitor General Mike de Jong said the government hasn't been guilty of any collusion or impropriety, but blamed the process for the controversy.

"There was a failure of the process by which special prosecutors are appointed and carry out their work," said de Jong.

De Jong told the legislature on Thursday the government may decide to hire lawyers from other provinces to fill the role of special prosecutors toprevent such conflicts.

But he also rejected New Democrat claims that the government bungled the appointment of Terrence Robertson, the prosecutor in the Heed case, saying the NDP is suggesting the government take political control of what has been an independent decision by the Criminal Justice Branch.