BC Rail trial hits another possible delay

The five-year-old saga of the BC Rail corruption casetook another turn on Friday when the judge who was overseeing the case received a promotion.

Justice Elizabeth Bennett had been hearing the pre-trial argument in the case against former ministerial aids Dave Basi and Bobby Virk in B.C. Supreme Court for several years, but she has now been appointed to the provincial Court of Appeal by federal Justice Minister Rob Nicholson.

It's not clear yet what impact the appointment will have on the case, whichbegan with a high-profile police raid of some ministerial offices in the provincial legislature in December 2003, buthas yet to even make it to trial,

Special prosecutor Bill Berardino said Bennett sent out a memo assuring all sides the change won't cause more delaysin the case.

"The trial judge's memorandum confirms, in my view, that her appointment to the Court of Appeal will not affect the timing of the case," Berardino said in an interview on Friday, buthe would not discuss the details of what Bennett said in her memo.

Newjudge could mean delay of trial

One possibility isa newjudge may be appointed to take over the trial, but officials with the attorney general's office said it's also possible Bennett may continue hearing the proceedings.

Despite Berardino's assurances, a new judge taking overthe extremely complexcase more than five years after the raid could mean an even further delay before any of the men face trial. The case has been crawling through pre-trial arguments over the disclosure of hundreds of thousands of Crown documents.

It is currently the subject of a Supreme Court of Canada appeal related to the identity of a confidential police informant. That appeal relates to decisions in the B.C. Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal that would allow defence lawyers to learn the name of the informant. The Crown has appealed.

The Supreme Court heard the case in April and reserved its decision. It could be months before the country's top court makes its ruling.

Ministers' offices raided in 2003

Linking the corruption trial to the B.C. Liberal government was a major part of the B.C. NDP's recent election campaign strategy, after documents revealed key Liberal insider Patrick Kinsella received hundreds of thousands of dollars in contract payments from BC Rail for undisclosed services.

The 2003 legislature raid targeted the offices of Dave Basi, who worked for then-finance minister Gary Collins, and Bobby Virk, an aide for then-transportation minister Judith Reid.

Basi and Virk were each charged with fraud, breach of trust and accepting money and other benefits related to the $1-billion privatization sale of Crown-owned BC Rail to CN Rail in November 2003.

It's alleged they took money from lobbyists representing CN's rival for the purchase of BC Rail, OmniTrax, in exchange for confidential information about the sale.

Former communications officer Aneal Basi, Dave Basi's cousin, is charged with money laundering in connection to the case.