An e-mail exchange between the former vice-president of BC Rail and the deputy finance minister may prove to be a headache for B.C. premier Gordon Campbell during the upcoming provincial election campaign.
The exchange between Kevin Mahoney of BC Rail and deputy minister Chris Trumpy in 2004 emphasized Liberal party insider Patrick Kinsella's importance at every level during the sale of BC Rail to CN, according to a lawyer at the fraud trial of former government aides.
The exchange, along with other emails, was read out in court at the trial on Thursday.
Bobby Virk and Dave Basi are charged with accepting a benefit, fraud and breach of trust, following an unprecedented police raid on the legislature and seizure of boxes of papers relating to the sale five years ago. Aneal Basi is also on trial, accused of money-laundering.
At least one prospective buyer pulled out of negotiations, citing CN's unfair advantage.
One e-mail between Mahoney and Trumpy suggested CN feared the sale would fall through, and mentioned his connection to the premier through the latter's chief of staff at the time, Martyn Brown.
"Patrick Kinsella received a call from [Chairman] Dave McLean of CN, who in essence told him the deal was at risk and anything they could do would not only be appreciated, but needed and needed now... Kinsella intends to speak to Martyn," the e-mail reads.
Outside the courtroom, Basi's lawyer Michael Bolton said the e-mails were a "very small amount of evidence" but nonetheless important to his clients because they showed they "were doing the bidding of political masters to assist in creating the appearance of a fair auction."
"We do not have copies of contracts for Mr. Kinsella, no invoices or reports. No e-mails or communications he made to the premier, BC Rail and CN," said Bolton. "What we are doing now is piecing together part of the picture that is very, very important to the defense of our clients. Piecing it together from a real lack of documentation."
The NDP's justice critic Leonard Krog was also at the court to hear the e-mails read.
"The e-mails indicate that the BC Rail deal was going sideways, the government was panicking... We have information now that indicates that the premier, Patrick Kinsella, and the head of CN were all in the room together," said Krog.
"It is clear that Mr. Kinsella appears to be working for B.C. Rail at the same time he was working for CN. What is apparent to me is that Gordon Campbell needs to come clean with what happened."
Kinsella, who was the co-chair of the B.C. Liberal's elections campaigns in 2001 and 2005, was paid almost $300,000 by BC Rail for consultancy work as the sale was being negotiated.
Krog said he believed the e-mail exchange indicated the preferred bidder was CN and that Kinsella was "working both sides of the street".
With reports by CTV National reporter Rob Brown and CTV British Columbia's Jim Beatty.
