Former Quesnel Mayor Comes Up In Basi-Virk Case

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          Former Quesnel Mayor Steve Wallace says he was paid $1,000 dollars($500.00 dollars a day) by Pilot House after he said a Pilothouse Communications Executive asked him to (in Wallace’s words) “sniff around and see who’s opposed and who is in favour of the CN bid”.  He adds “I had been against the CN buy out".

The cheque was written to Wallace Driving School, a company Steve Wallace operates and Wallace received the cheque on November 1st 2002.  That was fifteen days before he was voted out as Mayor of Quesnel. “I worked for a couple days and then gave him a verbal report.” says Wallace.

Wallace says he took the check from Pilot House, “I found out later he was working for OmniTrax”.

When asked if he met Brian Kieran (of Pilothouse) at the UBCM convention held in September or October about a month earlier that year, Wallace said, “Yah, I think that’s when I first met him.”

In a pre-trial hearing going on in Vancouver before Madam Justice Elizabeth Bennett, police have revealed that they found a note attached to that cheque from Pilot House’s Brian Kieran saying “Our friend understands where this cheque originates and he is grateful.” The cheque was included in cheques totaling $297,000 dollars, billings to OmniTrax from Pilot House. 

David Basi and Bob Virk, two former Ministerial Aides in the Liberal government are charged with breach of Trust and Fraud.

Earlier Michael Bolton, representing David Basi read into the record, a wiretap cell phone conversation between Basi and then Finance Minister Gary Collins, the call was recorded on October 31/2003.

The call takes place less than one month before the BC rail sale is announced. A portion of that transcript is provided by writer Bill Tieleman, writing for the Tyee, as carried May 4-2007

The following is a transcript taken from notes from Bolton’s statement in court and is slightly abbreviated:

Collins: Hello.

Basi: Hi boss. Judith Reid was on Ben Meisner [at the time, a Prince George radio talk show host] -- she handled herself real well. There was only one call and it was ours.

Collins: Good.

Basi: Bill Vander Zalm will be on [radio] with Barb Sharp -- mayor of North Vancouver. [former B.C. premier Vander Zalm and Sharp both opposed BC Rail privatization]

Collins: Uh-huh.

Basi: I wanted to have the mayor of Squamish, who’s a good friend of ours, rip Barb Sharp a new asshole. Is that okay?

Collins: Absolutely.

Basi: I called Jerry Lampert of the [BC] Business Council and said: ’Jerry, we need your help.’ The Prince George Citizen might take an op-ed [opinion editorial article] but they don’t want only positive pieces.

Collins: Well, you could do that....I want you to keep this completely to yourself  because there’s only two of us who know about this

Basi: Okay.

Collins: I talked to the Premier. We want to put Colin Kinsley [mayor of Prince George] and the mayor of Squamish on the committee.

Basi: I’m going to call Ian Sutherland [mayor of Squamish] at home.

Collins: Uh-huh.

Basi: Then we’re going to arrange calls and rip these guys up good.

Collins: Okay but don’t tell Sutherland because it’s the Premier who’s going to call.

It should be noted again that the wiretapped conversation cited by Bolton is part of the defence allegations, which are unproven in court and to which the Crown has yet to respond.

In his final comment Former Quesnel Mayor Steve Wallace says, “I can’t remember whether I supported the sale of BC rail.”  “I think most people knew I was opposed to the sale in 2002,” … “If it was going to be sold I didn’t like the CN connection”.

Editor’s note;

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