BC Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth Bennett has ruled that the emails of Premier Gordon Campbell, most cabinet ministers and political staff are "likely relevant" to the defence in the Basi-Virk case and ordered they be disclosed to the defence.
The precedent-setting ruling will see for the first time the emails of a sitting premier turned over to defence lawyers for three former BC government aides facing corruption charges connected to the $1 billion sale of BC Rail in 2003.
But it remains unclear whether those emails still exist. It was learned last week that backup tapes still existed in early May 2009 but a government order was issued to destroy them. The tapes were sent to an outside contractor for disposal. EDS Advanced Solutions was sent the tapes but it is not known yet if the order to destroy them was completed.
Defence lawyer Michael Bolton, representing David Basi, said Bennett's decision was extremely important.
"This may be the most critical ruling in this case," Bolton said. "It's virtually unprecedented."
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Source: thetyee.ca
By: Bill Tieleman
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