Premier Christy Clark has publicly declared, “Two people (Basi and Virk) have been convicted of accepting bribes who worked for the government … it confirms what I’ve been saying from the beginning. I have a spotlessly clean public record; I have always discharged my duties honorably.”
But hold on; what of the $6 million dollar pay-off! Speculation still surrounds the plea bargain that left taxpayers holding the bag for Basi and Virk’s $6 million defense. Why does Premier Clark refuse to call a Public Inquiry so that taxpayers know the truth about why this deal was struck?
Perhaps Christy Clark needs a reminder that on Monday October 18th (2010) then Attorney General Mike de Jong stated paying the defense fees (for the Basi / Virk lawyers) contravened normal government policy.
Premier Clark is now indicating that should situations like this arise in the future, she will walk the public through the process. Never mind the future; we have a situation now, and she needs to call a public inquiry into why that payment was made.
Other information from De Jong also indicates that while Basi and Virk did pay a small amount towards their defense, the legal services branch said there was no hope government would ever see the $6 million spent on their defense by taxpayers. Exactly how much was this ‘small amount’? Was it $100 … $1,000 … $10,000 … $100,000?
These two people (Basi and Virk) do have assets, and those assets need to go towards paying back as much of those defense costs as possible.
Has anyone stopped to consider how many people working at low pay jobs, how many single mothers, and how many people with disabilities could have mounted an adequate legal defense had that $6 million gone instead to Legal Aid?
The people of this province should get an answer from Christy Clark on why she still is refusing to call on Attorney General Barry Penner to hold a public inquiry into the Basi and Virk debacle.
Christy Clark, as a taxpayer of British Columbia, I deserve to know the answer.
I’m Alan Forseth in Kamloops, and those are the thoughts of one conservative.
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