July 11, 2012 - 5:11 PM
VANCOUVER - Persistent B.C. politician John van Dongen will be getting his hands on more transcripts from the B.C. Rail corruption trial in his quest to bring new information to the public eye.
The transcripts date back to June 2009 for hearings that occurred before the lengthy trial ended in guilty pleas by two former government employees.
The B.C. government agreed to pay $6 million in legal bills for Dave Basi and Bobby Virk before the pair admitted to leaking government secrets in exchange for benefits.
Van Dongen has already obtained several binders of documents relating to his bid to uncover why the legal fees were paid for the two former ministerial aides.
Van Dongen's lawyer Roger McConchie says his client wants the documents in order to examine several avenues of investigation, but said he couldn't elaborate until after van Dongen goes through the information.
B.C.'s auditor general is currently reviewing the government's decision to waive Basi and Virk's legal costs, and van Dongen has intervenor status in that application.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2012