Auditor general asks courts for broader access to BC Rail trial files

VANCOUVER – B.C.’s auditor general still doesn’t have enough information to complete his audit of a controversial $6 million legal payout for two former ministerial aides and he wants the court to force lawyers to open those files.

Lawyers are wrapping up final arguments in B.C. Supreme Court by asking the judge to compel further information so John Doyle can audit the decision to pay legal costs for Dave Basi and Bobby Virk after their guilty pleas in the BC Rail trial.

The judge already told the government to open its books in August 2011, but Doyle’s lawyer says certain files protected by solicitor-client privilege were never handed over, and that’s preventing him from doing his job.

Louis Zivot (zihv-it), representing the auditor general, told the court that certain documents are still missing while other files are heavily redacted.

He says the auditor general simply wants access to the documents for his review, and would not be widely exposing the information.

Basi and Virk admitted in the fall of 2010 to leaking confidential BC Rail documents — actions that in 2003 prompted a raid on the provincial legislature and ended with an $18 million trial.