Revelations emerging from the pre-trial disclosure motion in R. v. Basi et al bring back memories of Liberal MLA Paul Reitsma, who resigned in 1998 after it was revealed that he had penned letters to the editor using the nom de plume of Warren Betanko”, and prompted a series of questions in the legislature today, including this gem:

M. Farnworth: I didn’t mention the term “courthouse.” I didn’t mention the term “trial.” I didn’t even ask if these employees came from the firm of Haldeman, Ehrlichman, Dean and Mitchell. What I asked, Hon. Speaker…

There’s a pattern in this government of senior staff misrepresenting themselves in the public. We’ve seen it with Prem Vinning, we’ve seen it with the Deputy Premier’s assistant, and now we are asking questions about staff in the Premier’s office.
So my question once again to the Premier is this: can he assure this House, can he assure the taxpayers of British Columbia that senior communications staff in his office are not working on blatant, partisan media manipulation?

All questions in this vein were met with a similar response: “no comment, the matter is before the courts”.

It is more than a bit troubling to this writer that the government of this province may employ people who resort to juvenile tactics to manipulate the media and the public. For more on this, check out thetyee.ca or billtielemanblogspot.com.