Saturday, March 20, 1999
RCMP close investigation into barren
HALIFAX ( (Halifax Chronicle-Herald)-- A lengthy RCMP investigation has found no evidence anyone cashed in on inside information about Nova Scotia's controversial 1996 decision to open a northern Cape Breton bog to mineral exploration.
The Mounties' Halifax-based commercial crime section has wrapped up a 19-month investigation into the Jim Campbells Barren affair and concluded no charges are warranted.
"They're satisfied that they did as much as they possibly could," said Sgt. Wayne Noonan, an RCMP spokesman. "There's nothing to substantiate charges.
"The file is concluded. That means it's over."
The investigation was launched in August 1997 after environmentalist and filmmaker Neal Livingston uncovered government documents that suggested cabinet secrets had been leaked to mining promoters.
The cabinet of then-Premier John Savage decided on Nov. 21, 1996, to remove the 1,700-hectare barren from a list of protected wilderness areas, allowing Regal Goldfields Ltd. to drill for gold, nickel and other minerals.
The decision, which outraged conservation and salmon-fishing groups, wasn't made public until Dec. 3. In the meantime there was a suspicious flurry of trading in Regal shares, bumping up share value 44 per cent to $1.15.
Some 300,000 shares traded the day after cabinet's decision more than during the entire month of October 1996.
The probe focused on whether any politician or government official profited from inside information, committing the criminal offence of breach of trust.
Noonan outlined the steps taken to try to substantiate the allegations, including:
* Interviewing former cabinet ministers and officials of the cabinet office, the premier's office and the Natural Resources Department. The RCMP will not name those questioned.
* Examining mineral claims in and around the barren and reviewing other government records.
* Questioning shareholders and brokers in several provinces and abroad.
* Reviewing trading records seized by search warrant from 10 brokerage firms in Toronto.
* Interviewing Regal executives and directors and reviewing the company's records earlier this month.
"It sounds like they did a thorough job," Livingston said when contacted Friday at his Cape Breton home.
Tory Brooke Taylor, who filed the complaint that sparked the investigation, was briefed on the outcome at a meeting Thursday with the RCMP.
He, too, is satisfied with the RCMP's efforts.
"The Progressive Conservatives' motive was only to get to the bottom of it," he said.
Premier Russell MacLellan's government restored the barren's protected status soon after taking office in 1997, before exploration could begin.
Regal officials insist they had no advance knowledge of the 1996 decision. Company president Richard Brissenden has speculated the trades were tied to drilling results at an Ontario property.
Brissenden welcomed the news Friday, saying the investigation made it tough to raise money for exploration. "It's not pleasant to have something like that hanging over your head."
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