Say no legal grounds to subpoena bank governor
Jump to full article: Windsor (Ont) Star (ca), 2005-11-22
Author: Shannon Kari For CanWest News Service
Intro: The federal government is arguing that JTI-Macdonald Corp. and a number of its former tobacco executives facing fraud charges have no legal grounds to compel Bank of Canada governor David Dodge and other senior civil servants to testify at a preliminary hearing.
The defendants' request "has nothing to do with the preliminary," argued lawyer Ronald Slaght in Ontario Superior Court Monday.
Slaght, who has also been retained by the federal government in its $1.2-billion suit against JTI-Macdonald, suggested the request is a "fishing expedition" to find out information to defend the civil action. . . .
Lawyers for the defendants obtained subpoenas recently for 15 civil servants, including Dodge, a former deputy finance minister.
The other civil servants include the current deputy finance minister Ian Bennett, director general of the Canada Revenue Agency Fred O'Riordan, as well as three senior Ottawa-based Justice Department lawyers.
A number of the civil servants were interviewed by the RCMP during its investigation and made statements that the defendants' lawyers say are helpful to their clients.
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