Latest review of alleged spending abuse at B.C. Legislature won’t be quick: Chief of Staff
Posted February 22, 2019 5:21 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VICTORIA (NEWS 1130) — We may have to wait at least 10 days for the results of a new misconduct review for expenses billed to taxpayers by B.C.’s suspended legislature clerk and sergeant-at-arms.
Alan Mullen, the Chief of Staff for the Office of the Speaker, says the retired judge looking into the actions of Craig James and Gary Lenz hasn’t been appointed yet.
“I don’t believe that the name has been settled on at this point. Like I said, it’s not going to be months and months and months because that defeats the purpose,” he says. “This is a review of all the information independently, but it’s not starting any new investigation.”
On Thursday, Speaker Darryl Plecas announced he’s recusing himself from this particular process, but Mullen says that doesn’t extend to ongoing work to ensure financial accountability and transparency at the Legislature.
“There’s a lot of things that need fixing and we’re going to continue to do so. We wouldn’t be considering these folks to be leaders of this place and that’s sort of all we’re saying, but there was some confusion that he’s recusing himself from sort of the ongoing work that we’re doing. He continues to be the head of the Legislature as the Speaker,” he says.
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Mullen also tells NEWS 1130 this new review won’t interfere with the ongoing RCMP investigation made public shortly after Lenz and James were escorted out of their offices in November.
“We have, since the beginning of this, constantly checked in with the special prosecutors to make sure that we’re not doing anything to impede that. I mean, the last thing we want to do is be impeding them or their work or their investigation which is obviously of a criminal nature.”
Plecas’s latest report detailing alleged misuse of taxpayer money includes a whale-watching trip in Washington State described as an “earthquake preparedness” expedition.
Lenz and James, who remain suspended with pay, both deny they’ve done anything wrong.
