Campaign to recall Speaker Plecas forges ahead
The organizer of a campaign to recall Darryl Plecas says he still intends to submit paperwork to remove the speaker from office despite his bombshell report alleging misconduct by two senior legislature officials.
Robin Roy, a Langley resident who runs a computer consulting firm, oversees the BCrecall2018 Facebook page and the website bcrecall.ca, where he is calling for the recall. Plecas was elected MLA for Abbotsford South in 2017 and had his membership to the B.C. Liberal party revoked after he took the role of Speaker.
Clerk Craig James and sergeant-at-arms Gary Lenz were suspended in November after being marched from the legislature by Victoria police officers. They are being accused of hundreds of thousands of dollars in “flagrant overspending” in a 76-page report by Plecas, which was released Monday after it was reviewed by members of the legislative assembly.
Roy said Wednesday that while the report has identified questionable spending, it does not excuse Plecas from failing to support the B.C. Liberals and do the job his constituents elected him to do.
“It does not do away with the point that Darryl Plecas still betrayed his voters,” Roy said. “His voters specifically voted him in as a Liberal representative for their riding.
He walked across the floor to take the Speaker’s seat self-servingly so he could get the bigger pay.”
Roy’s group had originally planned to submit recall paperwork to Elections B.C. by the end of January, but will do so in early February instead, so that James and Lenz have time to respond to the allegations in the report, he said.
“I would like to see them come forward, hopefully with lawyers,” Roy said. “I’d like to hear their other side of the story and see how biased it (Plecas’ report) really is, and give them a chance to defend themselves. I personally believe, right now, that they’re being scapegoated.”
Roy acknowledged that Plecas’ report identified some expenditures that were “out of control,” mentioning a $13,000 wood splitter and work trailer ordered to the legislature but kept at James’ home. But he said Plecas is “trying to bring something to light that we’ve all known for a long time,” adding that wasteful spending by politicians has been an issue in B.C. for decades.
He questioned whether Plecas’ decision not to immediately report the lavish spending he had observed was an attempt to entrap James and Lenz.
He also questioned whether the report was released this week to divert attention from his recall campaign or to influence the Nanaimo byelection, which could topple the NDP-Green coalition if the Liberal candidate is elected.
“Timing is everything,” Roy said.
Under B.C.’s recall law, voters can remove an MLA from office if they can collect signatures from at least 40 per cent of eligible voters in the MLA’s riding during a 60-day campaign.
Roy said his campaign is seeking more volunteers to canvass voters.
Abbotsford South had 41,002 registered voters in the 2017 election, setting the recall threshold at around 16,400 votes. Plecas won 52.48 per cent of the popular vote in 2017, or 11,683 votes.
His voters specifically voted him in as a Liberal representative for their riding.” Robin Roy, campaign organizer