IN A REPORT RELEASED MONDAY, THE SPEAKER OF B.C.’S LEGISLATURE ALLEGES THAT A CLERK AND SERGEANT-AT-ARMS ENGAGED IN FLAGRANT OVERSPENDING, QUESTIONABLE EXPENSES AND INAPPROPRIATE PAYOUTS OF CASH.
Suspended sergeant-at-arms and clerk
VICTORIA • The Speaker of the British Columbia legislature alleges the clerk and sergeant-at-arms engaged in flagrant overspending, questionable expenses and inappropriate payouts of cash “in the range of a million dollars.”
Darryl Plecas says in an explosive 76-page report released Monday that based on what he had seen and heard, he believed there was a real possibility crimes may have been committed and he felt obligated to contact the RCMP.
Sergeant-at-arms Gary Lenz and clerk of the house Craig James were suspended and escorted out of the legislature in November without any explanation.
Plecas’s report claims inappropriate expenses, “lavish” foreign trips, unfair terminations in the building, questionable retirement and pay benefits, and odd instances like a wood-splitter kept at the clerk’s house and a truck-load of missing alcohol.
“I would suggest what’s contained in this report is improper, at times against policy,” said Plecas’s special adviser, Alan Mullen.
“It’s not speculation, it’s not made up, it’s not opinion, it is fact and it is backed up by documents, receipts, letters and proof.”
Mullen also said there are more allegations that may be criminal but are not included in the report, though he declined to elaborate.
He said some of the concerns date back to outof-date and unacceptable spending practices that have dogged the building for years, and others are related to how the two individuals allegedly conducted themselves.
In an introduction to the report, Plecas lists a number of allegations against James and Lenz including:
❚ “Flagrant overspending on luxurious trips overseas with questionable business rationales.”
❚ “Expensing of all manner of personal purchases to the Legislative Assembly, totalling tens of thousands of dollars over a period of less than two years.”
❚ “Inappropriate payouts of cash in lieu of vacation, which appear to total in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
❚ “Lack of oversight or appropriate protocols in the awarding of employment benefits, and evidence of attempts to obtain highly questionable further benefits, collectively representing actual or contingent liabilities to the Legislative Assembly totalling in the millions of dollars.”
The report sets out in detail some of the trips, such as one to England shortly after Plecas became Speaker. The trip — ostensibly to meet the U.K. security service and buy a Speaker’s hat — was taken by Plecas, James and Lenz.
“Our accommodation was the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge, a very expensive hotel across the river from Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament,” said the report, about the beginning of the trip.
“Throughout the trip, I was very surprised at how luxuriously we were travelling and how little we were doing for a work trip. However, I did not take an issue with it at the time because I was still new to the Speaker’s job and did not want to alienate these key officers by making it seem like I was second-guessing them or questioning what appeared to be their standard practice.”
Of another trip to China in June 2018, the report says, “We flew business class both ways and stayed in luxurious hotels.”
In a meeting in October last year, the report alleges, Lenz produced a 2019 calendar and had identified several possible “business trips.”
“The message was implicit, but obvious, that we would determine later how to justify the locations we selected as a business purpose,” says the report. “(Lenz) said, ‘OK, where in the world do you want to go?’”
Liberal House leader Mary Polak said she was pleased the information was now public, but questioned why Plecas himself signed off on some of the expenses and went on some of the same questionable trips.
After reviewing the report, MLAs voted to commission a forensic audit by an auditor-general from another province, as well as conduct a “workplace review.”
The building’s suspended clerk and sergeant-at-arms will be asked to submit a written response to the Speaker’s report and allegations by Feb. 1, MLAs voted unanimously.
The RCMP are investigating allegations against the two men and two special prosecutors had been appointed to assist in the investigation.
Plecas said regardless of what happens in the criminal context, the legislature needs to review and consider the matters to determine if the conduct is inconsistent with the duties of those involved.
“British Columbia taxpayers deserve a legislative assembly that is accountable, transparent, efficient, fiscally responsible and fair to its employees,” he said.