Wild day as cops march top officials out of legislature

It was almost like B.C. was overdue for one of our patented, wild-and-crazy, only-in-B.C. political scandalpaloozas.

After all, it’s been years since a premier’s house was raided by the police with a TV camera filming through the kitchen window (Glen Clark). Or since a premier spent time in a Hawaiian jail cell while police faxed out his mug shot to the stunned folks back home (Gordon Campbell.)

And as for that scandal-plagued building in Victoria, it’s hard to believe it’s been nearly 15 years since a platoon of beefy sergeants trooped down the corridors of power and busted the legislature in a surprise raid (B.C. Rail.)

I was reminded of this sordid history just the other day by a pal who wondered why we haven’t had another political barnburner in so long.

“Just wait,” I said. “Something always happens.”

And so it came to pass on Tuesday, as Solicitor-General Mike Farnworth stood with trembling hands to make a stunning announcement. The clerk and the sergeant-atarms of the legislature, Farnworth revealed, were to be placed on paid leave during an RCMP criminal investigation.

A short time later, the ashen-faced clerk, Craig James, and the equally stunned-looking sergeant-at-arms, Gary Lenz, were marched out of the stately building under police escort. It was a shocking series of events that left everyone in the place — from the politicians to the bureaucrats to the janitors — all looking around open-jawed with one question on everyone’s minds: What the hell is going on here?

James, a friendly fellow who rides his bike to work and who will happily invite you into his office for a chat, claimed to have no idea.

“I’m shocked,” he said, just before he was led away, adding he had spoken to Lenz, who was equally in the dark. “I think we have a right to know what it is.” The pair left the precincts together in the same vehicle.

No details were offered about the investigation or what it entails. But one thing was made clear: Whatever it is, it’s big. The B.C. Prosecution Service revealed that the RCMP probe had been underway for weeks, with a request for a special prosecutor filed Sept. 28.

Peter Juk, the province’s assistant deputy attorney-general, decided two special prosecutors were warranted “given the potential size and scope of the investigation.”

So what’s it all about? The office of Speaker Darryl Plecas would only say it has to do with James’s and Lenz’s work at the legislature.

“It’s directly looking at their administrative duties,” said Alan Mullen, special adviser to the Speaker. “It’s an ongoing and active criminal investigation. It is absolutely unprecedented. It’s disturbing. It’s disruptive.”

Disturbing, indeed. James is the senior appointed official in the legislature. Lenz is in charge of safety and security.

But no one is saying what the criminal investigation is about, which is a pretty shabby way to treat the people who own the people’s House. But the “no comments” will only last so long. The facts will come out in yet another onlyin-B.C. affair.