Speaker’s man has an ironic resume

There is much ironic reading in the court documents detailing Alan Mullen’s interrupted career in casino security.

Mullen was hired as an adviser by Speaker Darryl Plecas in January, partly to investigate Craig James, the B.C. legislature’s clerk, and Gary Lenz, the sergeant-at-arms, who were suspended last week.

James and Lenz were marched out of the legislature by police. Mullen, who marched beside cops during the perp-walk, apparently knows how the two men feel.

Court documents reveal Mullen sued Great Canadian Casinos for wrongful dismissal in 2007 after he was fired as a security manager, an experience Mullen called “humiliating.”

The casino firm fought back, arguing Mullen was suspended for four days without pay for “intoxication in the workplace” and later fired for cause. Mullen has refused to comment on the case, which was either dropped or settled out of court, the documents indicate.

A workplace dispute more than a decade ago certainly doesn’t disqualify Mullen from being hired as Plecas’s $75,000-a-year “special adviser.”

But it could raise further doubts about the Speaker’s judgment in the bizarre affair after Plecas suggested that Mullen, a friend, be appointed to replace Lenz as sergeantat-arms. The sergeant-at-arms does more than carry the ceremonial gold mace into the chamber. It’s an important position requiring RCMP and CSIS security clearance.

The sergeant-at-arms is responsible for safety and security of MLAs, staff and members of the public at the legislature, not to mention emergency preparedness, terror-threat planning, security at MLA constituency offices and safekeeping of parliamentary documents, among more.

The position is typically filled by a law-enforcement pro. Lenz, for example, is a former RCMP inspector.

The three party House leaders quickly rejected Plecas’s suggestion that Lenz be replaced by Mullen, who also worked as a federal prison administrator. But the opposition Liberals have slammed Plecas for even suggesting the idea.

“This is a test for our democracy,” said Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson, who said Mullen has “no legal training or policing experience,” and MLAs weren’t told about his role investigating James and Lenz.

Both men insist they have done nothing wrong and don’t even know what the investigation is about, though it appears to be centred on possible financial malfeasance.

A lawyer acting for James and Lenz has already argued the suspension of their clients was “improper,” carried out in “hasty and uninformed” fashion and that Plecas had “no constitutional authority” to investigate the two men.

If the investigation fizzles, you can bet a lawsuit will be launched that makes Mullen’s case against his casino bosses look like small-claims-court stuff.