We didn’t do anything wrong, say James, Lenz
Top legislature officers respond to allegations of flagrant overspending
The B.C. legislature’s two top officials say they have responded to a report released by the Speaker alleging they engaged in flagrant overspending, questionable expenses and inappropriate payouts of cash.
In a statement Thursday, clerk of the house Craig James and sergeant-atarms Gary Lenz said they have submitted their responses to the Legislative Assembly Management Committee and they deny any wrongdoing.
They were given until Thursday to respond to the committee, which voted Jan. 21 to release the 76-page report by Speaker Darryl Plecas.
Both men said they responded as best they could in the short time they had available and without access to records and their office staff.
Lenz and James were placed on paid leave in November after members of the legislature learned of an ongoing RCMP investigation.
The report by Plecas alleges the two officials claimed expenses for luxurious overseas trips and personal purchases, and that they received inappropriate payouts of cash in lieu of vacation in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Lenz and James said they want their responses to be made public by the committee. “I maintain, as I have all along, that I have not done anything wrong which justifies the actions that have been taken against me, or the unfair and prejudicial manner in which those actions have been taken,” James said in his statement.
Lenz said he responded to every allegation in Plecas’s report. “I have maintained from the day when I was publicly removed from my position and the legislative buildings under police escort that I have committed no wrongdoing,” he said. “The negative impact this has had on me and my family is immeasurable.”
Lenz said he hopes to resume his duties and be “quickly exonerated.”
“Over the past 13 years of service to the people of British Columbia, I have been ethical, honest, fiscally responsible, trustworthy and non-partisan.”
None of the allegations has been proven.
Neither Plecas nor his special adviser Alan Mullen could be reached for comment on the responses or whether they would be made public by the committee.
The government has said it will implement accountability reforms at the legislature after three independent watchdogs called for sweeping changes to restore public confidence.