PALMER: RCMP SHUTS FILE ON HEALTH FIRINGS

RCMP bows out: Serious criminal allegations have amounted to nothing, so now what?

VICTORIA — For 2½ years, the government office specializing in fraud prevention conducted an investigation into some of the serious allegations that led to those now-discredited firings in the Ministry of Health.

Financial improprieties in the awarding of contracts for drug research. Inappropriate handling of confidential data. Infringement of intellectual property rights. Conflicts of interest. Standard of conduct violations.

Those and other allegations were spelled out in the terms of reference for the investigation and forensic unit, specializing in fraud prevention, in the office of the government internal financial watchdog, the comptroller general.

Comptroller general Stuart Newton signed off on the marching orders in October 2012, just a month after the firings of eight drug researchers and contract workers from the Health Ministry. The terms of reference were kept confidential until leaked to The Vancouver Sun last year.

But even as the government engaged in a systematic backdown in the affair, reinstating some of those who were fired and settling lawsuits with others, the comptroller general’s investigation continued.

It finally wrapped up earlier this year with a report that was handed over to the RCMP — a development that allowed the Liberals to maintain the pretext of an ongoing police investigation even after it came out that police had received nothing in the way of evidence from a parallel investigation by a team from the Ministry of Health.

Police never did more than open a file on the case. They closed the Ministry of Health portion for lack of evidence last summer. And on Thursday, they advised the government that after reviewing the report from the comptroller general, they found no basis for further action. They were closing the file once and for all.

Eight researchers placed doubly under a cloud after the Liberals announced by press release that they were fired and under investigation by the RCMP. Reputations damaged, careers set back, worthwhile pharmaceutical research discredited. One fellow killed himself not long after he was fired.

Now, almost three years later, the whole thing stands revealed as a botch from start to finish, a series of serious allegations that never amounted to anything in terms of criminal wrongdoing.

Ironic to think that this last investigation was presided over by a unit specializing in fraud prevention, since it would appear the only fraud perpetrated in this affair was the insistence that these allegations warranted an RCMP investigation in the first place.

This is further evidence of the need for truly independent inquiry into what happened and why. In response to multiple calls along those lines, Health Minister Terry Lake said Thursday the government is considering calling on the office of the ombudsman.

The ombudsman, as noted here Thursday, has all the powers needed to get to the bottom of things: summon witnesses, take testimony under oath, seek documents and so forth. The office is independent of government and reports directly to the legislature.

And if past practice is any guide, an independent officer of the legislature can get the answers in a matter of months if not weeks, unlike public inquiries, which can drag on for years.

But the office is in transition, with outgoing ombudsman Kim Carter preparing to step down and her successor, Jay Chalke, not scheduled to take up a six-year term until July 1.

He comes highly recommended by both parties in the legislature. The New Democrats and the B.C. Liberals on the selection committee last month signed off unanimously on a report that said he has “an extensive background in … the conduct of fair and independent investigations.”

Sounds like an ironclad testimonial. But as the New Democrats among others pointed out, Chalke has served for the past few years as an assistant deputy in the Ministry of Justice and Attorney General.

The ministry would likely be drawn into any inquiry because of the outstanding question of who decided to put that business into the press release about the fired health workers being under police investigation.

In light of that concern, Chalke could choose to delegate the investigation to the deputy ombudsman or another official, as is permitted under the legislation for his office.

Before getting to that point, he would first have to agree that the office should take on the matter, and he can’t be asked to do that until he takes up his duties later next week. He could refuse, after concluding this mess is the last thing he needs as the new watchdog on the block.

The Ombudsperson Act does say the “the legislative assembly or any of its committees may at any time refer a matter to the ombudsperson for investigation and report.”

In that event, the ombudsman must 1) investigate and 2) report back. If the government really wanted to engage the office, it could proceed by bringing in a motion when the house sits July 13.

But such a motion is debatable at length. And with the Liberals recalling the house for what is supposed to be a good-news exercise regarding the liquefied natural gas industry, they’d rather not set aside a portion of the proceedings for a lengthy debate about the health firings.

For a government that likes to be in control, the day ended with far too many uncertainties. The situation, as they say, is fluid and it is not clear where things are headed next.