CLERK OF LEGISLATURE OVERSAW HST REFERENDUM

Craig James is a longtime public servant who served as acting chief electoral officer before being appointed clerk of the legislature in 2011. James was appointed by way of government motion of then-government house leader Rich Coleman, not as the result of a selection process overseen by the legislature’s all-party management committee, but as it had been done in the past, a move that was opposed by then-NDP opposition leader Adrian Dix. As chief electoral officer, James oversaw the highprofile referendum that overturned the provincial harmonized sales tax. He faced criticism of his own expenses in that role for racking up $40,000 in travel bills over just four months in 2010, including $14,500 in airfare for he and his wife to attend a Commonwealth Parliamentary Association conference in Nairobi, Kenya. James argued that he attended the event with thenspeaker of the house Bill Barisoff, deputy speaker Claire Trevena and their spouses, and that he was able to travel with his wife because Elections B.C. policy at the time allowed staff to expense two economy-class tickets if the cost did not exceed the price of one business-class fare. The clerk is effectively CEO of the legislature, the top nonpartisan permanent officer of the assembly responsible for its overall direction and administration of operations. That job includes giving procedural advice to the Speaker of the house, maintaining records of parliamentary procedures, assisting with protocols for ceremonial functions and overseeing legislative budgets and MLA expenses.