Opposition Liberals push for emergency meeting amid legislature turmoil

British Columbia's Opposition Liberals are pushing foran emergency meeting to question Speaker Darryl Plecas about how andwhy he hired a special adviser to look into his concerns about twotop legislature officials.

Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson said Saturday that his caucus still has a lot of questions about the Speaker's decision to hire his friend Alan Mullen in January to examine the administrative duties of sergeant-at-arms Gary Lenz and Clerk Craig James.

The Speaker's office forwarded information to the RCMP in Augustand the Mounties are investigating with the help of two specialprosecutors. The legislature, including the Liberal caucus, votedunanimously Tuesday to place Lenz and James on administrative leave.

RAW VIDEO: Mike Farnworth reads motion to suspend Craig James and Gary Lenz

6 years ago

Duration 1:06

On Tuesday, November 20, NDP House leader Mike Farnworth read a motion to put clerk of the House Craig James and sergeant-at-arms Gary Lenz on administrative leave while a criminal investigation takes place.

Wilkinson said he's asking questions now in part because it cameas a surprise to him when Mullen revealed Wednesday that he washired to look into matters of concern for Plecas, including thelegislature investigation.

Before Wednesday, the Liberals thought Mullen was a clericalworker and driver for the Speaker, Wilkinson said.

"We have a lot of questions, just as the public do, about howMr. Mullen was hired and why, and the cash flow and compensationinvolved in all these recruitments that the Speaker's been engagedin," said Wilkinson.

Plecas said in a statement that the suggestion that Mullen washired under a cloud of secrecy is "utter nonsense.

"He was hired with a job description and in consultation withhuman resource and financial officials at the legislature. I hiredhim without a competition, but that is consistent with the hiring ofvirtually every other ministerial aide in Canada," he said.

'To do less than duediligence would be wildly irresponsible'

"The notion that he was hired as an investigator of any kind isalso utter nonsense. The notion that he has engaged in any form of'investigation' beyond doing due diligence on concerns expressed to,or observed by, my office is further nonsense. To do less than duediligence would be wildly irresponsible."

Plecas added he was "completely confident that all of this willbe abundantly clear to the public once some portion of the policeinvestigation has concluded."

A lawyer for Lenz and James has said the two men deny anywrongdoing and do not know why they have been suspended. AttorneyMark Andrews sent a letter Friday urging the legislature toimmediately reinstate the two officials.

The Speaker's office has agreed to arrange a meeting of theLegislative Assembly Management Committee on Tuesday afternoon, butWilkinson and Liberal house leader Mary Polak are pushing for ameeting as early as 7 a.m. Monday.

The committee, chaired by the Speaker and made up of the threehouse leaders and other top legislature members, is responsible forthe financial accounting of the legislature.

Mullen, who met Plecas while the two worked together at federalprisons in B.C.'s Fraser Valley, did not immediately respond to arequest for comment.

'He acted in good faith'

This week, Plecas hired former B.C. Liberal and attorney generalWally Oppal as a second special adviser.

Oppal said Saturday the Speaker obtained "significant" legal advice before taking any of his actions in this matter.

"I'm not going to get involved in the political aspects ... butI can tell you that he acted in good faith," Oppal said.

Ejected from party

Plecas is a former Liberal member of the legislature who wasejected from the party after he accepted an offer to become Speakerunder the NDP and Greens' power-sharing agreement.

The Speaker doesnot vote on bills, so his decision ensured the two ruling partieshad 44 votes and the Liberals had 42.

In the event of a tie, the Speaker casts a vote to break it.

Polak released a sworn affidavit this week that said Plecasproposed installing Mullen as the acting sergeant-at-arms, which shedescribed as "inappropriate."

Asked whether his questioning of the Speaker was politicallymotivated, Wilkinson replied that the people of B.C. are entitled toknow the truth about recent events.

'It's all very murky'

"It's all very murky. People can draw their own conclusions oncethe truth is known, but right now we have all kinds of missingpieces in this puzzle."

He insisted he wasn't able to raise these questions on Monday orTuesday this week, in response to a question about whether he hadneglected to do his job as Opposition leader when the motion to suspend Lenz and James came up.

The Liberals received the request for the urgent motion at 8:30p.m. Monday and it was entered at the end of question periodTuesday, he said.

"There was no time whatsoever to provide for questions about thespecifics of the topic," he said.

Asked whether he regrets voting for the motion, Wilkinson said the keyissue now is whether the government obtained the necessary legal advice before recommending it be approved.

NDP house leader Mike Farnworth did not immediately respond torequests for comment. Farnworth has said previously that thedecision to introduce the motion was made by the house leaders forall three parties.

Green spokeswoman Jillian Oliver said party house leader SoniaFurstenau will attend the committee meeting on Tuesday.

"Our priority is to recognize the seriousness of an active RCMP investigation and give the police the space they need to do theirjobs," she said