B.C.’s precariously balanced legislature was further destabilized Monday as the Opposition continued to question the Speaker’s judgment over the suspension of his two top officials.
The veneer of public respect that legislators are obligated to show the Speaker is now almost completely stripped away, as far as the B.C. Liberals are concerned.
Speaker Darryl Plecas felt the need in the morning to recuse himself from considering their motion for a special debate, since it revolved around his handling of the affair.
In the afternoon, Opposition Leader Andrew Wilkinson invited him to recuse himself from the entire question period, for the same reasons. Plecas opted to stay put and presided over a half-hour of stonewalling by Attorney General David Eby about any role the NDP government played in the bizarre controversy.
Deputy Speaker Raj Chouhan handled the decision on the request for an emergency debate by dismissing it.
Plecas also ditched the idea of an emergency meeting of the legislature’s all-party management committee, saying that group’s next meeting will be Dec. 6, not immediately.
Wilkinson later told reporters it was an afternoon of “pure obstruction” by the government, which is citing the RCMP investigation as the reason it will not answer questions.
Wilkinson said the big one is whether due diligence was done before the motion to suspend clerk Craig James and sergeant-at-arms Gary Lenz was passed.
“There’s grave concern the Speaker is out of control.”
Liberals have retreated a long way from their position a week ago, when they voted with the NDP and the Greens unanimously in the space of a few seconds to suspend the pair.
Wilkinson said: “I regret now not asking hard questions of the NDP. … They should have vetted this overnight to make sure it was legitimate.”
That vote followed a meeting the Speaker called with the three house leaders the night before, where they were told there was an RCMP investigation.
Plecas released an account of that meeting on Monday, in response to the numerous questions posed by the lawyer for the two men. He defended his decisions and said there was “unqualified unanimity” that suspension was the best course.
He also defended the confusing “investigation” that his special adviser cited and said he played a role in. Plecas said he had an obligation, once “serious concerns” came to light, to follow up. He said he couldn’t approach police without exercising reasonable diligence and having some legitimate foundation for doing so.
“It was the police that decided to commence a criminal investigation and the Crown that appointed the special prosecutors.”
But they’re acting on information developed in part by special adviser Alan Mullen. And Mullen’s role remains opaque, one week after he burst to prominence as the man who escorted James and Lenz out the door after the suspension, then did a round of media appearances on behalf of the Speaker.
Plecas hired another special adviser — former judge Wally Oppal — last week. Between the two of them, they’ve managed to make Mullen’s role even more confusing.
Plecas told the Canadian Press on the weekend the notion Mullen was hired as an investigator is “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.”
But Oppal told CFAX Radio’s Al Ferraby on Monday morning that when Plecas became Speaker, “he concluded that there was criminal activity going on. He then asked his assistant to help investigate that with him.”
“They conducted some kind of investigation. They gave the results of that investigation to the RCMP, who are now conducting an investigation.
“That should tell you that the RCMP obviously found their investigation was credible and are moving forward.”
The NDP and Greens are going to ignore the corrosive effect this is having and cling to the stand that everyone should stop talking and await the special prosecutors’ report.
Just So You Know: All this is taking place while a minority government has a slim edge.
As a measure of how close it is: The government actually lost a vote Monday, 44-41, after two of the three Greens supported a Liberal bill on ride-hailing.
The vote is of no consequence, but it shows how thin the margins are in a house now preoccupied with the conduct of the person who runs it.
