Premier John Horgan and the rest of his government are sheltering in the same “inappropriate to comment” campground where Speaker Darryl Plecas pitched his tent, when it comes to not answering questions about the legislature suspensions.
It’s a very roomy location that provides lots of cover. It cuts off all the obvious questions about the RCMP investigation and the appointment of two special prosecutors, as it properly should. It also apparently covers any and all questions about how the legislature, through the Speaker, handled everything that led up to the police involvement.
The “no comment, it’s under investigation” zone even extends to how the legislature and government responded after the news broke. They engineered a house motion to suspend clerk Craig James and sergeant-at-arms Gary Lenz, then sat back as the Speaker’s special adviser called the cops and escorted them out the door.
It must be a very optimistic place, because Horgan stressed how strong the institution is at a Tuesday news conference, and urged people to have confidence in it.
But based on the positioning so far, people’s confidence in the legislature at this point has to be based solely on blind faith that Plecas knows what he’s doing and has handled the mystery matter correctly. Because any attempts to get more facts to arrive at an informed conclusion run into a wall of “no comments.”
The further problem is that enough details have emerged in the past week to do exactly the opposite of what Horgan is asking. The skimpy facts to date build more suspicion than confidence.
The Speaker’s idea at the outset to replace the sergeant-at-arms with the same special adviser — Alan Mullen — who says he played a role in the investigation was a fantastically bad one.
The three parties’ house leaders balked at it, to their credit. But it didn’t set off the flashing lights and proceed-with-caution signs that it should have. So they barged ahead with the suspensions the next day, solely on the blind faith noted above.
Mullen’s dramatic rise to prominence is another poser. He’s a $75,000-a-year, direct-hired friend of the Speaker. He burst out of nowhere to take down the two top officials in the legislature hierarchy. Then he spent a few days speaking on behalf of Plecas at various news conferences.
All questions about his investigatory standing were non-answered from the shelter described above.
Getting your face on newscasts and front pages for the better part of a week brings a lot of background to light, so there are now further questions (see elsewhere in this newspaper).
Most critically, the suspended duo raised a host more questions with their bewildered appearance at a news conference. They say they don’t have a clue what it’s about, protested the calculated humiliation of their exit and begged for their jobs back.
Horgan tried to be as reassuring as possible about it all as the fall sitting came to a close.
“It’s been a difficult week, but we have accomplished a great deal as a government and as an institution.”
“I believe our institution is strong.”
If it’s that strong, officials shouldn’t be hiding behind no comments. Of course, the police investigation is off limits. But extending that position to the information that led to it, and the response that followed it, does nothing to build confidence.
Horgan said people should have confidence despite the extraordinary events because deputies stepped in seamlessly and the institution carried on.
He’s correct that the legislature scarcely missed a beat. But the Speaker is under siege, he has stepped aside two days in a row and Attorney General David Eby has spent the same two days declining to explain any details about what’s happening.
The affair has left its two top officials lying in the ditch, drawing big paycheques for an indeterminate period until there’s some resolution. And they are the ones who are keenest of all to have whatever they are up against made known.
The fall session concluded Tuesday afternoon, so some of the heat is off. But confidence is the last word to describe the general attitude toward the place.
