British Columbia’s Speaker of the House had been investigating the legislature’s top two unelected officials since at least the start of the year and submitted a formal complaint to police in August, leading to this week’s dramatic and still unexplained expulsion of the two from their jobs.
On Tuesday, the province’s MLAs were asked to vote to suspend Craig James, Clerk of the House, and Gary Lenz, the Sergeant-at-Arms, both long-standing officers of the legislature. MLAs were asked to take the unprecedented action without being told the nature of the allegations and, in fact, they did not learn about the continuing criminal investigation by the RCMP until after the vote. The precise nature of the allegations has not been publicly laid out.
Opinion: A legislature that has known plenty of drama and intrigue gets more of it
The Speaker, Darryl Plecas, has not spoken to the media about his role in the explosive events of this week, leaving his political adviser Alan Mullen to answer questions.
Mr. Mullen said Wednesday he was hired by the Speaker in January as a political adviser to help Mr. Plecas look into his concerns about the administrative duties of the two officers. Mr. Mullen declined to detail the allegations against Mr. Lenz and Mr. James other than to indicate that the concerns relate to their administrative duties.
By this summer, Mr. Mullen said, he and the Speaker had consulted with what he called a constitutional expert, who was not named. In late August, he said that he and Mr. Plecas took their concerns to the Victoria Police Department and the RCMP.
A month later, RCMP asked Assistant Deputy Attorney-General Peter Juk to appoint a special prosecutor, and on Oct. 1, two senior lawyers with experience handling sensitive matters that might cross into the political realm were appointed to manoeuvre through the inquiry.
Mr. James, who has served the legislature since the 1980s, told reporters as he was escorted out of his office that he has been given no indication of the reasons for his removal.
Clerk of the House Craig James speaks in the B.C. Legislative Assembly in Victoria in February, 2016.CHAD HIPOLITO/The Globe and Mail
Mr. Mullen said in an interview on Wednesday that he and Mr. Plecas called all three House leaders into the Speaker’s office on Monday to ask them to pass a motion putting the two officers on administrative leave pending an investigation.
“I know the House leaders were presented with the information, they felt it was enough information to take it back to their caucus and present that motion,” he said.
Mr. Plecas has been a controversial figure at the legislature.
He was elected as a BC Liberal MLA, but took the non-partisan post as the Speaker of the House in September, 2017. His decision ended a looming crisis for the minority government by eliminating the need for the NDP to provide one of its own members as Speaker, who would have to regularly break tie votes.
Mr. Plecas was kicked out of the Liberal Party for taking the post, which was deemed a betrayal of his former caucus colleagues.
Former Liberal MLA Lorne Mayencourt said he was appalled at the way Mr. Lenz and Mr. James were escorted out of the buildings by police, with television cameras in tow. “It was really disgusting, marching them off that way,” he said. “The MLAs should feel pretty ashamed of themselves.”
Former cabinet minister Bill Bennett said he regarded both Mr. Lenz and Mr. James as honourable public servants. “No matter the allegations, they are allegations and they should not have been treated like convicted criminals. Only thing lacking was handcuffs.”
But MLAs across all three parties declined to comment on Wednesday, saying they had been instructed not to speak publicly about the issue. Each of the three House leaders declined to answer questions as well, citing the police investigation.
Mr. Mullen said it was his decision to call the Victoria Police Department to escort the two men out of the building.
“I wish there was a nicer way to do it. If it had been anybody else in the building, then it could have been done in a way more private way," he said. “They are appointed at the pleasure of the members [of the Legislative Assembly], and they must be removed at the pleasure of the members.”
In an e-mailed response to a series of questions, RCMP Sergeant Janelle Shoihet said the number of officers on the case will fluctuate, but said she could not elaborate on how many officers are currently involved with the file.
Asked about the circumstance that saw the two legislature officers so publicly escorted out of the building, the spokesperson for the E-Division unit of the force said that approach was not an RCMP decision.
The Victoria Police Department, whose officers accompanied the two officials, declined to comment Wednesday on the case.
Sgt. Shoihet also said the Mounties are trying to protect the integrity of the investigation.
Janine Benedet, a law professor at the University of B.C., said special prosecutors in British Columbia are deployed when aspects of a case require someone at arm’s length from political or government personalities.
“What makes them special is not that the case is harder or higher stakes; it’s just that it’s politically fraught in some way. Or there could be the appearance that there is some political connection to it,” Ms. Benedet said in an interview.