theBreaker.news Podcast: Recounting a stormy October at the B.C. Legislature

The ripple effects of Auditor General Carol Bellringer’s late-September resignation were still being felt when suspended Sergeant-at-Arms Gary Lenz's retirement was announced Oct. 1.

Lenz did not wait for the release of Doug LePard’s damning Police Act investigation.

So began another eventful month in the ongoing corruption scandal at the B.C. Legislature.

[caption id="attachment_7760" align="alignright" width="270"] Alan Mullen, special advisor to Speaker Darryl Plecas, with the damning report on the suspended officials (Mackin)[/caption]

Almost a year ago, on Nov. 20, 2018, Lenz and Clerk Craig James were suddenly suspended and the public was shocked to learn they were under an RCMP probe with two special prosecutors had been appointed. Speaker Darryl Plecas and his chief of staff, Alan Mullen, had called in the RCMP, who continue to investigate.

James resigned in disgrace in May, after retired Supreme Court chief justice Beverley McLachlin found he committed misconduct. She cleared Lenz of wrongdoing, but Lepard, the former Vancouver Police deputy chief, found that she did not have all the facts because Lenz lied to her.

LePard wanted to know what ex-Speaker Linda Reid knew and when she knew it, but she refused to sit down for an interview. Reid, a Richmond BC Liberal MLA since 1991, eventually announced she would not seek another term.

“These folks that represent the general public should be at the highest level,” Mullen told theBreaker.news Podcast host Bob Mackin. “Even the leader of the opposition, Andrew Wilkinson has said, and I agree with him, anybody who is asked to participate in an investigation should do so without any strings attached.”

 Listen to the full interview with Mullen, recounting the October that was and the conclusions of the LePard Report.

Plus commentaries and headlines. 

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