Speaker should reprimand NDP for misdirecting funds

[Rwede]

Vaughn Palmer: Speaker should reprimand NDP over constituency office staffing change

Vaughn Palmer
Published on: November 27, 2017 | Last Updated: November 27, 2017 6:41 PM PST


VICTORIA — Premier John Horgan and his ministers are quietly installing political staff in the supposed-to-be nonpartisan constituency offices provided to them as members of the legislature at public expense.

The change, undertaken surreptitiously and over a behind-the-scenes backlash, was made public when the premier fessed up during debate on his office budget in the legislature.

“Premier, the word on the street is that you intend to put executive assistants from the ministers’ offices in constituency offices — is that correct?” challenged Opposition leader Rich Coleman one day last week.

It was indeed “correct” confirmed Horgan, before proceeding directly to a rationale based on longer sessions of the legislature and ministers needing to be in the capital.

“We’ll have a spring and a fall sitting, and that will require, with the configuration of the legislature being as tight as it is, ministers to be in Victoria for more activities than they would have been otherwise.”

Hence the perceived need for ministers and the premier himself to have staffers serving as their personal eyes and ears, supplementing the non-partisan staff in the constituency office.

SNIPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

But it was also a departure from past practice as Coleman quickly noted. For most of the last two decades, constituency offices have been publicly funded and staffed out of the budget for the legislature in recognition of their non-partisan status. The annual funding was recently boosted to $135,000 a year.

“This is a twist,” continued Coleman. “These people are politically appointed staff going into non-partisan offices. They will presumably be using the resources of the money that constituency offices use, whether it be space by amount of rent by square footage, whether it be telephone or fax or scan equipment.”

How did the premier justify giving them potential access to resources that were never intended to support political appointees?

SNIPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

Coleman wasn’t having any of it. “My biggest concern on this, premier, is it will cause some politicization, whether you want to believe it or not.”

He envisioned the scene with non-partisan constituency staff trying to fairly address the concerns of members of the public, some of them agitated, some needing confidentiality.

Now working alongside them is a political appointee reporting back to the minister on a daily basis.

“If you’re occupying one office and someone is speaking loud enough on the phone, you can hear the whole conversation,” said Coleman. The political staffer might proceed to second guess the constituency staff or run off and tell the minister: “There’s a big issue coming out of this office. You should be ahead of it.”

Horgan did not dispute that installing political staff in constituency offices was a departure from how those offices had operated under the B.C. Liberals.

But he insisted that the addition of a ministerial executive assistant to handle political issues would be welcomed by the non-partisan staff in his own constituency office.

“They are inundated with politics. To have an executive assistant that is available when I’m not there to push things off to, means it’s not being transferred down to the premier’s office and getting into a queue that’s already overwhelmed with additional work.”

At the same time, he did concede that the staffing change would have to be monitored.

“We have given direction to those EAs that are in constituency offices — that this is not about second-guessing the able work of our constituency staff. It’s about trying to relieve the pressure that is now increased on those offices for the first time now. We are new to this. I’m not using that as an excuse. I want to assure the member that I absolutely understand what he’s saying. We’re going to take deliberate steps to make sure we don’t politicize the process.”

For all the premier’s insistence that the New Democrats were not going to cross the line, Coleman insisted that they already had done so by installing the political staffers in the first place.

“I can honestly say to the premier that this one thing — if I could give him some advice, which he’s not apt to take — is a mistake.”

Good advice nevertheless and Coleman is not alone in thinking it. Some New Democrats agree and I gather they are asking privately who in the premier’s office is responsible for it.

All of which provides an opening for the new speaker of the legislature Darryl Plecas. On behalf of all members and the principles governing constituency offices, he has the power to speak out against this ill-advised partisan scheme.

Were Plecas to do so, it would go a long way to show his independence from the government that celebrated his decision to take the job.

http://vancouversun.com/opinion/columni ... ing-change

[maryjane48]

Much ado bout nothing .


If this is all the right can come up with then. I suggest they quit politics

[JagXKR]

More NDP spending for NO good reason except to keep them in power. Wasteful and shameful.

[Urbane]

Much ado bout nothing .


If this is all the right can come up with then. I suggest they quit politics

Translation: Everything the Liberals did was bad. Everything the NDP does is good even when it's actually bad.

[mikest2]

Much ado bout nothing .


If this is all the right can come up with then. I suggest they quit politics

You may want to look up what a Commissar (Kommissar) or political officer did in the former Soviet Union, it is startlingly similar (read as exactly the same) as these ministerial executive assistants, they are little more than political
apparatchiks. Careful what you wish for MJ, the walls will soon have ears.

[Veovis]

The speaker sadly is is in a very bad position and is almost to a state of compromised. His political career as a Liberal ended and his likely re-election as a NDP or Independent highly unlikely. Therefore should he enforce to strongly or actually fully commit to the position in a non partisan way it may help trigger an election at which point he is done in public service.

This means him allowing and enforcing the NDP Greens to great extents is his only route to extending his term as long as possible.

The fact he ignores these types of issues is an indication the route he plans to take in this coalition, or maybe he will find his integrity in time.

[Bsuds]

or maybe he will find his integrity in time.

Well politics and integrity don't usually go hand in hand.

[Veovis]

Well politics and integrity don't usually go hand in hand.

Well there is that. Does it make it ok then?

[Urban Cowboy]

Well politics and integrity don't usually go hand in hand.

Well there is that. Does it make it ok then?

It does for the NDP faithful when it's the NDP doing it.

[The Green Barbarian]

It does for the NDP faithful when it's the NDP doing it.

exactly!

[Cactusflower]

*removed*

[Rwede]

Remember when the NDP stole $460,000 from constituency offices for NDP campaigning?

Looks like they haven't changed one bit.

And to my knowledge, the bankrupt NDP never paid a penny of that stolen money back to the taxpayers, either.

[Veovis]

Looks like my previous comment got misplaced, so I'll re-submit it. Seems there are those who think that the NDP is the only political party that 'misdirects' funds. What they've forgotten is how the BC Liberals misdirected funds in the BC Rail trial. After years of litigation, Basi and Virk (two BCLP fall-guys) conveniently pleaded guilty just before some of the 'big guns' were scheduled to testify. Against all rules, Christy Clark decided to hand over their defense bill ($6 million) to BC taxpayers.
https://thetyee.ca/Life/2013/05/09/BC-Rail-Scandal/

Just so you know, BCLP members and supporters, this is not over yet.

And people didn't like it, and complained. However now the NDP lot don't complain about misdeeds, they attack insult and accuse while supporting theft in all sorts of areas. IT's rather gross the support for corruption based on the color of the shirt. It's just a new form of racism really, treat people poorly based on one aspect of them without any real knowledge other than "my group says ta hate them" while allowing your group to commit atrocities and you support that.

I don't know why so many of you have such a problem saying "I din't like this about the Liberals and I still don't like it by the NDP" instead we get deflection and excuses.

[maryjane48]

Because none the bclib camp ever called out the bclibs over any missdeeds which were uncountablec because of the numerous times it happened

Whats good for the goose comes to mind

[Veovis]

Because none the bclib camp ever called out the bclibs over any missdeeds which were uncountablec because of the numerous times it happened

Whats good for the goose comes to mind

Which is a well known lie as there are many many m,any examples of the BClibs called out on these forums alone by central and right type individuals. You tell this lie to justify your position of malfeasance while pretending to be moral.

If you and others like you stopped pretending to be better people and were actually better people perhaps some change might actually occur.