Speaker Darryl Plecas does not believe his public criticism of a recent report into legislature misspending by auditor general Carol Bellringer contributed to her sudden resignation, says Alan Mullen, the Speaker’s chief of staff.
Plecas was disappointed that Bellringer conducted a normal audit, rather than a forensic audit, into spending practices at the legislature, and he felt she didn’t dig deep enough or find wrongdoing that he thought is obvious, Mullen told media at a news conference on Thursday.
But that doesn’t mean the Speaker forced Bellringer to retire, he said.
“It seems that certain folks want to draw the lines because it’s more exciting to do so,” Mullen said.
“Ms. Bellringer is a seasoned professional. She’s been auditor general here for six years. Prior to this, she was auditor general for Manitoba. She’s been doing this a long time and I highly doubt that she’s going to lose sleep because one individual said he was disappointed in her audit,”Mullen said.
“I know it is more exciting that way. It is just not true.”
Bellringer announced Wednesday that she had tabled her resignation to Plecas due to “personal reasons.” She has declined to comment further.
The move came six days after tabling her legislature spending report. She will leave on Dec. 31 — almost two years before her term was set to expire.
“She is resigning due to personal reasons and I think it would be disrespectful for us to speculate whether that’s the case or not,” Mullen said.
Plecas has said he uncovered evidence of criminal wrongdoing by the former clerk and sergeant-at-arms at the legislature almost a year ago and turned it over to the RCMP. Two special prosecutors are overseeing the investigation. No charges have been laid. The exact allegations are unknown.
In the past year, Plecas has released reports outlining alleged misspending, extravagant travel and clothing purchases, inappropriate salary increases and retirement benefits by former clerk Craig James and sergeant-at-arms Gary Lenz.
James took early retirement after former Supreme Court of Canada chief justice Beverley McLachlin said he committed workplace misconduct by awarding himself extra benefits. Lenz was cleared by McLachlin.
Plecas then launched a new Police Act investigation into Lenz’s conduct. Opposition Liberal house leader Mary Polak said Plecas called McLachlin “stupid” in a closed-door meeting after he disagreed with her findings. Plecas has denied that.
Bellringer’s audit, released Sept. 19, found weaknesses and gaps in spending policies at the legislature, but no incidents of fraud. In many cases, she said, it was hard to determine whether expenses submitted for clothing, gifts and travel by Lenz or James were inappropriate, because the policies were unclear or non-existent.
That appeared to frustrate Plecas.
“It is pretty clear and evident and obvious that there is more to this story,” Mullen said.
“Its nothing to do with personalizing it, saying: ‘You disagreed with me so I don’t like your report.’ No, it’s saying: ‘I have found a lot of information, I’ve found a lot of wrongdoing, and I’ve got a lot of evidence to support that wrongdoing — and I’m disappointed you didn’t find it, too.’ ”
Mullen said one allegation includes James and Lenz not declaring gifts they purchased on overseas trips to federal customs agents. Bellringer said that did not form part of her audit.
However, Mullen stopped short of saying Bellringer’s report has been discredited.
“I don’t think it’s discredited. I think the disappointment or frustration on behalf of the Speaker is simply this: It didn’t get as deep as it probably could have.”
Mullen’s news conference Thursday also shed light on some other outstanding matters:
• The Police Act review of Lenz by former Vancouver police deputy chief Doug LePard should be done “in coming weeks.”
• Bellringer’s report pointed to the travel budget for Plecas’s office tripling in the past fiscal year, from $19,188 in 2017-18 to $60,947.
Mullen said that in fact, Plecas’s travel increased eight per cent, to $26,685. An additional $31,000 came from Mullen’s own travel, from Abbotsford to Victoria.
“I was living on the mainland, commuting back and forth to Victoria,” he said.
“So it’s an approved cost, an explainable cost. And furthermore, because of that cost, the Speaker and I sat down and he said look: ‘Its clear and obvious more work is contained here in Victoria.’ And the decision was made, right or wrong, good or bad, that I should move to Victoria to eliminate that cost.”
At $31,000, Mullen’s travel for a year exceeded that of several MLAs, including Jas Johal, Ravi Kahlon, Rachna Singh, Andrew Weaver, Simon Gibson, Sonia Furstenau, Mike de Jong, George Chow and Stephanie Cadieux.
• The Liberals have also criticized Mullen’s recent $13,000 trip to other Canadian and U.S. legislatures to study security measures.
Mullen said the 30-day trip was hard work, would have been more expensive to contract out, and will produce a forward-looking review on best practices for legislature security.
“If you break it down, it’s about $433 a day, which includes all expenses,” Mullen said. “I’m thinking it’s a bit of a deal. It was not a holiday.”
He pointed to concerns about $1.7 million in overtime over the last five years by the legislature's special police force.
“This was not a holiday. This was not a junket. This was not a road trip. This was a forward-looking review that I was asked and tasked to do, with the full support of the clerk of the house and the full support of the executive financial officer.”
