Suspended clerk and sergeant-at-arms are expected to respond to allegations in the Plecas report by Friday
Suspended Clerk Craig James and Sergeant-at-Arms Garry Lenz are expected to respond to the many allegations in the Plecas report by Feb. 1. Here's a chronology of how the scandal unfolded over the last 14 months:
Sept. 8, 2017
After being courted by the NDP, Darryl Plecas agrees to become Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, effectively firming up the NDP-Green minority government. He is swiftly expelled from the Liberal caucus to sit as an independent, a move that had been foreshadowed earlier in the summer when he angered many in the party by demanding the resignation of then Leader Christy Clark.
November 2017
Clerk of the House Craig James presents Plecas with two pieces of paper to sign, granting James and Lenz each a life insurance policy in the amount of three times their annual salaries. Plecas says he was led to believe that both men were entitled to the benefit and assumed it had been pre-approved by the Legislative Assembly Management Committee and the Department of Financial Services. He later discovered this was not the case and rescinds the document.
The meeting is the first of a handful of encounters in which the men asked Plecas to sign off on substantial benefit payouts.
December 2017
Plecas, James and Lenz take a 10 day trip to the United Kingdom, Plecas's first trip abroad in the role of Speaker. According to the Plecas report, the trip was arranged entirely by James's office. Plecas later recounts in his report that he was "very surprised by how luxuriously we were travelling and how little we were doing for a work trip."
Later, it is revealed that while traveling on the public's dime, both on this trip and others, James and Lenz were in the habit of expensing items like expensive suits, luggage and gift store purchases.
January 2018
Plecas hires friend and former Corrections Canada prosecutor Alan Mullen to act as his special adviser to look into matters of concern in the Legislative Assembly.
August 2018
The Speaker, clerk and sergeant-at arms visit England again. On this trip, both James and Lenz are accompanied by their wives. In the Plecas report, documents call into question the accuracy of vacation days used, transportation claims and per diems charged by the two men. Eyebrow raising expenses claimed include a suit, cufflinks and gift store purchases.
Back in Victoria, the Speaker's office forwards information gathered in Mullen's investigation to the RCMP.
Nov. 20, 2018
James and Lenz are escorted out of the B.C. Legislature by police and suspended with pay amid a cloud of intrigue. Plecas and Mullen say the two men are subjects of a criminal investigation, but very few details are given.
Nov 26, 2018
James and Lenz hold a news conference claiming they have done nothing wrong and calling for their suspensions to be reversed immediately. "Gary and I have been deeply humiliated," said James.
Dec. 6, 2018
Facing an onslaught of criticism over the suspensions and the hiring of Mullen, Plecas comments that once a forensic audit is complete, the findings will "outrage taxpayers" and "make them throw up."
Jan. 21, 2019
Plecas releases his bombshell report into James and Lenz, documenting allegations of lavish trips, problematic expenses, outrageous retirement payments and cash-for-vacation schemes, among other things. The report also questions the appearance of close ties between the B.C. Liberals and James, who is supposed to be a nonpartisan officer of the legislature. The report recommends a forensic audit and workplace review of the Legislative Assembly.
Jan. 25, 2019
In response to the Plecas report, Opposition Leader Andrew Wilkinson holds a news conference requesting the Liberals and NDP work together to "clean house" at the legislature. Premier John Horgan calls the request "offensive," pointing out that the Liberals were in power during much of the alleged wrongdoing.
Feb. 1, 2019
The deadline for James and Lenz to respond to the Plecas report.