What did Alan Mullen mean by hints of bombshells still to come at the Legislature?

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – There have been rumblings of bombshells still to come after the release of a report on over-spending within the BC Legislature.

Alan Mullen, chief of staff for Speaker Darryl Plecas, appeared on Breakfast Television on Citytv on Monday.

The Plecas report released last week has outlined a lot of questionable spending, but Mullen says they didn’t release anything that would affect an ongoing RCMP investigation.

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Mullen says any charges would certainly be explosive, as could the results of a full forensic audit.

“If we want to move forward with this — if we want to do better — then, we’re going to have to look to the past. That forensic audit, I believe, is going to do that.”

There are also calls for a workplace review. “We’re hearing from employees this is not a good place to work.”

Mullen notes if anyone was found to be terminated for asking questions about misconduct, that would be the biggest bombshell of all.

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In his report, which was made public last week, Plecas said he has seen or has been told of “flagrant overspending” on overseas trips for “questionable” business purposes, as well as personal expenses and inappropriate cash payouts in lieu of vacation to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“In the months after I became Speaker, I learned of a number of allegations and personally observed or was party to numerous conversations or activities, which made me deeply uncomfortable with the conduct of the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly and the Sergeant-at-Arms,” reads the report.

Plecas listed the following as activity he has observed and/or been informed of:

  • flagrant overspending on luxurious trips overseas with questionable business rationales
  • expensing of all manner of personal purchases to the Legislative Assembly, totalling tens of thousands of dollars over a period of less than two years
  • inappropriate payouts of cash in lieu of vacation, which appear to total in the hundreds of thousands of dollars
  • lack of oversight or appropriate protocols in the awarding of employment benefits, and evidence of attempts to obtain highly questionable further benefits, collectively representing actual or contingent liabilities to the Legislative Assembly totalling in the millions of dollars
  • using working time to make day or overnight trips away from the Legislative Assembly, at the Legislative Assembly’s expense, for what appear to be other than legitimate work purposes;
  • instances where thousands of dollars of alcohol and equipment may have been misappropriated from the Legislative Assembly
  • various concerns relating to management of employees, including potentially retributive or otherwise unjustified terminations
    taking steps to conceal information which could indicate improperly claimed expenditures.

 

Clerk Craig James and sergeant-at-arms Gary Lenz, who have been suspended in the scandal, have until Friday to respond to accusations against them.

 – With files from Liza Yuzda and the Canadian Press

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