Western newsletter: Log splitter now part of B.C. legislature lore

For sheer gall and meme-worthiness, few expense scandals can top the 2009 effort by longtime British Conservative MP Douglas Hogg – also known as Viscount Hailsham – to get the public purse to pay about $3,500 to have his moat cleaned.

This week, British Columbia claimed its equivalent. The purchase of a log splitter was ostensibly part of an emergency plan created by the legislature’s Sergeant-at-Arms Gary Lenz and approved by Clerk of House Craig James to ensure that, in the case of a disaster, building staff could use the equipment to clear fallen trees and create firewood for campfires to keep warm.

(There are two fireplaces in the Legislature: One is in the Speaker’s office and the other is in the clerk’s.)

The $3,200 splitter – a top-of-the-line model not nearly as photogenic as the viscount’s estate – wouldn’t have been of much use in the event of an earthquake or zombie apocalypse: It was stored at the clerk’s house, documents show. The splitter and a $10,000 trailer to haul it, also expensed, showed up on the legislature grounds in December, a month after the pair were escorted from the buildings amid an investigation initiated in secret by the Speaker.

The expense scandal erupted this week with a velocity rare even for a legislature historically accustomed to controversy. Following the suspension of the two officers in November, the public learned there was an RCMP investigation underway under the watch of not one but two special prosecutors. But it wasn’t until Monday that anyone other than those investigators, Speaker Darryl Plecas and his aide knew the details.

On Monday, though, the multi-party Legislative Management Affairs Committee agreed to release Mr. Plecas' 73-page report outlining his findings.

It was an extraordinary step. Normally, politicians decline to say anything at all about matters under police investigation. Mr. Lenz and Mr. James have not been charged and have denied any wrongdoing. The pair have not addressed the allegations in the explosive report. The report includes attached exhibits, but it also includes hearsay by unnamed ex-employees and is punctuated with Mr. Plecas' opinion and his one-sided recollections of conversations. Mr. Plecas noted the RCMP declined to accept his report.

Still, the details alleged were appalling: Lavish trips. Enriched benefits. Finely tailored English suits. Trinkets. Magazine subscriptions with questionable relevance.

But as legislature reporter Justine Hunter reports this weekend, while the specifics may be surprising, the scandal shouldn’t be. Although MLAs have been forced into the sunlight by requirements to fully, publicly and routinely disclose their expenses, the rules have not been applied to the officers of the legislature.

No doubt, that will change. B.C. Auditor-General Carol Bellringer, who is now conducting a full audit with powers to subpoena documents, said the legislature has been flagged as high-risk going back to 2007 and she noted this week it’s up to MLAs to fix it. The scandal has also left a stain on the BC Liberals, who were in government from 2001 to 2017, has tarred longtime members of the NDP who have sat on the committee overseeing the legislature’s management, and, as the Globe’s editorial board wrote, contributed to the dangerous loss of public confidence in politics.

As for Mr. Lenz and Mr. James, the police investigation could take many months. They had asked to be reinstated to their jobs. That’s unlikely following the release of Mr. Plecas' report.

But these kinds of stories can take strange turns: Six years after Mr. Hogg resigned, he was appointed to the House of Lords. His critics quickly dubbed him Lord Moat.

This is the weekly Western Canada newsletter written by B.C. Editor Wendy Cox and Alberta Bureau Chief James Keller. If you’re reading this on the web, or it was forwarded to you from someone else, you can sign up for it and all Globe newsletters here. This is a new project and we’ll be experimenting as we go, so let us know what you think.

Around the West:

ALBERTA ELECTION: As the rhetoric of both the NDP and the UCP heats up in advance of the coming spring election, so too has furious fundraising. A change banning union and corporate donations to political parties hasn’t meant those groups have been shut out of efforts to sway voters. James Keller looks at newly released data and writes that money connected to those groups has instead flowed into third-party fundraising arms. A who’s-who of corporate Calgary has given to groups aligned with Jason Kenney’s United Conservative Party, while union donations, including a single contribution of $250,000, have gone to left-leaning organizations, some whose staff have ties to the New Democrats.

VANCOUVER TRANSIT: Vancouver’s mayor says he wants a major high-speed rail project that will cut through the city extended to the University of British Columbia — and he’s urging the provincial and federal governments to come up with the money. The long-awaited Broadway Subway line has received funding but on a route that stops kilometres before the UBC campus west of Vancouver. Mayor Kennedy Stewart says he’ll be lobbying for the extra $4-billion to get it in service by 2030.

UPGRADING OIL: Alberta Premier Rachel Notley has revealed the first project to get money under a program designed to increase partial upgrading of oil — a process that makes it easier to process and to refine. The province has awarded $440-million in loan gaurentees to Calgary-based Value Creation, which plans to build a $2-billion facility near Edmonton to produce medium-grade synthetic crude. Upgraded crude requires less diluent to flow through a pipe, which means it takes up less space in pipelines that are already at capacity. Ms. Notley says she’ll have more projects to announce in the coming weeks. The United Conservative Party isn’t saying whether it will honour these agreements if it wins the spring election, insisting that everything will be reviewed to assess potential risks.

SOCIAL HOUSING: The value of a shuttered social housing building owned by a notorious Vancouver family has plunged by $9-million. The assessed value of the Regent Hotel in the Downtown Eastside has plummeted by more than 70 per cent, mirroring a similar drop experienced a year ago by the Balmoral Hotel, the other building owned by the Sahota family that the city is targeting for sale or expropriation following hundreds of bylaw violations over the past 20 years.

CLIMATE CHANGE: The City of Victoria is floating the idea of a class-action lawsuit against oil companies to recoup the costs associated with climate change. City council has asked the Union of BC Municipalities to examine the possibility of initiating the lawsuit, citing substantial costs for local governments due to climate change.

HISTORIC PARK: A national historic site in Saskatchewan where archaeological digs have uncovered artifacts of daily life older than the Egyptian pyramids is getting a unique addition. Diane Jermyn looks at plans to build a playground for the families and school children who visit the site, scheduled to open in June, 2020. The playground will reflect the archeological and inherited resources on the site with features such as a buffalo rubbing stone that is a landmark on the property.

Opinion:

Gary Mason on money laundering: “The chorus demanding a public inquiry into money laundering grows louder by the day. People are angry over how this matter has been ignored by previous provincial administrations, which in turn allowed it to proliferate. Upset citizens want heads to roll.”

Marsha Lederman on the proposed new Vancouver Art Gallery: “The lead donation is a game-changer for the VAG’s protracted campaign to construct a new museum, one that’s built with the specific purpose of being a gallery, unlike the current structure, which is a former courthouse.”

Adrienne Tanner on ride hailing: “Taxis have never been a bargain. And we will lose our incentive to use transit, walk and cycle, if Uber rates are too low, yet the province’s new ride-hailing regulations prohibit municipalities from dictating the rates or numbers of Uber and Lyft cars. The province should allow municipalities some control over numbers by allowing congestion fees.”