Columnist Mike Smyth breaks down the biggest B.C. political stories of 2018.
The hallowed halls of the B.C. legislature have witnessed wild stuff over the years — from misbehaving politicians dragged out of the chamber to cops executing search warrants to a riot in the stately rotunda.
But even the most seasoned political watchers could only gape in silent wonder at the unprecedented events of Nov. 20, 2018.
Craig James, the long-serving clerk of the house, and Gary Lenz, the sergeant-at-arms, were both suspended with pay and marched out of the building under police escort.
The Speaker of the house, Darryl Plecas, revealed his office called the cops over concerns of possible financial wrongdoing.
“I felt a great duty to safeguard the integrity of this institution and be very mindful about why we’re all here,” Plecas said. “That’s to make sure public dollars are spent appropriately.”
As police continued their investigation, Plecas demanded a series of financial audits of the legislature.
“If the outcome of those audits did not outrage the public, did not outrage taxpayers, did not make them throw up, I will resign as Speaker,” he said.
It was just another day in the wild and wacky world of B.C. politics in 2018.
Here’s a countdown of the biggest stories of the year:
The intrigue around James and Lenz — the top two appointed officials in the legislature — left British Columbians mystified at year’s end.
The two men held a news conference to insist they had done nothing wrong. James said he personally brought in a “bulletproof” auditing system at the legislature to protect public money from misuse.
Lenz said the police hadn’t contacted him, and both men said no one had told them what they’re suspected of doing.
But Plecas said he took action when he became aware of “very serious and very sensitive” information and there are “lots of things wrong” at the people’s house in Victoria.
Like many of the biggest stories of 2018, this one will continue into 2019. Plecas promised to release more information in January about a saga sure to take more twists and turns.
One of the most memorable images of the year came in June when David Eby, the crusading attorney-general, held a news conference on money-laundering at B.C. casinos.
Eby released a bombshell report called “Dirty Money” and released a series of surveillance videos taken at the River Rock Casino in Richmond.
The videos showed high-rolling gamblers hauling bags of cash — mainly “gangster rolls” of $20 bills secured by rubber bands — to the cashier’s cage for exchange into casino chips.
“We will move as quickly as possible to slam the door shut on dirty money in B.C. casinos and cut off funding for organized crime in our province,” Eby vowed.
Now watch for this story to get even bigger in 2019.
Eby has assigned the same investigator who wrote the “Dirty Money” report — former RCMP deputy commissioner Peter German — to examine possible money-laundering in Metro Vancouver’s distorted real estate market.
That next report is due this spring, and could increase pressure on the NDP government to order a full public inquiry into criminal money-laundering in the province.
The money-burning fire engulfing B.C.’s public auto insurer was sparked in January, and the flames kept growing throughout the year.
ICBC posted a staggering $1.3-billion loss for the previous fiscal year, and was on track to lose close to another $900 million as 2018 drew to a close.
Eby famously called it a “financial dumpster fire” that he was determined to extinguish.
“Government can’t shift money over from the budget to bail out ICBC every year,” Eby said. “And we can’t turn to ratepayers to bail out ICBC, either. We have to address the system itself.”
That didn’t stop ICBC…
