Bob Mackin
Seven years ago on Nov. 20, 2018, the last time Craig James and Gary Lenz were seen inside the chamber at the Parliament Buildings in Victoria.
NDP Government House Leader Mike Farnworth, who was also the Solicitor General, rose at 11:06 a.m. on Nov. 20, 2018 in the Legislature after Question Period, to interrupt the start of a committee hearing.
Farnworth’s hands were trembling, as he looked down to read from a single page. An announcement of this sort had never been made in the 147-year history of British Columbia’s Legislative Assembly.
Craig James (standing left) and Gary Lenz (back to camera) minutes before their suspension was announced in the B.C. Legislature (Hansard TV)
“By leave, I move: That Mr. Craig James, Clerk of the Legislative Assembly, and Mr. Gary Lenz, Sergeant at Arms, are placed on administrative leave with pay and benefits, effective immediately,” Farnworth said.
No one objected. The motion passed unanimously.
Farnworth had waited until both James and Lenz had left the chamber. He even took a walk outside the chamber, after both had left.
Premier John Horgan sat beside Farnworth, looking glum. Horgan later said outside the Legislature that he had been briefed a day earlier and had spoken to Opposition Leader Andrew Wilkinson. He claimed to know very little about the investigation.
Feigned ignorance
James, carrying personal belongings, told reporters that neither he nor Lenz knew what was going on and they were equally shocked. TV cameras showed him being escorted out of the building. James left in a silver Buick sedan driven by Lenz.
Later, during the noon hour, the chief of staff to Speaker Darryl Plecas, Alan Mullen, announced that there was a police investigation into an unprecedented criminal matter. A special prosecutor had been appointed.
“It’s disturbing, it’s disruptive,” Mullen said.
Over the coming months, Plecas would issue two reports revealing the findings of his investigation with Mullen. Oddly, members of the Press Gallery reported critically on the two whistleblowers, rather than the two suspects.
James and Lenz claimed innocence and demanded their jobs back.
Innocence claimed
James and Lenz later retired in disgrace in 2019 without reimbursing taxpayers.
In May of that year, James was found to have committed four types of misconduct. Lenz quit five months later to avoid discipline under the Police Act for breaching his oath.
Only James was charged under the Criminal Code in late 2020.
Guilty as charged
On July 8, 2022 in B.C. Supreme Court, James was sentenced to one month house arrest in his Saanich residence and two months of 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew.
Associate Chief Justice Heather Holmes found James guilty May 19 of fraud and breach of public trust. He was sentenced only for breach of public trust, because of rulings against multiple convictions for the same circumstances.
Holmes ordered James to repay $1,886.72 for the cost of the custom shirts and suit that he illegally bought for himself with public funds. She also assessed a $200 victim fine surcharge.
Speaker Darryl Plecas (left) and chief of staff Alan Mullen (Mackin)
Broken promise
Farnworth ceased being Solicitor General before the 2024 election. He is back as the Government House Leader, but still has not fulfilled a longstanding promise.
In early 2019, Farnworth vowed that the Legislature would finally come under the 1993 Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
Three Legislature-appointed watchdogs, including Information and Privacy Commissioner Michael McEvoy, had publicly called for new transparency and accountability measures to prevent another spending scandal.
A June 2022 all-party committee recommended the same. But still no action.
“It is time for the Legislative Assembly to adhere to the same standards [as ministries, agencies and Crown corporations],” said the report.
In 2018-2019, the Legislature spent $72.66 million on operations.
The budget for 2025-2026, under James’s protege Kate Ryan-Lloyd, is $138.85 million.
A 91% increase.
The biggest line item is $55.57 million for administration.
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