Today in the legislature I introduced Bill M202: Election Amendment Act, 2019 designed to limit the number of terms a person could be elected as an MLA. The purpose of this bill is to ensure that those seeking elected office recognize that serving the people of British Columbia should be interpreted as a sense of civic duty, not a career path.

Below I provide the full text and video of my introduction of the Bill.

You’ll see from these that the BC Liberals were heckling me throughout my introduction and the Speaker had to intervene. When First Reading was called, a fair number of BC Liberals shouted “Nay” to proceeding with the bill and so I called for a standing vote. The BC Liberal house leader Mary Polak walked up and down her caucus benches trying to figure out who voted Nay. With the exception of Ralph Sultan, the BC Liberals collectively denied saying “Nay”. They then voted in favour of First Feading in the standing vote (reproduced below).

Ralph Sultan deserves a lot of credit for standing up and following through with his Nay vote. The other BC Liberal MLAs (whose names I will not mention) denied they voted Nay to their house leader and showed that they were nothing more than principle-less sheep unwilling to vote their conviction.

Video of Introduction

Text of Introduction

A. Weaver: I move that a bill intituled the Election Amendment Act, 2019, of which notice has been given in my name, be introduced and read a first time now. I’m pleased to introduce the bill intituled Election Amendment Act, 2019. This bill is designed to set term limits on elected officials in the B.C. Legislature. If enacted, this bill would limit MLAs to 12 years or three terms. In addition, an individual could not be nominated for re-election if they had already served eight years as a Premier.

The introduction of term limits would ensure that those seeking elected office recognize that serving the people of British Columbia should be interpreted as a sense of civic duty, not a career path. The general public have become cynical about politics and career politicians….

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members, if we may hear the member.

A. Weaver: I thank you, hon. Speaker. It’s remarkably disrespectful during an introduction of a bill to hear the chatter coming from the opposite.

The general public….

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members.

A. Weaver: If ever you needed demonstration that this bill needs to be enacted, it is here today shown before us by the behaviour of the members opposite.

The general public have become cynical about politics and career politicians. Voter turnout is on the decline. By introducing term limits, certain elected officials will be freed up to think about the long-term consequence of their decisions, rather than just their re-election goals. It will ensure a continued rejuvenation of this Legislature.

I feel, frankly, that we’re still fighting the Cold War in this chamber. We’ve got politicians who’ve been here on both sides of the House since the 1990s. When the same players continue their never-ending dance of dysfunction, British Columbians all lose.

Text of Introduction

Mr. Speaker: Members, the question is first reading of the bill put forth by the Leader of the Third Party.

Motion approved on the following division

Today in the legislature I rose during question period to ask the Attorney General what action he’s taking to crack down on money laundering in BC casinos. I also inquired as to what he is doing to ensure that those involved are held accountable for their actions/inactions.

Below I reproduce the video and text of our exchange. I was very impressed with the comprehensive and thoughtful answers that I received to my questions.

Video of Exchange

Question

A. Weaver: Last week’s explosive investigative report on CTV’s W5 alleged that the B.C. Lottery Corp. displayed wilful blindness to money laundering in B.C. casinos. Since the early 2000s, multiple whistle-blowing attempts were allegedly ignored. From 2008 up until last year, these warnings were coming with increasing frequency, yet they were still ignored.

But it goes deeper than that. Those who tried to expose the racket were penalized. Does this sound familiar? The reports issued on the escalating crisis by the previous executive director of the B.C. gaming policy and enforcement branch were shelved, and at times, senior staff were even told that they should not talk about money laundering. It’s astounding.

After continually warning of a massive escalation of suspected dirty money infiltrating casinos, the top gaming investigators in B.C. lost their jobs.

My question is to the Attorney General: what action is this government taking to clean up this alleged culture of corruption?

Answer

Hon. D. Eby: I thank the member for the question. One of first things that we did on forming government was actually let British Columbians know about what was happening in our casinos, that our regulator believed that our casinos were the hub of an international large-scale money-laundering ring. British Columbians did not know that.

The member mentioned the Vancouver model in his two-minute statement. The reason British Columbians know about that now is because Peter German talked with the university professor who was teaching anti-money-laundering professionals about the Vancouver model of money laundering at the same time as officials here were saying that there was no issue with money laundering in our casinos. Can you imagine that?

The action we’ve taken is to, first of all, let British Columbians know about what was going on, and second, to tell the casinos, even though we knew there was a potential $30 million hit to the budget — even though we knew that — to stop accepting the cash. It cut suspicious cash transactions by 100 times from the peak of July 2015.

I can also tell the member that we have the regulator in the casinos at peak hours now. Previously they were only there Monday to Friday, nine to five. I don’t know if the member has ever found himself in a casino, but it probably wasn’t Monday to Friday, nine to five. Now the regulator’s there when people are actually in the casino, which seems like a good idea to us.

B.C. Lottery Corp., under the supervision of the regulator…. The member was in the House when we passed the legislation to make those 40-plus recommendations from Peter German all underway.

I thank the member for the question very much. We’re taking a lot of action on this file.

Supplementary Question

A. Weaver: There’s little doubt that this problem occurred under the watch of the previous government. However, it is now this government that’s in power, and it’s this government’s responsibility to actually get to the bottom of this.

As the Province reporter Mike Smyth pointed out, the NDP loves talking and talking about money laundering. According to other whistle-blowers in the industry, there was not only a culture of wilful blindness, but some executives were actively justifying the money laundering. Some said it would occur anyway, and therefore, at least the government casinos could be used to recycle the dirty money into productive uses. The seemingly pervasive theme across casino executives and within the BCLC was that the money should not be questioned.

According to whistle-blowers at the centre of this, their behaviour was not unwitting. It was deliberate. A former senior director of investigation for B.C.’s gaming policy enforcement branch has even said that the BCLC could have stopped this at any point. They did not.

My question, again, is to the Attorney General. Those responsible in his ministry must be held accountable. What is his ministry doing to ensure that British Columbians are getting the answers they deserve today, not some time in the future, but now?

Answer

Hon. D. Eby: You know, it’s a bit ironic to be given information that was in the Peter German report as evidence of the fact that the government hasn’t been taking action to get the information out. The reason why CTV and others knew about Joe Schalk and others who were fired when they tried to ring the alarm bells was because that was in Peter German’s report. I’ve actually written to them to congratulate them and thank them for their work in defending British Columbia’s interests. We’re getting the information out to British Columbians. We’re trying to stop the activity that’s taking place.

I’ve heard the members on the other side, in the official opposition, say: “Oh, we had lots going on. We were trying to stop money laundering.” We asked them: okay, well, give us the cabinet documents. Give us access to cabinet documents. We’ll keep that confidential. We won’t release that information. We’ll use that to inform our anti-money-laundering response so we don’t repeat the work. Did they give us the documents? No, they did not.

I can tell the member that it was just about eight weeks ago that the Silver International federal prosecution fell apart. We expected that British Columbians would hear a lot of information on that prosecution. We were incredibly concerned when it fell apart. I presented to a federal finance committee on this issue.

We now have a federal minister tasked directly to work with B.C. on this issue. The federal government is committed to work with us. We have a civil forfeiture action underway that I can’t talk about that is currently in front of the courts. The Ministry of Attorney General lawyers resisted an application to give the money back to the alleged money launders in the Silver International case. This case is ongoing.

The independent prosecution service, provincially, is looking at the federal materials and seeing if there are provincial charges that are appropriate. I could go on and on and on, and I would love to.

Today in the legislature I rose during Members’ Statements to address the legislature on the importance of rebuilding public trust in government. As I note in the statement (reproduced below), my colleagues and I in the B.C. Green caucus stand by ready to assist in any way that we can.

Video of Statement

Text of Statement

A. Weaver: Each and every MLA in this room is proud and honoured to serve as the elected representative for their community. While each of us has a different story as to what brought us to politics, we’re all here because we believe in working for the public good.

Yet I stand here today troubled — troubled that day by day we’re learning of new allegations of wrongdoing across government. This troubles me because the narrative that is building is that B.C. is a haven for unethical behaviour and that, whether deliberate or not, our government has been complicit.

To our collective shame, we learned this year of the Vancouver model, a term used by organized crime around the world because of how easy it was to launder money here. This Legislature also has been rocked to its core by allegations brought on by improper spending occurring right under our noses.

Trust is the foundation of our democratic authority. If the public loses trust in its government, that authority is lost. British Columbians are calling for answers, and it’s up to us to ensure that answers are given and that those who are responsible are held accountable for their actions.

As we embark on this new session, let us collectively reflect upon the role that each and every one of us can play in rebuilding public trust in this institution. We have a lot of work to do, for trust is built up over the span of years, and it can be lost with the blink of an eye.

Now is the time for us to reform the way this Legislature operates, and that’s precisely what British Columbians want and deserve. My colleagues and I in the B.C. Green caucus stand by ready to assist in any way that we can.

Today in the legislature I rose to ask  government what they are planning to do to increase accountability and transparency in the legislature. In particular, I argued that they’ve been largely silent on the matter of the Speaker’s report, almost acting as if nothing has happened.

I further asked the Premier about the disturbing allegations contained within the report concerning the Clerk’s relationship to the BC Liberals. In particular, I asked how many times since March 2017 the Clerk visited the B.C. NDP party office or an individual NDP MLA’s office in Vancouver or elsewhere in the province.

Below I reproduce the text and videos of the exchange.

Videos of Exchange

Question

A. Weaver: While the official opposition and the government quibble over the bringing in of ride-hailing here, into the province of British Columbia, it could have happened four years ago if my private member’s bill had been debated on this floor. The B.C. Greens stand ready to ensure it and bring ride-hailing here. There is no excuse for delays — no government excuse, no opposition excuse. Let’s get on with it and do it.

Hon. Speaker, it’s been three weeks since the 76-page report that you wrote, containing allegations of misconduct by senior officers of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly, was released. To suggest that the public is outraged over the culture of entitlement exposed in that report would be a gross understatement. Yet government has been largely silent on the matter, almost acting as if nothing has happened. Frankly, this is irresponsible and unacceptable.

My question is to the Premier: what is his government planning to do to increase accountability and transparency in this place as a first step to rebuilding public trust?

Answer

Hon. M. Farnworth: I thank the member for his question. I would say that every member in this House takes that report extremely seriously. That’s one of the reasons why it was publicly released. It’s one of the reasons why the Legislative Assembly Management Committee has been discussing and looking at ways of dealing with that report.

More importantly, from the government’s perspective, Hon. Member, most recently, we had a letter received, which members of your caucus also received and was made public, from the three key independent officers of this Legislature — the Merit Commissioner, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner and the Ombudsperson — on three important reforms that could in fact take place that would help to restore confidence in many of the activities that this chamber is responsible for.

I have made it clear, on the part of the government, that we will accept every single one of those recommendations, and I also made it clear that every single one of them will be implemented. We have already let the independent officers know that we intend to work with them to implement them, and they have expressed satisfaction with that.

Supplementary Question

A. Weaver: Well, that answer demonstrates exactly the point I’m trying to make: yet another reactive approach from government and no proactive leadership on a file that’s crying out for leadership.

Rebuilding public trust in this institution for British Columbians, listening and responding to external parties is one thing. We need leadership from this government, and it’s sorely missing on this file.

Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of the report is the alleged partisan nature of the Clerk’s office. The report details 39 entries of in-province trips taken by the Clerk since March 2017 for individual meetings. Four of these involved former B.C. Liberal Speaker Bill Barisoff. Four involved the former Premier Christy Clark, all of which occurred after she was no longer Premier. Fourteen were with former B.C. Liberal MLA Geoff Plant. Two were with the B.C. Liberal MLA from Abbotsford West. One was for a meeting at the B.C. Liberal Party offices.

Let me be clear. The Clerk has never once visited the B.C. Green Party, nor any of our MLAs, outside of this Legislature.

So my question to the Premier is this. How many times since March 2017 has the Clerk visited the B.C. NDP party office or an individual MLA’s office in Vancouver or elsewhere in the province of British Columbia, those MLAs being NDP MLAs?

Answer

Hon. J. Horgan: I thank the member for his question and his concern about the report tabled by the Speaker in the break after the last sitting of the House. I agree with him that it’s incumbent upon all of us, all members here, to demonstrate leadership. It’s not one party. It’s not one person. It’s all of us that have to demonstrate to the public that we’re serious and genuine about real reform to make sure that there’s transparency and absolute certainty that the activities of all members of this House, all table officers of this House….

Welcome to the table. I bet you didn’t count on this, did you?

But in all seriousness, the Clerk has never been to my office, whether it be at the Legislature or in my constituency. He has never visited the party office of the B.C. NDP. I have no knowledge of any of the members of my caucus ever having a visit from the Clerk of the Legislature.

Again, the questions of partisanship are in your report. The questions of partisanship are in the public domain. And I will remind members that when the Clerk, Mr. James, was appointed, it was not with the support of the official opposition — the first time in our history that an individual was appointed to head this jurisdiction, to head this table, that did not have unanimous consent. I think we need to start, as we go forward, to ensure that all of us, all 87 of us, are focused on restoring public confidence in the work that we do.

I know that each member, regardless of their political stripe, regardless of their former vocation, came to this place with a good conscience to make life better for their neighbours. I know that in my heart, and I know that we can demonstrate that to the public if we work together and not hector each other on who was right and who was wrong and whose fault it is. There’s a problem here. We all have to fix it.

On January 23, 2019 I issued news release calling on BC Liberal MLA Linda Reid (Richmond South Centre) to step aside as Assistant Deputy Speaker until such time as whistleblower allegations contained within Speaker Darryl Plecas’ bombshell report were investigated. I am very pleased that today she did indeed do just that. Below is the press release my office issued in response.

Media release

Andrew Weaver statement in response to MLA Linda Reid stepping aside as Assistant Deputy Speaker
For immediate release
February 12, 2019

VICTORIA, B.C. – Andrew Weaver, leader of the B.C. Green Party, issued the following statement in response to MLA Linda Reid’s resignation as Assistant Deputy Speaker of the House:

“Over the past few months allegations of systemic financial wrongdoing have emerged at the B.C. Legislature. These allegations suggest a culture of entitlement and are already compromising British Columbians’ trust in their democratic institution.

“Last month I called on MLA Reid to step aside as Assistant Deputy Speaker as all parties work to restore public trust. I felt strongly that it was inappropriate for MLA Reid to continue to serve as Assistant Deputy Speaker until the allegations of the Speaker’s report could be fully addressed, given the higher threshold of trust required by the role.

“Her decision to step down is an important step, but only one of many that must be taken by all parties to address the alleged abuses of power that have gone on for far too long. The B.C. Green Caucus is committed to ensuring a culture of transparency and accountability in B.C. politics.”

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Media contact
Macon McGinley, Press Secretary
+1 250-882-6187 |macon.mcginley@leg.bc.ca