The B.C. Liberals have rehired Laura Miller as the party’s executive director despite the fact she’s still facing criminal charges in Ontario.
In a move swiftly criticized by the NDP, Liberal president Sharon White announced Thursday that the party’s executive board decided unanimously to reinstate Miller just three months after she stepped aside to deal with the charges.
“Since then, Laura has been working with her legal counsel to mount a vigorous and successful defence,” White said. “She is now in a position to step back into her role.”
Premier Christy Clark supported the party’s decision.
“It’s the fair and right approach — one that respects our court process, including the fundamental principle that every person is innocent unless proven otherwise,” she said in a statement.
Miller, who served as deputy chief of staff under former Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty, was charged in December with breach of trust and mischief in connection with the deletion of government documents related to two cancelled gas plants.
Miller said at the time that she would vigorously defend herself against the charges and has been using a crowdsourcing website to raise money for her legal bills.
The case has not gone to trial.
Deputy premier Rich Coleman, the party’s election-readiness chairman, said the Liberals wanted Miller back “because she’s actually very good at what she does.”
“Our party today is probably one of the most professionally organized parties in the country,” he said.
“Financially, it’s better than anybody in the country, I would think, on a provincial level. And that’s all due to the work of an individual who knows how to come in and run an organization.
“So the opportunity to have her back, now that she’s organized her defence, is acceptable to the executive of the party and they make the decision.”
Coleman said the public recognizes that people have the right to keep working while preparing their defence.
“This is a pretty old case, as you know,” he said.
“It’s winding its way through [Ontario’s] judicial system, which is really not our issue. Our issue was, ‘Is she qualified to do the job?’ ”
B.C. NDP Leader John Horgan said the charges facing Miller, while unproved, are “significant” and he expressed disappointment that the Liberals would rehire her in those circumstances.
“What I discovered today is that the B.C. Liberal Party is OK with having, at the top their organization, someone being charged with breach of trust and mischief in another jurisdiction,” he said.
“It’s disappointing, but it’s a private club; they can do whatever they want.”
— With files from the Canadian Press
