Former attorney general Wally Oppal leapt to the defence of embattled Speaker Darryl Plecas this morning, one day after being hired as his new special adviser.
Oppal said Plecas has been unfairly treated in the days since the stunning suspension of legislature clerk Craig James and sergeant-at-arms Gary Lenz.
“I can tell you that the Speaker is a well-spoken, intelligent person with a great academic background and he didn’t do anything in a capricious way,” Oppal told reporters at the B.C. legislature.
“I can understand the public being concerned about this, but time will tell, and it will take some time before it all comes out. But I can assure you that, from my knowledge of matters, the Speaker got and sought advice before he did the things that he did do,” Oppal said.
“It is somewhat unfair, in my view, to be cross-examining the Speaker. He’s in a quasi-judicial role.”
James and Lenz have been suspended with pay pending a police investigation regarding their administrative duties.
Two special prosecutors have been appointed.
No details of the allegations have been released and no charges have been laid.
Neither the RCMP nor the B.C. Prosecution Service have commented on the nature of the investigation.
Plecas has been the focus of attention since it was revealed he hired his friend, Alan Mullen, as a special adviser in January, in part to address concerns that Plecas had about the clerk and sergeant-at-arms.
Mullen played a prominent role in the suspensions and together with police escorted both men from the building after the motion to suspend them passed the house on Tuesday.
Mullen has also made media appearances on behalf of Plecas and disclosed earlier that he played some role in investigating the issues behind the suspensions.
It was also revealed Thursday that Plecas suggested making Mullen the acting sergeant-at-arms in a meeting with house leaders the night before Lenz was suspended. The house leaders from all three parties confirm the suggestion was firmly rejected.
Plecas initially agreed to answer reporters questions on Thursday, but ultimately did not. Instead, Mullen read a statement announcing Oppal’s appointment as a legal adviser to the Speaker.
“I know that he agreed to meet with the media and to give a statement, and he thought better of it, and I think that was a wise course of events,” Oppal said. “I don’t think the Speaker of the house, in a quasi-judicial role, should be required to give statements.
“These things take time. There’s a very complex criminal matter going on and this is sort of a peripheral issue that really is in the hind part of that investigation.”
Oppal, a former judge, said details of investigations are not released to the public because they don’t always result in charges, and releasing information could compromise the selection of a fair jury or prejudice a person’s right to a fair trial.
“The investigation may come to a conclusion that no charges are warranted,” he said. “So there’s all kinds of issues like that.”
