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Editorial: Here comes the judge

British Columbians can only hope that a retired judge will make some sense out of the three-ring circus at the legislature. On Thursday, Speaker Darryl Plecas released his response to Craig James and Gary Lenz’s response to Plecas’ first report.

British Columbians can only hope that a retired judge will make some sense out of the three-ring circus at the legislature.

On Thursday, Speaker Darryl Plecas released his response to Craig James and Gary Lenz’s response to Plecas’ first report. If the players keep responding to responses, this show could have more sequels than The Fast and the Furious.

Fortunately, MLAs on the legislative assembly management committee have decided to appoint a retired judge to write a report on whether James and Lenz, respectively the clerk and sergeant-at-arms of the legislature, did anything wrong. While most sensible people would run as far as possible from such an appointment, retired judges are made of sterner stuff.

As with Plecas’s statements and reports, and all the other inflammatory rhetoric around the scandal, the MLAs say the report will not interfere with the ongoing RCMP investigation. Some legal experts might differ with that assessment. If charges were ever laid against the two, their lawyers could easily argue that they could never get a fair trial in B.C. after all the mud that has been thrown at them.

Nevertheless, a judge can bring rigour, credibility and impartiality to a scandal that becomes more bewildering with each turn. Plecas, James, Lenz and the MLAs of every party have too many conflicting motives and interests to be trusted by the voters.

Everyone involved should stop talking and let the judge and the police do their work.