543 replies to this topic

[sdwright.vic]

I know at the federal level you have to use a government computer if you work from home, and that computer is specifically configured to be able to log into networks. If your are away to long you are logged out and have to log back in.

So I agree with TJV- if claiming to work from home there is a record of doing such and for how long.

[Rob Randall]

I know at the federal level you have to use a government computer if you work from home, and that computer is specifically configured to be able to log into networks. If your are away to long you are logged out and have to log back in.

So I agree with TJV- if claiming to work from home there is a record of doing such and for how long.

 

Tut tut! Again you speak of the rules applied to the common plebians!

[Mike K.]

Meanwhile at the government surplus store...

 

[Rob Randall]

^Reminded me of this poor guy in '60s China who was tied up in a packed stadium and sent for a month at the re-education camp and accused of being a hoarder of riches just for possessing an extra watch and a couple of pieces of cheap jewelry. And he got off lucky.

 

We'll have to wait and see what happens to our boys and whether actual criminal charges are ever filed. I'm not optimistic any substantial punishment will be meted out.

Edited by Rob Randall, 23 January 2019 - 05:11 PM.

[Nparker]

Punishment will depend on how much dirt James & Lenz have on anyone else of power/position.

[AllseeingEye]

Meh...I'll withhold my outrage - not to mention any temptation to pad my VV post total - until such time as they are actually found, you know.....guilty of something. 

 

So while I completely concur the optics for Mssrs Craig and Lenz look none too good, remember that unlike Soviet Russia or China or North Korea, we actually do live by the rule of law, i.e. when accused of something you are innocent until proven guilty by the state, and not the other way around....

 

What I see and read so far are allegations and accusations. They may well ultimately be guilty as hell but it'll be interesting to hear their side of the story - and it seems to me they are rarin' to go to tell it which is certainly their right before they're shot at dawn. If they in fact did commit all these offences it seems unusual to me that that would be the case. In that event, if nothing else, they must surely both have the biggest bras b****s ever. And, interestingly, at least how I read it, this episode sure looks like a concerted effort by Plecas to portray himself in an *awfully* moral, just, and 'stand up law-abiding kind of guy' light. Hm....

 

So if and when the RCMP determine actual real crime(s) were committed, and if and when they recommend charges be laid, and above all and especially if and when the two gentlemen in question are actually found guilty as charged by a judge and/or jury, then I'll hop onto the hang 'em high bandwagon; in the meantime and not before, I'll reserve judgement and hang out on the Fishing forum

Edited by AllseeingEye, 23 January 2019 - 06:55 PM.

[Redd42]

Plecas speaks to media today at event in Abbotsford:

 

https://www.oakbayne...re-employees-2/

[Cassidy]

... suspended with pay BTW, which makes one wonder just how long these two will continue to feed at the public trough?

[tjv]

I will tell you right now if James and Lenz don't get punished I will start writing off all my expenses to my company - vacations, liquor, wood splitters, boats, TV's, new furniture, heck even my entire mortgage and grocery bills.

 

I would hope CRA is looking into this matter as well on a completely separate charge of income tax evasion - think about all the fraud not claiming taxable benefits

[Rob Randall]

... suspended with pay BTW, which makes one wonder just how long these two will continue to feed at the public trough?

 

Oh, I'd say at least one and a half to two Elsners.

[VIResident]

Just a little boom and more to come.....

The whistleblower shed light on the “culture of entitlement” in the legislature, Weaver said, and was “allegedly dismissed for questioning the expense claims of B.C. Liberal MLA and Assistant Deputy Speaker of the House Linda Reid.” - https://www.timescol...aims-1.23609767

[LeoVictoria]

Meh...I'll withhold my outrage - not to mention any temptation to pad my VV post total - until such time as they are actually found, you know.....guilty of something. 

 

So while I completely concur the optics for Mssrs Craig and Lenz look none too good, remember that unlike Soviet Russia or China or North Korea, we actually do live by the rule of law, i.e. when accused of something you are innocent until proven guilty by the state, and not the other way around....

 

What I see and read so far are allegations and accusations. They may well ultimately be guilty as hell but it'll be interesting to hear their side of the story - and it seems to me they are rarin' to go to tell it which is certainly their right before they're shot at dawn. If they in fact did commit all these offences it seems unusual to me that that would be the case. In that event, if nothing else, they must surely both have the biggest bras b****s ever. And, interestingly, at least how I read it, this episode sure looks like a concerted effort by Plecas to portray himself in an *awfully* moral, just, and 'stand up law-abiding kind of guy' light. Hm....

 

So if and when the RCMP determine actual real crime(s) were committed, and if and when they recommend charges be laid, and above all and especially if and when the two gentlemen in question are actually found guilty as charged by a judge and/or jury, then I'll hop onto the hang 'em high bandwagon; in the meantime and not before, I'll reserve judgement and hang out on the Fishing forum

 

Sure they should get a chance to tell their side of the story, but them being convicted of real crimes is not a necessity.   It could just be blatant violation of professional workplace standards which should cause them to be fired.  Whether the government can actually recover any money without a conviction is dubious of course.

[LeoVictoria]

Punishment will depend on how much dirt James & Lenz have on anyone else of power/position.

 

Plecas wrote that James was encouraging him to submit a receipt for a suit he’d bought at Ede & Ravenscroft in London so that he could be reimbursed. “I said I wasn’t going to do that, but I didn’t want to alarm him, so I added something to the effect of me being a public figure and that my expenses are undoubtedly scrutinized by the members of the Opposition,” Plecas wrote.

“He replied that I shouldn’t worry. He said that if they took issue with my expenses, he could put an end to it because he had ‘so much dirt on the Liberals’ 

https://thetyee.ca/N...es-BC-Liberals/

[LeoVictoria]

What I don't understand is the rationale behind this.     The guy makes a few hundred thousand in salary, has a generous pension, and seems not to live lavishly (biking to work, splitting his own wood, etc).   Why the heck did he think it was worth it to expense a few thousand dollars in wood splitters or iCloud subscriptions?   

[AllseeingEye]

Sure they should get a chance to tell their side of the story, but them being convicted of real crimes is not a necessity.   It could just be blatant violation of professional workplace standards which should cause them to be fired.  Whether the government can actually recover any money without a conviction is dubious of course.

Don't misunderstand the general thrust of my argument in my post above: I completely concur re: your comment here: if they are convicted and/or its readily apparent they clearly violated (especially) government spending protocols, rules of professional decorum or ethical standards particularly given their seniority - when they above all should know better - then they deserve whatever fate awaits them.

 

I'm merely saying I'm not going to lose any sleep until that time and until we're heard the other side of this story. Besides Mrs ASE in on my ass to get that second bedroom spackled, sanded and painted tout suite, so right now I'm more concerned about me being in the cross hairs than Mr Craig or Mr Lenz.......

[Mike K.]

What I don't understand is the rationale behind this. The guy makes a few hundred thousand in salary, has a generous pension, and seems not to live lavishly (biking to work, splitting his own wood, etc). Why the heck did he think it was worth it to expense a few thousand dollars in wood splitters or iCloud subscriptions?

Thousand dollar suits and limo rides through London sound pretty lavish to me.

And have you seen what a spandex warrior suit costs these days? Or the cost of a wood stove that’s efficient and clean enough to keep nerka, Jonny and G-Man from keying your Maserati?

[todd]

The limo industry is good business in BC even bigger in London how else will bring their secret back to Victoria.

[Nparker]

Thousand dollar suits and limo rides through London sound pretty lavish to me....

To be fair one certainly doesn't have to go to London to spend $1000 on a suit. 

From Outlooks for Men:

 

Even Moore's will set you back 1/2 K or more for a decent suit: The starting price is $695 for suits, $500 for sport coats and dinner jackets, $195 for trousers and $150 for vests.

[Sparky]

Here is my take on the Dufus Twins.

 

They should have read the bio on Darryl Plecas before they "wink winked" their strategy on uniform wares.

 

They were showing the ropes to a newly appointed "Speaker" that had fallen from favour from the Liberal party for taking the awkward position of swinging the balance of power in the legislature. That cost the entire Liberal Party their jobs. That maneuver alone should have given them a clue about his resolve.

 

Add that to the fact that Plecas spent decades with two degrees as a criminologist, a prison judge, and a faculty member of a University. 

 

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that he would be the last guy in the province that I would have shown how to pad an expense sheet.

 

Doh!

[VIResident]

"The B.C. Legislature’s finances have been treated as high risk by the province’s auditors for the past dozen years because of weak oversight, but there was no political will to change the system, B.C.'s Auditor-General says."

 

(blame falls to party-in-power and opposition past and current in my view. See TC headline: 

Horgan: B.C. Liberals to blame for legislature scandal  *eye roll*)

 

"......Ms. Bellringer said in an interview on Wednesday. “We have been reporting on this since 2007, we have been telling them they have a huge problem ... Nobody wanted to clean it up."

 

".....the Clerk defended his spending. "His response stated that luggage had allegedly been requested by, and was purchased for, use by MLAs,” the report notes."

 

"....Mr. Plecas also raised concerns that both men routinely were paid out vacation benefits, against policy. “In Mr. Lenz’s case, although his practices in relation to rolling over and requesting payouts for vacation days are contrary to established policy, it is Mr. James who has been responsible for approving them," the report says, “and perhaps unsurprisingly, they have been consistently approved.”

 

https://www.theglobe...l-as-high-risk/

Edited by VIResident, 24 January 2019 - 07:10 AM.