543 replies to this topic

[SamCB]

Filed under Not At All Surprising (that these bigwigs who approve their own expenses are claiming shady personal stuff).

But good for Plecas. He's totally redeemed himself in my eyes. This is how a politician actually "drains the swamp."

[spanky123]

I don't think that Plecas is out of the woods yet. There is a big difference between being your typical scumbag political hack and breaking the law.

 

It sounds like there were very few written policies and that many of these activities have been at least tacitly approved over the years. Will be interesting to see what the RCMP does with this.

 

Worst case scenario for the taxpayer is that these two clowns admit to having their hands in the till but claim that there was nothing saying that they couldn't so they sue for damage to their reputation and wrongful termination.

[tjv]

I think we have opened a can of worms here and now every senior person, MLA, etc should be fully audited.  If these guys have been getting away with it, then why not other people

 

Next up lets get a certificate of pending litigation against Lenz and James personal homes demanding court ordered sale.  As a taxpayer I hope there is enough equity to cover the bill.  I would also add fraud and bill them for that report.  If I were the government they had better hope there was a barrel left to wear to their new home under the Johnson St bridge

 

It would also serve as a future warning.  Plus if they can get away with it then why not corporate owners too.  I might have to expense 30 new Brioni suits, a new Ferrari and a new corporate penthouse in the Caribbean as part of my official duties at not telling you my corporate name Ltd

[rjag]

Yup, isnt that why we have an Auditor General who serves at arms length to the Leg...? Why didnt he call them in right away as they ahve the tools as well as the budget and more importantly the power to look into this?

 

Somethings not right here

[Rob Randall]

Mr. Ennis proceeded to tell us that a wood splitter had been purchased by the Legislative Assembly at the request of Mr. James, and was supported by Mr. Lenz. Mr. Ennis said the wood splitter never arrived at the Legislative Assembly, and instead was taken directly to Mr. James’ personal residence where Mr. James and Mr. Lenz were using it to split firewood.

Mr. Ennis’ view was that there was no legitimate rationale for the Legislative Assembly to have purchased a wood splitter for emergency purposes or otherwise.

 

 

Jesus Murphy

[Victoria Watcher]

are there any firewood or wood splitting experts on VV that can interpret that part?

[Rob Randall]

I mean it's one thing to pocket a few souvenirs or pad your travel per diems. 

 

But having three Legislature employees packing your truck with multiple loads of liquor and buying a Goddamn motherfrickin' firewood splitter for the Parliament Buildings requires a special degree of absolute psychopathy.

Edited by Rob Randall, 21 January 2019 - 05:17 PM.

[spanky123]

Yup, isnt that why we have an Auditor General who serves at arms length to the Leg...? Why didnt he call them in right away as they ahve the tools as well as the budget and more importantly the power to look into this?

 

Somethings not right here

 

The AG audits the policy in place. If the policy is lax or non-existent then there is nothing to audit.

 

Having said that, some of the items (ie log splitter) seem so egregious that you have to wonder if the AG may be challenged on her offices' audit.

[Rob Randall]

I don't think that Plecas is out of the woods yet.

 

I heard there may be a machine available to help with that.

 

Edited by Rob Randall, 21 January 2019 - 04:46 PM.

[tjv]

Why was James and Lenz put on PAID leave?  Any other place they get hauled into the office and are fired on the spot for just cause.  There are a million examples of just cause in that report

[Rob Randall]

While staying in London, Mr. Lenz claimed reimbursement for £14.50 ($25) per day for the hotel’s “Executive Lounge” package which includes a breakfast buffet, an afternoon high tea spread, and an open bar in the evening.

 

 

Actually for London that sounds like a great bargain.

[Mike K.]

I mean it's one thing to pocket a few souvenirs or pad your travel per diems.

But having three Legislature employees packing your truck with multiple loads of liquor and buying a Goddamn motherfrickin' firewood splitter for the Parliament Buildings requires a special degree of absolute psychopathy.

Lol, Rob.

[VIResident]

Actually for London that sounds like a great bargain.

In fact that is just plain out-to-lunch.  Hmmmmmm....

[Victoria Watcher]

$25 for all that can’t be right.

[Mike K.]

No, that’s odd, hey? Maybe there’s a missing zero somewhere in there.

[Rob Randall]

Just a hotel croissant and OJ is going to set you back $25 in a nice London hotel I $hit you not.

[vortoozo]

Wow. After having read the report, it looks very appearant that Plecas done the right thing.

Some of it may have been motivated by being terminated from the Liberal party, as it does begin to get a bit partisan towards the end.

But mostly, not.

Lots of inappropriate expenses that, even if there wasn't a specific policy in place, were clearly known to be wrong.

And then those vacation payouts that were designed to get around policy or simply ignoring it.

Well done Hon. Plecas.

[tjv]

So this wood splitter cost 13k.  That is one hell of a wood splitter

 

I would also like to know why the government is buying 10k worth of liquor.  Jesus, when I worked for government years ago coffee was billed at 30 cents a cup and if you wanted to go to the Christmas party I think it was $30 or 40.

[vortoozo]

I would also like to know why the government is buying 10k worth of liquor.  Jesus, when I worked for government years ago coffee was billed at 30 cents a cup and if you wanted to go to the Christmas party I think it was $30 or 40.

 

"The alcohol was apparently left over from a conference or event that the Clerk hosted and was placed in a basement vault from which it was later loaded into the truck." 

[Redd42]

Justin McElroy's twitter feed is entertaining:

 

https://twitter.com/j_mcelroy?lang=en