543 replies to this topic

[spanky123]

^ I am not surprised at all that the AG is now holding up her hand. Her office signed off on the financial statements for years. It is true that an auditor is not expected to review every expense, but if the spending was as egregious as reported then they certainly would have caught something during their spot checks.

[spanky123]

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

 

I think that Weaver needs to keep his outrage to himself for the time being. Check his expense reports, he claims a per diem for more meals than anyone else I checked and he lives in Victoria!

[VIResident]

I think that Weaver needs to keep his outrage to himself for the time being. Check his expense reports, he claims a per diem for more meals than anyone else I checked and he lives in Victoria!

Weaver lives in Oak Bay.  

[Nparker]

...I checked and he lives in Victoria!

Weaver lives in Oak Bay.  

He has a case of Ida Chong syndrome.

[Mike K.]

To be fair MLA's who live in the region are still expected to join colleagues at restaurants for meetings or lunches/dinners, and I don't think it would be fair if all of them expensed their lunch but not the local guy. 

 

But if Weaver is making a point of not preparing his own lunches or paying for his own lunches when he's at the Legislature just working away, etc., then that's maybe offside but it's hard to gauge without knowing what the circumstances are.

[jonny]

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.

 

In order to be punished it will have to be proven that they willfully violated legislature business expense policies. At this point, do we even know if the legislature had any business expense related policies?

 

The AG seems to be intimating that the Legislature is the wild west when it comes to financial management. 

Edited by jonny, 24 January 2019 - 08:45 AM.

[tjv]

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

From Outlooks for Men:

suit.JPG

 

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.

Wow that a lot of money for a Moore's suit

[Mike K.]

Moore's has varying levels of quality and brands, and even bespoke suits made in Canada for around the $1100-$1200 mark.

[tjv]

In order to be punished it will have to be proven that they willfully violated legislature business expense policies. At this point, do we even know if the legislature had any business expense related policies?

 

The AG seems to be intimating that the Legislature is the wild west when it comes to financial management. 

You don't need policies, there are more than enough precedent cases out there for fraud, breach of trust and breach of fiduciary duty.  So every corporation or entity needs a policy so that oh an executive doesn't buy a beach house in the tropics in the company name and they only have the keys not worrying about the other shareholders?

[tjv]

Moore's has varying levels of quality and brands, and even bespoke suits made in Canada for around the $1100-$1200 mark.

It will be a cold day in hell when I spend that much on a Moore's suit.  When you get in that starting price range the label name starts to matter

[Rob Randall]

Wow that a lot of money for a Moore's suit

 

Another case of an apparent London bargain. A grand for a decent suit is a genuine bargain, especially at the store that's made all the royal coronation robes dating back to George III. Or go to Zegna in Vancouver if you want to spend three grand.

[RFS]

Moore's has varying levels of quality and brands, and even bespoke suits made in Canada for around the $1100-$1200 mark.

 

But you get 2 for 1 

[spanky123]

You don't need policies, there are more than enough precedent cases out there for fraud, breach of trust and breach of fiduciary duty.  So every corporation or entity needs a policy so that oh an executive doesn't buy a beach house in the tropics in the company name and they only have the keys not worrying about the other shareholders?

 

Obviously some things like buying a house using company funds would qualify as suspect but, how much you spend on meals, hotels, clothing, etc needs to be defined. 

 

To many people spending $400 on a hotel, $3,000+ on a suit or $200 a day for meals isn't unusual.

Edited by spanky123, 24 January 2019 - 09:34 AM.

[rmpeers]

Yup and will explain why he did not bring this to the attention of any 'committees' or the 2 currently in the media who are currently in question. Things are going to go BOOM.

The Speaker made a good point in response to why he didn't blow the whistle sooner, etc. If he had made a fuss, say, after the first London trip, it would almost certainly have gone down as a one-off thing, like so many before it. He was right to go undercover to establish a pattern.

[lanforod]

The point isn't how much the suit cost. The point is that he shouldn't expense the suit to taxpayers at all if not part of an official uniform (which it isn't). What if he's done this with a new suit every year?

[VIResident]

Live right now:  ctv.news/0w9SmYC 

[Rob Randall]

Heavens! I doubt James would dare touch a common government-issue Lenovo laptop and instead it's likely his domain is graced by a top of the line desktop Mac.

 

 

Ha ha, I knew it!

 

"In the period April 2017 to July 2018, Mr. James was reimbursed over $5,000 for various computer-related items (mostly Apple products)," the report alleges. "These included computer adapters, cables, keyboards, mouses, external hard drives, iPhone cases, iPad cases, a USB drive, power adapters, Apple TV, an Apple pencil, a base stand for iPad pro, a HDMI Cable, and others."

 

 

Don't see a desktop Mac there. Must be hidden somewhere.

Edited by Rob Randall, 24 January 2019 - 11:16 AM.

[Rob Randall]

Maybe our Pariamentary system needs changing. Maybe we shouldn't pull a speaker from the political ranks, how about choosing it like we do the Governor General. Someone not necessarily an elected official but someone universally respected in the mold of Ted Hughes for example.

[Nparker]

...someone universally respected in the mold of Ted Hughes for example.

Such a person is getting harder and harder to find. 

[vortoozo]

https://vancouverisl...istId=1.4267840

 

Wow, just watched Wilkinson's Q&A. How painful was that? It seemed like rather than answer each reporter question, he would spew out an un-related prepared statement.

Sure he wants to put aside party lines … because a lot of this happened on the Liberal clock, and the party is likely to be partially complaisant.

Well done to the reporter who asked about all the Liberal-created financial scandals and tied them in to this and asked if some change was required to the Liberal party.