543 replies to this topic

[Rob Randall]

Those salaries do seem high for a position with (until now) iron-clad job security. 

 

I think the Clerk makes more than double what the BC Lieutenant-Governor makes. That's a staggering amount of money

 

What these guys get paid has absolutely nothing to do with what's going on.

 

Who cares what they get paid? ... it's got nothing to do with the topic at hand.

 

You disagree but it is important to discuss salary in this case.

 

If the salary were unusually low it would add weight to the idea that the accused felt underpaid and that the crime was using nontraditional means to top up a salary.

 

But we now see they are both handsomely compensated. Furthermore, they gave a news conference yesterday where they adamantly denied the accusations had anything to do with moving money around.

 

I'm thinking if I was moving money around without authorization I'd be laying low until charges were filed. I sure wouldn't be giving live press conferences where my words could eventually come back to bite me.

[Torrontes]

You are correct, it doesn't justify the course of action taken. However, it does provide background to the ongoing dissatisfaction that many have had, especially within the NDP caucus, with what are seen as the big spending ways of James, and to a lesser extent Lenz, and the inflated compensation they have eked out. Remember that they control the budgets/expenditures for a number of political staffers on their payroll.

[Cassidy]

Yeah, they're two of the most senior bureaucrats in the Provincial Government, their compensation is commensurate with such a position (not that it's relevant).

 

Simply stating in a post that their salaries are related to the investigation doesn't actually mean that their salaries are in any way related to the investigation

 

Posts of the "they make too much money for what they do" variety do nothing to further the conversation ... which was my point.

[Bingo]

Now that Lenz has left the building, who is in charge of protective services?

[Torrontes]

Now that Lenz has left the building, who is in charge of protective services?

 

"Randall Ennis, MMM, CD, is the Acting Sergeant-at-Arms."

[rjag]

https://twitter.com/...491386637742080

 

B.C. Legislature investigator was fired from casino security job after suspension for intoxication

 

[Mystic-Pizza]

Now that Lenz has left the building, who is in charge of protective services?

The Deputy sergeant at arms

[Bernard]

Yeah, they're two of the most senior bureaucrats in the Provincial Government, their compensation is commensurate with such a position (not that it's relevant).

 

Simply stating in a post that their salaries are related to the investigation doesn't actually mean that their salaries are in any way related to the investigation

 

Posts of the "they make too much money for what they do" variety do nothing to further the conversation ... which was my point.

They do not work for the provincial government and are not civil servants.   They work for the legislature as officers of the legislature.    James controls the budget for the legislature.   The oversight is from a committee of MLAs and not from any provincial civil servants.

 

Craig James has a history of rather large travel expenses.   Last year it was over $50,000  - I am not sure why he would have any travel expenditures at all.   This is a story from 2012

 

If I were to guess what is happening I suspect it may have something to so with systemic issues with expenses, but I have no way to know 

[Mike K.]

That's no small potatoes:

VICTORIA — British Columbia’s former chief electoral officer spent more than $40,000 on travel in just four months, including airfare for his wife to join him at a conference in Kenya, a self-appointed government watchdog has found.

 

IntegrityBC released documents Tuesday showing Craig James — acting chief electoral officer from June 2010 until August 2011, and now clerk of the B.C. Legislature — claimed $43,295 from Elections BC for travel between Aug. 25, 2010 and December 12, 2010. - http://www.vancouver...8330/story.html

[Bernard]

Taking his wife with him on the taxpayers' dime does not strike me as a reasonable thing to do.   You are going to a conference for work reasons and not a vacation with your spouse. 

[Mike K.]

Here's another story from 2012:

 

B.C. auditor finds 'serious issues' with Legislature finances

http://www.vancouver...6076/story.html

VICTORIA — The B.C. Legislature’s handling of its almost $70 million annual budget is such a mess that Auditor-General John Doyle says he can’t tell whether any money is missing or has been improperly spent.

 

On Thursday, Doyle released a scathing audit of the taxpayer-funded operation that pays MLA salaries and expenses, and runs the daily business — everything from Hansard to security — at the provincial legislature. [Full article]

[jonny]

Craig James seems genuine when he says he doesn't think he has done anything wrong. I think I believe him. That being said, people do no always know when they are committing fraud. Sometimes they are just ignorant or too stupid, which is what may be taking place here . 

 

In a prior life I audited nursing homes. I once audited this nice little nursing home that had a pretty large petty cash fund. They had a practice where they would cash in senior's pension cheques out of their petty cash so the old folks didn't have to trudge all the way down to the bank.

 

The nice secretary lady kept asking for her petty cash to be topped up, which seemed odd. If they were cashing in the senior's cheques, the money coming in should balance the money going out. I went out to physically audit this petty cash to find about $27 in the petty cash box and an I.O.U. from the secretary for some eight thousand dollars. It seems the nice secretary lady had some cash flow problems, and was borrowing fund from her employer's petty cash.

 

Thing is, she honestly didn't think she was doing anything wrong and totally intended on repaying the money. She had a detailed accounting of all of the money she had "borrowed" and was very up front about it. She literally had no idea she was committing fraud. 

 

Another story. We had a travel pass program where immediate family members could travel for free with the company. The policy was very clear - spouses and dependents were the only family members eligible. One employee had a habit of letting his sister use his travel privileges, which totally contravened the policy. Fraud! Travel privileges revoked.

 

Now, did he set-out to commit fraud and effectively steal from his employer? Maybe, maybe not. He was pretty shocked when this was brought to his attention. Really, he was just ignorant and stupid (he was pretty stupid, TBH). 

Edited by jonny, 27 November 2018 - 03:47 PM.

[rjag]

Here's another story from 2012:

 

B.C. auditor finds 'serious issues' with Legislature finances

http://www.vancouver...6076/story.html

VICTORIA — The B.C. Legislature’s handling of its almost $70 million annual budget is such a mess that Auditor-General John Doyle says he can’t tell whether any money is missing or has been improperly spent.

 

On Thursday, Doyle released a scathing audit of the taxpayer-funded operation that pays MLA salaries and expenses, and runs the daily business — everything from Hansard to security — at the provincial legislature. [Full article]

 

 

Keep in mind James only became clerk in 2011

[Bernard]

Keep in mind James only became clerk in 2011

Craig James worked in the legislature from 1987 to 2010 when he went to Elections BC on an interim basis.   If I remember correctly, James was assistant to George McMinn, the man how in his 80s got a $250,000 a year contract to be a consultant clerk for the house, basically being paid to stay once James had been appointed to replace him.  The 2012 Vancouver Sun story

 

I get a strong sense of a culture of entitlement in the Clerk's office that dates back some years now.

[tjv]

That's no small potatoes:

A conference in Kenya????  Really?

 

I dare anyone to go to a conference in Kenya with their wife and deduct it to their private company and not have CRA dump on you if they audit you

 

Let me guess 5 star hotels, first class flights, maybe private safaris, etc, etc?  How the heck do you spend 40k in travel in 4 months when your job is here in Victoria???  that is outrageous misuse of taxpayer funds

[tjv]

These guys love the public purse:

 

Norm Farrell, IN-SIGHTS.CA@Norm_Farrell

 

 

Between 2012 and 2018, Legislative Clerk Craig James received a remuneration increase of 138% to $347,090. Sergeant at Arms Gary Lenz had remuneration increase of 112% to $218,167. This while other public servants were subject to mandates that restricted increases. #bcpoli

 

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7:27 PM - Nov 25, 2018

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Last year, James was paid a $347,090 salary and billed $51,649 in travel expenses. Lenz was paid $218,167. He billed $23,079 in travel expenses.

https://www.straight...wed-return-work

[Bernard]

A conference in Kenya????  Really?

 

I dare anyone to go to a conference in Kenya with their wife and deduct it to their private company and not have CRA dump on you if they audit you

 

Let me guess 5 star hotels, first class flights, maybe private safaris, etc, etc?  How the heck do you spend 40k in travel in 4 months when your job is here in Victoria???  that is outrageous misuse of taxpayer funds

You are forgetting, it was not even his job, he was there only as the interim head of Elections BC

[Torrontes]

Yes, they are overpaid and spend lots of taxpayer dollars on travel, but, to Cassidy's point, did they break any rules? In any event, criticism should be leveled against the Legislature committee that approved their salary increases and their expense policy.

 

Sadly, it increasingly looks like taxpayers will be footing the bill for a bungled hatchet job on a couple of civil servants who have manipulated the system to their benefit.

[Bernard]

Here is a story from 1998:

 

It isn't just B.C. provincial court judges and the six officers of the legislature who got big pay raises last spring. Automatically included are some of the legislature's already highest-paid staff: the four legislature clerks - George MacMinn, Craig James, Robert Vaive and Ian Izard. MacMinn correctly notes that the pay rate for permanent officers of the house "is not releasable or FOI-able or anything". (The legislature's operations are exempted under B.C.'s freedom of information law.) MacMinn's own salary jumps from $128,000 to $154,000 by January 1, 2000 - a 20-per-cent increase over two years. Pay for the other "table clerks" is tied to MacMinn's. MacMinn, who gets another $7,000 annually for a car allowance, notes that their base pay has been frozen for some time. "The salaries of the clerks of the house have not been adjusted in any substantial way in over seven years," says MacMinn. However, in keeping with government managers, they get regular cost-of-living increases - their last one was a one per cent boost at the end of last year. And the increase doesn't sit well with the tens of thousands of government workers who earlier this year settled for a two-year pay freeze. B.C. Government and Service Employees Union president John Shields doesn't like the system that automatically ties the clerks' and officers' pay to that of judges: "It's unfair - it should be scrapped. It looks like the elite are getting better treatment than ordinary workers.

[Cassidy]

They do not work for the provincial government and are not civil servants.   They work for the legislature as officers of the legislature. 

Somewhat pedantic, but accurate.

Perhaps you'd be happier if I'd just said they were paid with B.C. taxpayers money, and left it at that?