A few months ago when an investigation by Darryl Plecas, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, resulted in two legislative officials being suspended, a lot of people criticized Plecas for what he was doing. There was even a full recall campaign. At the time, I argued that the speaker shouldn’t be an MLA and I stand behind the reasoning I gave then.
However, after developments in recent weeks, many have changed their tune, instead praising Plecas for what he’s doing. In recent days, the organizer of the recall campaign even acknowledged that the recall campaign was on hold, saying in one interview that “he looks like the golden child.” Instead, he says they’re waiting for a better opportunity.
To summarize, the outcome of the case currently looks very different than when news regarding the issue first broke.
It’s worth noting the discourse on this alleged, recent and ongoing public scandal when looking at the situation with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, SNC-Lavalin and former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould. Allegedly Trudeau’s office attempted to press Wilson-Raybould to intervene in the corruption and fraud prosecutions of SNC-Lavalin.
Now there are all kinds of idioms that can be used here, such as “where there’s smoke there’s fire,” but the reality of the day is that currently there are very few details available and we shouldn’t be shocked if there are a few more surprises before it’s all said and done.
Obviously, a thorough investigation would be the right way to proceed unfortunately politics are once again getting in the way. The Conservatives and NDP are calling for such an investigation. Liberal MPs meanwhile voted to restrict the investigation, blocking efforts to have Wilson-Raybould and Trudeau aides testify before a Commons committee.
Famously, truth will out, which is why transparency has become a major element of good public relations. As such, you would expect that the Liberals would want an investigation to clear the Prime Minister’s Office. To that extent, the PMO office might just be best off coming straight out with it or have a thorough investigation. Should such an investigation be fruitful, there would obviously have to be consequences.
However, there’s a second issue at hand here and that is that it’s an election year. There’s no guarantee that the investigation would be complete come election time and it would undoubtedly be damaging to the Liberals.
Given that it is an election year, there’s very little chance that this will disappear. Sadly it’s hard to believe an election focussed on a political scandal, as opposed to the issues facing our country, is going to be in the best interest of the future of the country. To that extent, at least in the B.C. legislature, it looks like the investigation will be able to complete without too much political interference.