The BC Conservatives have called on the BC NDP to come clean after it was revealed that a majority of new cabinet ministers had virtually "empty" calendars in the month following the election.
Kamloops Centre MLA and Finance Critic Peter Milobar accused his NDP counterparts of having "chosen to blatantly ignore their obligations as elected officials" and questioned whether they were "hiding something."
According to Milobar, official government calendars for November showed that after winning the election, Premier David Eby held "just one cabinet meeting," and "few scheduled meetings or phone calls" with new cabinet ministers or parliamentary secretaries.
"What's obvious from these records is that David Eby gave his entire caucus a big pay raise, and then they mostly went on vacation on the taxpayer's dime," Milobar said. "What's doubly concerning is that there are next to no records of meetings or calls in November between members of the premier’s senior staff and new ministers and parliamentary secretaries."
He lamented the fact that many cabinet ministers withheld their calendars, noting that this ran contrary to the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, which requires elected officials to submit such documents within 45 days after the month in question. Among them was Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows MLA and Education Minister Lisa Beare.
"Lisa Beare can't claim ignorance of her freedom of information obligations," Milobar said. "She oversaw FOI as former Minister of Citizens’ Services and introduced one of the calendar directives herself. Beare has worked extensively on the FOI file — after all, she's also the one who introduced $10 processing fees for freedom of information requests."
Milobar made a point of noting that Eby had originally said he would hold a fall session, but then reversed his position upon being elected.
