New Democrats pressed the Liberal government for a complete and independent investigation into a multicultural outreach strategy that directed taxpayer-funded resources to the partisan purposes of the B.C. Liberal Party.
Opposition critics, led by New Democrat leader Adrian Dix, used question period Monday to examine the role of the premier’s office into the scandal, which cost the premier’s deputy chief of staff her job, as well as the multiculturalism minister his cabinet post.
Dix led off question period by outlining that "a very significant number of the Premier's senior staff, including her deputy chief of staff at the time, her director of outreach, her senior outreach coordinator and her current ministerial assistant” were involved in a meeting that resulted in the creation of the strategy document. Dix questioned the premier on statements she has made attempting to distance her office from the growing scandal.
While Premier Clark insisted that an investigation conducted by her deputy minister, John Dyble, would be complete, opposition House Leader John Horgan and attorney general critic Leonard Krog said there would be too many pieces of the puzzle that Mr. Dyble would not have access to that would be necessary to get at the truth.
Krog called on the premier to appoint an independent investigator in place of Mr. Dyble.