RCMP are investigating whether BC Conservative Leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay’s office offered sitting MLAs paid jobs in exchange for resigning their seats, according to multiple lawmakers who say police have contacted them.
Delta South MLA Ian Paton said Findlay’s chief of staff, Chris Delaney, reached out in July, proposing two years of paid advisory work at close to his MLA salary of roughly $122,000, in exchange for stepping down. Paton declined the offer. He said he assumed the practice was “fairly common” at the time, not realizing until later that it was likely illegal. Canada’s Criminal Code bars offering money or a benefit to induce someone to resign from elected office.
Separately, a recording circulating from a Penticton caucus meeting in July reportedly shows Findlay making a comparable pitch, offering an “advisory” role to several MLAs at once in exchange for their resignations. Findlay maintains the discussions were legitimate political business, conducted within legal and ethical limits.
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Abbotsford-Mission’s Reann Gasper resigned her seat so Findlay could run there in a byelection, and went on to serve as deputy chief of staff for the caucus.
Paton is scheduled to meet with RCMP on Wednesday. He believes two other Conservative MLAs have already spoken with police about similar approaches, matching separate reports that police have reached out to three lawmakers in total.
Paton left the Conservative caucus in the same recent exodus that saw six MLAs quit in two weeks, though he’s cited broader frustration with Findlay’s leadership, not the alleged job offer, as his reason for going.
Read: Sixth BC Conservative MLA Quits Caucus in Two Weeks, Calls Leader “Unelectable”
