Craig James, past CEO of Elections BC NEVER did this.....

Come to think of it, neither have the BC Liberals.   To access their data in  an Open government it took close to ten years, and then only by going via several layers of directories all asking the same question..... "Do you want to open this file?"

Look for this search criteria      travel expense archer    in this page of Elections BC

First hit up on three items is this document, dated November 22, 2011:

Travel Expense Claim Summary Keith Archer, Ph.D., Chief Electoral ...

File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat

Travel Expense Claim Summary. Keith Archer, Ph.D., Chief Electoral Officer. Date . Purpose: Destination. Lodging. Meals and daily allowances. Total. Air ...

www.elections.bc.ca/docs/rpt/2011-12CEOexpenses.pdf

Now try the same search criteria,  but with a twist........ travel expense James and you'll get these hits

Once more, refined search criteria..... travel expense Craig James   ..... seven hits, but the words are broken down into individual     hits......

travel expense "Craig James"    4 hits, and not one of them gives any information on his Travel Expenses.

We've all seen Craig James antics when it came to the HST.....    is anyone wondering just how much money, taxpayers dollars, were spent to bolster the BC Liberal position from the CEO of a non-partisan organization?

Kieth Archer...... Thank you for your report, week by week.

Can you give us the same sort of information, week by week, from your Office of the travel expenses incurred by your predecessoring temp CEO of EBC, one Craig James, because you see, he has now taken on a much larger role in the Legislature, and we all know that the Auditor General is doing a cursory review of the Speaker's spending list, which includes ...... Craig James domain.

 What we have so far is this:

Salary for the Fiscal Year Ended March 31, 2011

JAMES, CRAIG H      Chief Electoral Officer      $213,151  Salary

JAMES, CRAIG HARLEY                                         59,518    Travel

Now, members' expenses are another matter which I'll just touch briefly upon. During the public hearing phase, at all the public hearings…. We undertake all of the logistical planning for committees. We provide each member with a very detailed itinerary of where to be, and transportation, accommodation and any other expenses associated with getting to a place and back again are normally directly billed to ourselves. Very few members ever have to be out of pocket for any expenses. Where they are, members are entitled to actual and reasonable expenses arising out of the Legislative Assembly Allowances and Pension Act. We do have expense claim forms for members to fill out.
           I would expect that if members attended all the public hearings — for instance, if this committee were to conduct public hearings — they would be out very little, maybe cab fare to an airport. We would sometimes charter a plane, because it's much more efficient and economical to do that than to have members just make their own arrangements and end up on scheduled aircraft. Where they do expend money out of pocket, they can certainly seek reimbursement that way.
           Committee meetings in Victoria and Vancouver are considered to be capital constituency trips as well. I think the practice over the past several years has been that members have been claiming that allowance as opposed to actual and reasonable expenses. It's really up to the member in question as to what route they

[ Page 3 ]

wish to go. If you have questions about it, we'd be more than delighted to discuss them individually with those members. Having said all that, I can turn it back to the Chair.
           Just one other thing I wish to mention is that we also have the Members' Guide to the Legislative Committee System, which we hope we can get into the hands of all committee members here and for other committees in a week. It is generally a guide to parliamentary committees: the role of the Chair, the role of the member, the role of our office and a few procedural issues, as well, which members may or may not be interested in. - C. H. James

===================================================================

And for those that Watch, or Watched, the proceedings of our elected MLAs in the Legislative Assembly, there's this, the behind the scene description by C. James in 2001:

C. James: Before we start today's meeting, I'd just like to advise members of a few technical matters pertaining to this room. One, of course, is the speaker system and the Hansard operators. As you know, there are microphones on your desks, and there are speakers on your desks. There are lights behind the speakers which indicate when your microphone may be live. It is recorded. Behind me is the Hansard recordist. In the booth behind her and behind me are some Hansard operators as well. All of your words are transcribed, printed, published and posted verbatim for all to read.
           At either end of the room you can see a little sign which says: "On Air. Record." When you see that, you know that your mike, or a mike, is live and to be cognizant of it.
           When we're in Committee of Supply, members stood and addressed the committee. In select standing or special committee meetings it's much more informal, and you can of course speak from your seat.