A smile here, a click-click of the lips, humming and hawing, the Speaker walks away, from the Press, the Public, the Politicians, somewhat subdued, until the next time. Her crime is contained within one word:
Entitlement! ...... started well before 1978, but that was the year that a BC MLA lost his job because he took the difference between what the Government of the Day (William Bennett) was willing to pay for airfare in the Business Section and what he could do to add it to his take home pay by flying in the Economy Section. His "defense case was that it was money to which he was entitled."
Speaker Linda Reid's defense...... the same? Entitlement!
Bank of Canada's Inflation Calendar for Davis's 1978 "venture" into 2014 $1,074 =$3765.70
Speaker Reid walks away free, no mark on her record, all she had to do was pay the money back. No whistle calling out for a police investigation, No Special Prosecutor. An honest mistake was made. Another one of those claims that the laws are not clear ... a Mike Duffy moment of desperation .... Spouses are permitted on the flights, just not this time around because of Restraint Linda.
Jack Davis quits seat; fined $1,000Jack Davis Appealed, he lost.
Tuesday, September 19, 1978
Robert Williamson
Vancouver BC -- By ROBERT WILLIAMSON Globe and Mail Reporter
VANCOUVER - Dismissed B.C. Cabinet minister Jack Davis was fined $1,000 yesterday after being convicted last week of fraud over his practice of converting Government-paid first class airline tickets to economy class and keeping the change.
It was revealed in court yesterday that Mr. Davis secretly resigned his seat as a Social Credit MLA on Friday. He was ordered to resign from the British Columbia Cabinet in April by Premier William Bennett before the fraud and theft charges were laid.
Rejecting a defence plea for an absolute discharge to avoid a criminal record, County Court Judge J. J. Anderson said Mr. Davis had breached a special trust held by people elected to public office.
The prosecution had suggested a substantial fine, although Mr. Davis could have been sentenced to up to 10 years in jail.
Mr. Davis, who is also a former federal Liberal Cabinet minister, says he will appeal the guilty verdict.
During his trial, he admitted cashing in new portions of eight tickets worth $1,074 over two years but the basis of the defence case was that it was money to which he was legally entitled. SNIPPED
Here we are, sitting around the table, discussing how times have changed, how BC MLA's and the Attorney General reps and Legislative Clerks constantly talk about tightening the controls on the monies being doled out, and then there is this one question: REWARD POINTS.
If we use our money to pay for the air fare tickets, then we should be able to collect Reward points, however if the Government pays for the air fare tickets then they should be able collect Reward points.... and then dole them out to ...... ?????? ahhh PHS patrons.....
B. Faulkner: .........One of the benefits might be…. When I travel, if I'm in the hotel and not feeling well, I have room service. I put it on my charge card, my travel card. Under the system I work at — at the Auditor General, for example, which is the same as all of government — it's on a personal liability card. I only claim for the hotel component. I'm never claiming for that, because my food is covered on a per diem.[1500]Under the corporate system, the whole amount goes through, and it's up to the individual, then, to back out the ineligible expenses. Moving to a personal liability card will take that risk out of things. That's another benefit, I think, of going the way we're going.E. Foster: I think that answers it. Thank you. It's good.Mr. Speaker: Any other questions? Everybody comfortable to move in this direction? Okay.E. Foster: Sorry. I want to get back to Mike's comment about using your own card and, you know, the reward points and so on and so forth. Is there any rule against that? Do people do it?C. James (Clerk of the House): Not that I'm aware.E. Foster: Okay.Mr. Speaker: Okay. John, do you want or does somebody want to make a motion to that effect, to move to the…?J. Horgan: I just wanted to add that…. Could we not ensure that when the personal liability card is used for travel that any points that are accumulated on that card…?Mr. Speaker: There are none.
[ Page 50 ]S. Simpson: You won't be able to accumulate points on that card.Mr. Speaker: There are none on this card.J. Horgan: On the proposed card.Mr. Speaker: No.J. Horgan: But why wouldn't we request that? It's a competitive marketplace. I'm sure we could get somebody to do that.B. Faulkner: Just to say, the first step is to get the committee's approval to proceed. The second step will be then to engage in some discussion with the various cardholders as to what would be the best benefit for us as the Legislative Assembly.Mr. Speaker: I think you need it in non-disclosure so we could go down that road.B. Faulkner: To get into the details of what's being used on the government side, I would need to sign a non-disclosure statement before I can get into the details with them. The card….S. Simpson: So, Bob, just to be clear on this, at some point you would come back — or your successor, depending on the timeline here — with saying: "This is what it looks like the card will look like." So we'd know kind of how some of these questions get answered without necessarily, obviously, violating any non-disclosure agreement.B. Faulkner: Correct. Yeah. We might need to do it in camera in that sense, but yeah, the idea would be we would come forward with a proposal: "This is what the card looks like. Here's what the benefits are."Hon. M. de Jong: Sounds like a two-step process. I'm a bit leery of a card with points and stuff.S. Simpson: I agree with Mike on this. I think just leave that alone on this stuff. If the company wants to give the Legislature points for the use of these cards, but not directly connected to the cards, that might be a good idea.J. Horgan: That's my point — that's whenever it's used, it goes immediately to the Leg.Mr. Speaker: So we'll let Bob go and investigate this? Everybody comfortable? Okay.C. James (Clerk of the House): Motion for implementation.Mr. Speaker: Moved by Gordie. Seconded by Eric. Okay.Effective May 15 or 16?C. James (Clerk of the House): At the next parliament — the 16th.Mr. Speaker: Okay.Legislative…. Number 6.