Public trust might be biggest casualty of B.C. Legislature spending claims

British Columbians have had several days to digest all 76 pages of the jaw-dropping report by Speaker Darryl Plecas.

It allegescase after case of questionable spending and cracks open the door to reveal a widerculture of entitlement at the B.C. Legislature.

Neither of the men at the centre of the report's claims Clerk of the HouseCraig Jamesand Sergeant-at-Arms GaryLenzhas beencharged with any crime, and bothhave denied any wrongdoing.

But the fallout from thereport runs deep, the implications wide.

Arguablymost at stake isthe public's trust in ourprovincial government.

A sampling of voices on the streets of Vancouver echoes widespreadskepticismstill resonating from this week's revelations.

"It makes me not trust them.I'm skeptical.How are they using our money?" asks one person.

"There's overspending in a lot of places and nota lot of checks and balances, so it's to be expected," said another.

"Who has trust in the government, anyway?" quips a third.

Fostering voter apathy

It's that type ofcynicism that worries UBC political scientist Gerald Baier.

This week's bombshell isn't expected tochange who people vote for; but rather, whether people vote at all, he said.

"This might be a case where it turns some people off to think that, 'Oh all these guys are crooks, they're all the same," he said.

"So the more we talk about it, the more outrageous it seems, and the more that attitude gets entrenched in the public's mind."

See how the explosive events unfolded over two months:

How the B.C. Legislature spending scandal unfolded

6 years ago

Duration 3:49

Watch the timeline of events from when the scandal was first brought to public attention until the scathing 76-page report was released.

An important distinction to note is that Jamesand Lenzare not politicians. They are in factsenior staff who are appointed, not elected.

But it's a distinction that may be lost on many, said Baier.

"This time it is senior management of the assembly, the people who are more permanent in some ways. But at the same time, it's just casting it all with a bad brush," Baier said.

Demanding accountability

Whether they're politicianor not, any officialworking behind the walls of the legislatureneeds to be held to a higher standard, government watchdogs say.

"It's the responsibility,not just of elected officials,but also senior staff to respect that environmentand to make certain that when they spend a tax dollar it's well spent," said Dermod Travis of Intergrity B.C.

As B.C. awaits the results of a forensic audit and anRCMP investigation, Travis iscallingfor greater transparencynow.

"The Legislative Assembly Management Committee should put deadlines on their work so that the public knows that we will not go into another election with these policies in place," he said.