NDP Says Advanced Education Minister Should Step Down Or Be Removed!
“Minister Virk was part of a plan to break government compensation and disclosure rules, and then he withheld this key evidence from a government investigation while sitting in cabinet as the minister responsible for enforcing those rules,” said New Democrat leader John Horgan. Asked if he should remain in cabinet, with authority over post-secondary institutions, Virk said that is up to Premier Christy Clark.
VICTORIA – Scandal plagued BC Liberal Advanced Education Minister Amrik Virk dug a deeper hole for himself after the NDP revealed emails that showed Virk knew a lot more about the executive compensation to Kwantlen Polytechnic University executive and deliberately tried to conceal damaging evidence while in cabinet.
New Democrats released emails showing Virk deliberately breaking executive compensation rules and withholding evidence from a government probe ordered by Finance Minister Mike De Jong.
When questioned, the Minister was unable to explain why this information was withheld.
“Minister Virk was part of a plan to break government compensation and disclosure rules, and then he withheld this key evidence from a government investigation while sitting in cabinet as the minister responsible for enforcing those rules,” said New Democrat leader John Horgan.
Horgan and the B.C. New Democrats revealed the information in the legislature on Monday.
The emails from April 2011 show that Virk approved a scheme to break executive compensation limits for a Kwantlen Polytechnic University executive, former Vice President Anne Lavak. This is not reflected in the government’ s internal review into the conduct of Minister Virk, which cleared Virk of having any knowledge of Ms. Lavak’s compensation exceeding government rules on executive pay.
New Democrats asked the minister in the legislature on Monday why he withheld critical evidence from the government review.
“These emails impugn the credibility of the government’s review into their cabinet minister,” said Horgan. “It also raises questions of what other evidence has gone unexamined in relation to this minister’s role in Kwantlen rule-breaking and disclosure.
“These revelations underscore the need for an independent investigation by the Auditor General’s office.”
Following the disclosure of the emails, Opposition MLAs renewed their call Virk to be removed from cabinet.
Virk was on the Kwantlen Polytechnic University board of governors in April 2011, when an offer was made to then-University of Regina dean of business Ann Lavack for the position of vice-president academic (VPA) for Kwantlen.
Emails released by the NDP Monday show Virk, then an inspector with the Langley RCMP and a volunteer Kwantlen board member, participating in discussion to get around the B.C. salary guidelines for the job.
Horgan said Monday the emails were provided from a “whistleblower” at Kwantlen, who found printouts in a binder. Horgan said they contradict an internal investigation by an assistant deputy minister that determined board members were not involved in decisions to pay executives more than provincial rules allowed.
The Kwantlen VPA salary was capped at $170,000, less than what Lavack was making in Regina. The emails discuss adding $100,000 for moving expenses and a $20,000 “research allowance.”
Virk confirmed Monday that he wrote in an April 2011 email from his RCMP account: “Given the low pay level of a VPA at Kwantlen and the difficulty in drawing candidates within the current pay scale, the research leave is one way to ‘top’ off the pay level.”
Virk claims he had forgotten the email exchange, and it will be forwarded to Rob Mingay, the government official who conducted the investigation.
“Mr. Virk has demonstrated bad judgment not once, not twice, but three times and it’s probably time for him to get out of cabinet,” said Horgan.
Asked if he should remain in cabinet, with authority over post-secondary institutions, Virk said that is up to Premier Christy Clark.
The government’s Public Sector Employers’ Council (PSEC) set salary ranges for Levack’s position at $125,000 to $175,000. When Levack was hired in 2011, she received the maximum salary, plus a $20,000-a-year research allowance and a $50,000 “consulting fee” before starting work that was not reported to PSEC.
Kwantlen president Alan Davis also received extra payments when he was hired earlier in 2011 that were not disclosed to PSEC. Davis received a $50,000 consulting fee in addition to his $225,000 salary and $35,000 to relocate from New York state.
Mingay’s report found Kwantlen’s board violated government disclosure guidelines on two occasions: once during the 2011 process of hiring Lavack and again during the hiring of current president Alan Davis. The report also found a $50,000 pre-employment contract in 2012 with Davis “was inconsistent with the spirit and intent of PSEC’s guidelines.”
