Liberals Return $70K After Report of ‘Serious’ Misuse of Taxpayer Funds

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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A report published on Thursday reveals that the boundary between working for the British Columbia government and the provincial Liberal party was clearly surpassed during the government’s effort to win ethnic votes in the upcoming May provincial election. It was found during a review performed by Premier Christy Clark’s deputy minister, John Dyble, that a “serious” misuse of government resources has taken place.

The report, published on the last day of the legislative session and only two months before the soon-to-be-held provincial election, reveals that the former Liberal government communications official, Brian Bonney, was working for both the government caucus and the Liberal party at the time he was paid as a government employee. Dyble pointed out that at least half of Bonney’s time was spent doing work for the Liberal party on the ethnic outreach strategy. The report claims that “Brian Bonney did not create a clear distinction between his volunteer role with the B.C. Liberal Party and his role in the government.” It stated that “based on evidence, it would appear to a reasonable person that he may have spent up to half of his time on partisan activities. This … amounts to a serious breach of the standards of conduct.”

Bonney does not works for the government any longer, however, officials at the finance ministry have confirmed that he was paid $124,000 during the period from October 2011 to Feb. 21, 2013. Clark later consulted on the matter with the media, and announced that the B.C. Liberal Party is writing a cheque of $70,000 in favor of the government for repaying some of the work Bonney did on government’s time and expense.