NDP house leader Mike Farnworth looks on during a press conference in Victoria, B.C., on Oct. 5, 2023. The Canadian Press/Chad Hipolito
The British Columbia government says it’s forgiving $340,000 in legal debts owed by a former aide who pleaded guilty to breach of trust in 2017 for his part in a political scandal involving the use of public office for partisan purposes.
Brian Bonney was a former BC Liberal insider hired in 2011 as a communications director assigned to the government’s multiculturalism communications office.
Bonney pleaded guilty to breach of trust in B.C. provincial court after being found to have used his time as a public servant for partisan purposes to gain votes from ethnic communities for the Liberals under Christy Clark in the 2013 election, in what became known as the “quick wins” scandal.
He was given a nine-month conditional sentence for a crime the judge said caused “insidious damage” and emboldened “cynics who disbelieve that government actually works for the benefit of the people.”
An order-in-council dated July 10 says cabinet approved forgiveness of most of Bonney’s debt under a government employee indemnity regulation for legal proceedings.
The regulation stipulates that the B.C. government “provides coverage for an employee who is an accused in a prosecution” by paying for their defence lawyer, but if the employee is convicted, the employee must reimburse the funds.
NDP house leader Mike Farnworth says Bonney owed a total of $460,000, including interest, and the government has settled with him to pay back $120,000.
Farnworth said he couldn’t reveal details of the settlement or why Bonney wasn’t required to pay back the full amount of his legal costs covered by the province before his conviction.
“I think it brings closure to what happened,” Farnworth said. “I think it brings closure in terms of the province and I think it brings closure for Mr. Bonney.”
Bonney’s defence lawyer, Ian Donaldson, was not immediately available for comment.
Bonney’s LinkedIn profile says he worked for the government until February 2013, going on to work for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation as a district manager later that year.
The federation’s B.C. spokesman, Carson Binda, said Bonney hadn’t worked for the organization in a “number of years” and was employed as a contractor.
The federation, which advocates for “lower taxes, less waste and accountable government” did not immediately respond to questions about the B.C. government settling Bonney’s legal debt for less than half of what was owed.
The affair that entangled Bonney came to be known as the “quick wins” scandal, in which he and others were found to have used their time on the public dime to work for the party on a plan to win over ethnic voters.
Then-premier Christy Clark appointed her deputy minister to conduct a review, finding public officials misused government resources. Clark later apologized and the party returned $70,000 of taxpayers’ money.
