Here in British Columbia as of late, we have not had very good luck with our Solicitor-Generals staying in the position.
In March 2008 then SG John Les steps down for some concerns over land deals in Chilliwack where he was once Mayor.
Fast forward to April 2009 – just weeks before the Provincial Election – Solicitor General and Minister of Public Safety John van Dongen resigns following revelations that his driver’s license has been suspended for excessive speeding. The Gods of Irony really smacked van Dongen on this one…as his signature was on all new driver’s licenses.
No worries! After the May 2009 election political newbie and former West Vancouver Police Chief Kash Heed is elected and sworn in as the new SG. Boom. Done. No problems here. Well, at least not until April 2010.
News comes out that Heed or at least his election political Team, put out a misleading brochure during the election in violation of the Election Act. So while the investigation is on, Heed resigns. Then Heed is cleared of the charges and is back as the SG…then 24 hours later resigns AGAIN as the investigator’s law firm made a donation to Heed’s election campaign. I smell sitcom!
So what to do? I say take a page from other fine enterprises and hire from the outside.
Look, this is not to say that someone in the BC Liberals could not do the job but really, time to shake things up.
We are without a full time Solicitor General which means that, ah, generals throughout BC are not being solicited. This needs to be resolved. And I have the solution.
Yes, that fiery no-nonsense TV judge would be the perfect fit. Just Skype her in for meetings and stuff and let her go to town.
Not unheard of, even in politics, to hire from the outside. I mean off the top of my head (read: I really do not want to research this too much) in 2006 Prime Minister Stephen Harper appointed lawyer and former co-chair of his campaign, Michael Fortier to the position of Minister Public Works and Government Services. To be clear, Fortier was NOT elected and had to be represented in the House by Canucks fan and Twitter enthusiast MP James Moore. This bold move has led Harper to multiple minority governments so this is a winning-ish formula.
There is no need for me to even write much more on this (read: my attention is waning and I want to have a snack) so I will leave it to you to comment, join the Facebook Page and spread the word that Judge Judy is the next best choice for Solicitor General of British Columbia.
Ummm…hopefully this does not violate some sort of Election Act thing.
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