My best guess is that none of his former Liberal colleagues will be clamouring to dine with this modern day Judas

John Horgan has been peeing all over himself lately, explaining how he ended up in a team photo which included Maninder Gill, a person convicted in a shooting incident. Gill has been sentenced to four years but is out on bail, pending an appeal of his conviction.

 
Horgan said he'd be much more careful in future about who he is seen with in photos.

I wonder if Horgan will apply that standard to turncoat Darryl Plecas, justifiably stripped of his Liberal membership, who accepted the NDP/Green offer of appointment as Speaker of the House.

Dr. Darryl Plecas was elected MLA for
Abbotsford South on May 14, 2013

Of course, Plecas hasn't been convicted of any crime but he appears to have sold out the Liberal party to pursue his own interests.

Do you think Plecas is being truthful about why he didn't accept the first offer from Horgan? I guess Plecas himself didn't grasp how upset his constituents would be with this bit of treachery and deceit.

Dream Weaver and Horgan can downplay it all they like but it still smells of self-interest to me and almost everyone else.

To begin with, as Speaker of the House, Plecas' salary increases by $50,000 per year more than an MLA and will now be equal to that of a cabinet minister. He also inherits the poshest office in the legislature and has his own private dining room adjacent to the regular legislative dining room.

These perks are all afforded the Speaker because he or she is not supposed to mingle with other MLA's while the House is in session.

In any event, my best guess is that none of his former Liberal colleagues will be clamouring to dine with this modern day Judas who sold his soul for a few shekels and a nice office.

Following the May 9th election, Plecas had threatened to hold his breath until he turned blue; or, at least, sit as an independent MLA, if Christy Clark remained party leader.  Why would this so-called learned scholar utter such a silly threat unless he had leadership aspirations of his own or had some other unspoken ulterior motive?

I might be just another old cynic but I smell a rat.

Time might tell, but Plecas probably never will, about when the discussions between himself, Dream Weaver and Horgan began concerning the appointment of a Speaker.

My guess is those quiet little chats began earlier than we think.

It also begs the question about who approached whom first. Did Horgan and Dream Weaver make the first move or did they have knowledge beforehand that Plecas was their boy?

Apparently, some of Plecas' more disgruntled constituents have already began laying the ground work for a recall petition. The petition can't legally be filed until eighteen months following the election; or, November 2018. I wish them good luck. Maybe they can even get him dumped before he qualifies for an MLA's pension.

In closing, I will add that I am not a member of the Liberal Party and have no intentions of becoming one. My interest lies in seeing better government in this province.

SANDY Macdougall ... is a retired newspaper reporter. He was elected for three consecutive terms to Maple Ridge municipal council in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and also ran for the Progressive Conservatives in Kim Campbell's ill-fated federal election campaign.