What do you get for someone who doesn't understand this newfangled email thing? Apparently, the post of Minister of Technology, Innovation and Citizens' Services.
That's the job Amrik Virk was handed after news broke that the former minister of advanced education was involved in a secretive pay scandal at Kwantlen Polytechnic University.
The former police inspector was part of the Kwantlen board that sidestepped provincial rules in paying $120,000 in moving and research expenses to a vice-president who was already getting a ceiling-hitting salary of $170,000.
Virk's perpetually hazy memory cleared only after incriminating emails surfaced.
Those emails stayed buried because Virk claimed to be unable to access his old account while "co-operating" with an investigation into the affair.
As you might expect, the NDP has called for Virk's resignation, and as you also might expect, B.C.'s silver medal party is being ignored. The NDP doesn't know how to win elections but that doesn't mean they're not right once in a while.
In the big scheme of things, paying an executive an extra $120,000 might not be that bad, as long as you're not a Kwantlen student shelling out tuition money. But the Liberal government's decision to cast a blind eye on the whole mess is galling, particularly for a party that tirelessly touts its record on fiscal responsibility.
As long as the Liberals are in power, the future of our province hinges on their honesty and willingness to disclose potentially embarrassing information.
It's fine that Christy Clark rewards loyalty, as long as she occasionally penalizes incompetence as well.
