B.C. lawyer explains high bar to prove criminal wrongdoing in MLA resignation offers

Proving criminal wrongdoing in cases where elected officials resign in exchange for rewarding positions faces a steep legal threshold, according to a Vancouver lawyer with expertise in criminal defence and regulatory litigation.

Joven Narwal, an adjunct professor at UBC's Allard School of Law, said the Criminal Code section dealing with bribery of public officials does not generally prohibit ordinary political horse-trading. "Negotiation, accommodation, and even a member's decision to step aside so a leader can seek a seat are ordinary incidents of political life that are not criminalized," Narwal said. "What the offence prohibits is narrow and transactional and captures more specifically, forms of purchase and sale of a public office."

To prove criminality, a prosecutor would need to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that there was a quid pro quo — something provided in exchange for something — and disprove any innocent explanations. An office holder may have independently decided to leave public life, Narwal noted, and conversations about a future role may have begun only after that decision was made. Or a party may have simply wished to retain an experienced colleague and made an appointment quickly because the need was immediate, not because it was promised.

"The issue would turn on the communications, meaning what was said, by whom, in what sequence, and on what conditions," Narwal said. "A benefit that follows a resignation is not the same as a benefit promised for one, and the Crown would need to meet a very high threshold of proof."

The context for this legal analysis: Delta South MLA Ian Paton said he was offered an agricultural adviser role paying $122,043 — his current MLA salary — if he resigned to make room for B.C. Conservative Leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay to seek a seat in the legislature. Findlay has denied the allegations. Paton said Friday he has not filed a complaint with police or any other agency. The RCMP declined to say whether they have received a complaint or are investigating.