Victoria –The Liberals need to answer questions about a confidential email that was leaked out of the Ministry of Advanced Education and into the hands of a Liberal donor, say the New Democrats.
The latest Liberal scandal relates to an email in confidence by a newspaper reporter to the office of Advanced Education Minister Naomi Yamamoto with questions about alleged misconduct at the Eminata Group that runs private post-secondary institutions. After several rounds of questioning in the B.C. legislature this week, Minister Yamamoto finally admitted that her staff gave the email to Harry Bloy, who in turn shared it with the Eminata Group, one of whose operators has donated thousands of dollars to the Liberal party.
Former multiculturalism minister Harry Bloy took the fall by saying he physically forwarded the note, but it still doesn’t explain why he did so, or why Bloy came into possession of the email in the first place.
“The premier and the minister of advanced education are letting Harry Bloy take the fall, and are hoping the controversy goes with him,” said New Democrat advanced education critic Michelle Mungall, “but an open and transparent government would tell British Columbians why the email made it out of the advanced education ministry in the first place, and why it landed in the hands of a Liberal donor.”
Mungall said there are several unanswered questions that require open, honest answers from the Liberal government:
- Why did the minister's office, which has regulatory responsibility for private post-secondary education, share sensitive information about allegations of misconduct with a Liberal donor?
- Who directed the advanced education ministerial staffer to pass on the email to Harry Bloy?
- Why, specifically, was the email passed on to Bloy?
- Why did Bloy pass the email on to the Eminata Group?
- To whom in the Eminata Group did Bloy pass the email?
- Did Bloy receive anything in return for passing on the email?
- What's the government's relationship with the Eminata Group?
“It’s shameful for the advanced education minister to allow Mr. Bloy to pay the entire price when it was Minister Yamamoto’s office that received and forwarded the email in the first place,” said Mungall. “Clearly the premier recognizes there is still a price to pay, or she would have allowed the minister to answer for herself during question period.
“Instead, the premier chose to run interference.”
Mungall said the New Democrats will continue to ask these important questions until Advanced Education Minister Naomi Yamamoto gives straight answers.