A TV soap-opera synopsis would cover the storyline like this: Athana is furious at Rob, who slagged her in an email to all his friends. Rob was standing on the sidelines of the teachers’ strike desperately trying to get noticed. So he took some shots at her to get some attention. He got her lawyer’s attention instead. The lawyer filed a claim and Rob filed a counterclaim.
Will a judge make Rob apologize? Will Athana eventually give it up and drop the fight? Will Athana’s friend Christy have to testify?
Stay tuned for the next As the Rockpile Turns.
For newcomers to this show, Athana is Athana Mentzelopoulos, a powerful deputy minister. Rob is Rob Fleming, NDP MLA. Christy is Christy Clark, the premier of the government that Athana serves.
Longtime watchers will remember that in a much earlier episode, Athana was a bridesmaid at Christy’s wedding.
Their relationship lasted longer than the marriage did, and both women’s careers have progressed beautifully. Mentzelopoulos toiled in the federal government for a time, then signed on with the province in 2004.
She went back to the federal government for a time and bounced back to the provincial scene after Clark, who was also trending upward, as they say, became premier. Mentzelopoulos’ salary has matched her career trajectory. It’s now in the stratosphere: a quarter-million a year.
Fast forward a bunch of episodes to the school strike, where Fleming has a walk-on role as the Opposition education critic. Casting about for a way to make a lame petition calling on the government to do something about the shutdown look interesting, Fleming seized on the pair’s relationship.
He wrote an email that made various linkages between Mentzelopoulos’s last pay raise and her alleged “buddy” relationship with the premier and the acknowledged stint as bridesmaid in 1996.
One of his lines was: “While Christy Clark can’t find a single new penny to help kids … she’s found plenty of our money to give to her friends. It’s outrageous.”
Turns out the NDP people who sign these sorts of petitions weren’t the only ones outraged. So was Mentzelopoulos.
She filed suit, claiming malicious defamation.
Fleming countered, saying it was all fair comment on a matter of public interest.
The legality of all this is obviously up to the judge. But politically, it’s a bit unusual for the Opposition to attack a bureaucrat, even a politically appointed deputy minister.
And by social conventions, Fleming was just plain rude, although that’s never been much of a consideration at the legislature.
The claims are filed in B.C. Supreme Court and future episodes will determine how it all plays out.
The plot may not grab too many people’s attention. (I personally don’t watch soap operas. There are never any car chases.)
But the striking thing about this one — as reported by Vancouver Sun colleague Rob Shaw — is that taxpayers are covering at least half the production costs.
Mentzelopoulos is indemnified by the government of B.C., meaning taxpayers are paying her legal costs. Fleming’s are being covered by his party.
The government spent considerable time agonizing over its indemnification policy in light of the notorious Basi-Virk case. It was reviewed independently and reported on by the auditor general.
Eventually, a new policy was laid out in a regulation. Mentzelopoulos applied for coverage and the Justice Ministry has decided she qualifies.
Defamation is one of the few instances where bureaucrats can be covered as plaintiffs, rather than as defendants. And eligibility is determined after a senior government lawyer concludes it’s in the public interest to file suit.
Considerations listed in the regulation include the need to rehabilitate the employee’s usefulness for employment, restore the integrity of the office or generally curb the practice of slagging bureaucrats.
Dropping this argument would save us all a lot of money. But being an MLA means never having to say you’re sorry. And being an aggrieved deputy minister apparently means you can rely on taxpayers to cover the cost of rectifying personal slights.
So you might as well watch future episodes. Because you’re paying for them.
[email protected]
twitter.com/leyneles
