Coquitlam-Burke Mountain MLA Joan Isaacs has accepted the post of assistant deputy speaker after Richmond-South Centre MLA Linda Reid stepped down this week.
The job comes with a nearly $38,000-a-year additional stipend on top of base pay of $108,105.35.
Isaacs was first elected in 2017 and is the BC Liberal’s critic for seniors care and a member of the select standing committee on children of youth.
Reid’s role as Assistant Deputy Speaker became contentious after a report was released by Speaker Darryl Plecas in January. The report looked into spending by two high-level legislative employees and raised questions about expense reports and a missing investigation into a retirement allowance that allegedly happened under Reid’s watch. Reid’s own travel expenses were also brought into question.
The position of Assistant Deputy Speaker is a sessional one, so its renewal comes up every time the legislature reopens.
The motion for Isaacs to replace Reid was put forward by MLA Mary Polack and came after Lt.-Gov. Janet Austin opened the spring session of the legislature Tuesday afternoon with the throne speech, which included a section on “trust in our public institutions.”
“The strength of this legislature does not come from stone, slate, marble or granite. It comes from a foundation of public trust,” the throne speech read. “That trust was recently shaken.”
Reid was the Speaker from 2013 to 2017 and took the position of Assistant Deputy Speaker when the NDP formed government in 2017 with support from the Green party.
The Tri-City News has reached out to Isaacs for comment about her new post.
More to come
— with files from the Richmond News
