J529 Posted March 22, 2014 Share Posted March 22, 2014 http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/ndp-mla-jenny-kwan-repaying-35k-for-europe-disney-trips-1.2581899 NDP MLA Jenny Kwan says she is repaying $34,922.57 in expenses for trips she and her family took to Bristol, Vienna and Disneyland that were paid for by the Portland Hotel Society. In an emotional appearance this morning in Vancouver, Kwan said she trusted her husband Dan Small, who was a director with the Portland Hotel Society, when he told her that he had paid for the family's personal expenses when they accompanied him on a business trip to Europe in 2012. She said he also told her he personally had paid for an upgrade during a family trip to Disneyland the same year. "I was reassured by my ex-spouse that he had paid for all the family portion of the travel...I trusted that he was telling the truth," she said. Kwan and her husband are now separated and have filed for divorce. She said she talked to him this week and to the society to try to get clarification on his handling of the expenses for the trips, but says she was unable to get a clear answer. "I've asked individuals involved to advise how much of the travel costs is attributed to my family, and to provide me with the document to verify this. "As of today, they were not able to provide information....It is clear to me that their accounting is deficient," she said. So, Kwan said she wrote a personal cheque Friday morning to cover the full amount of the questionable expenses attributed to their trips, which were identified in a recent audit of the PHS. The expenses Kwan has repaid include: $8,323 for travel to the UK. $3,175 for travel to Bristol. $5,950 for flights. $4,100 for transportation. More than $10,000 for travel to Vienna. $2,600 for a trip to Disneyland. When asked why she did not question the expenses at the time, the visibly shaken Kwan said, "I trusted him... In a relationship there is a element of trust." She added she now plans to take an unpaid leave of absence to spend an undetermined amount of time with her family. "My first priority is to be with my children," she said. The non-profit Portland Hotel Society runs several operations for homeless people and drug addicts on Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, including the Insite supervised drug injection facility. Expenses not paid by government: PHS The trips were part of several questionable expenses uncovered in a government audit of the society. Its directors and board resigned Tuesday after the government issued an ultimatum to step down or it would pull the non-profit's government funding. The audit released this week found the Vancouver group spent thousands of dollars on lavish hotels, limousine rides, expensive dinners and a trip to a Disneyland resort. Separate financial reviews examining expenses by the Portland Hotel Society — which runs Canada's only supervised injection site — have uncovered alleged misuse of corporate credit cards, unsupported expenses and inadequate criminal record checks. The audit report released on Thursday also detailed over $8,600 spent on limousine rides last year and a stay in a British hotel that cost almost $900 per night. The society's co-executive director Mark Townsend said none of the expenses in question were paid for with government or program money. He said the expenses in question were paid for out of the society's administrative fund. "You have to understand the vast majority of these expenses are non-government expenses, they are from private foundations and their purpose is education or speaking at conferences and they're all funded by non-government money and they are part of the wider work we do," Townsend said The Disneyland trip was a way of rewarding the hard work performed by Kwan's former partner because the society doesn't offer traditional health and overtime benefits, he said. The Portland Hotel Society runs Insite, which is Canada's only stand-alone supervised injection site for drug users, and a number of social housing and support facilities in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordCanuck Posted March 22, 2014 Share Posted March 22, 2014 Free handouts for everyone! my god, she should be fired by her party even if she didn't know anything about this, its downright pathetic in regards to this group.They get 28 million dollars a year to deal with 1000 people? lolgive them 100 grand each then for peats sake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J529 Posted March 22, 2014 Author Share Posted March 22, 2014 What a cover story by Kwan that she had no idea at the time. I don't believe that at all. Another reason why NDP never again forms government in B.C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
î мцšт вяздк чфµ Posted March 22, 2014 Share Posted March 22, 2014 that poor lady is all tears because the story got leaked Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Violator Posted March 22, 2014 Share Posted March 22, 2014 Hasnt stuff like this been known around the downtown eastside for years.the downtown eastside is a money pit and a freeforall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonLever Posted March 22, 2014 Share Posted March 22, 2014 It just prove the leftwingers can just be a corrupt as the rightwingers. Let's hear the leftwing people on this forum justify this one. The same feftwing people who regularly skewer Christy Clark and the Liberals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J529 Posted March 22, 2014 Author Share Posted March 22, 2014 It just prove the leftwingers can just be a corrupt as the rightwingers. Let's hear the leftwing people on this forum justify this one. The same feftwing people who regularly skewer Christy Clark and the Liberals. There is no justification at all. None. Right-wing and Left-wing are all the same. Corrupt, Abuse of Power, Scandals, Money Hungry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gurn Posted March 22, 2014 Share Posted March 22, 2014 What does her ex-husband say? Will she take a polygraph? left, right, or center is a crook not still a crook? Why bother with left/right ? why not be more concerned with right/wrong or legal/illegal? Examples of corruption exist on every side of the street. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aladeen Posted March 22, 2014 Share Posted March 22, 2014 What the hell are all of you people talking about did you even read the story? The phs is a private organization, she would never have had access to those funds to steal. Her ex husband was the one who was involved with it. You guys are way off base here and looking for a scandal where none exists . If the private society can't keep track of where their money is going that is the only story here. She paid back out of her pocket all the money in question when in reality the ex should be paying it back because that is who had access to the funds regardless if she was aware of it coming from the company or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warhippy Posted March 22, 2014 Share Posted March 22, 2014 Free handouts for everyone! my god, she should be fired by her party even if she didn't know anything about this, its downright pathetic in regards to this group. They get 28 million dollars a year to deal with 1000 people? lol give them 100 grand each then for peats sake. What a cover story by Kwan that she had no idea at the time. I don't believe that at all. Another reason why NDP never again forms government in B.C. It just prove the leftwingers can just be a corrupt as the rightwingers. Let's hear the leftwing people on this forum justify this one. The same feftwing people who regularly skewer Christy Clark and the Liberals. Just ready to POUNCE on any story that is not about right wing abuses I see. Been so long since you've all seen one it must be like a drop of water to a person dying of dehydration Wanna know the difference between her and pretty much ANYONE from the right though? Whether she knew about it or not. The second this story came to light she owned it admitted it apologized and paid it back. Name ONE right winger in Canadian politics that has done the same over the last decade. We are waiting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warhippy Posted March 22, 2014 Share Posted March 22, 2014 What the hell are all of you people talking about did you even read the story? The phs is a private organization, she would never have had access to those funds to steal. Her ex husband was the one who was involved with it. You guys are way off base here and looking for a scandal where none exists . If the private society can't keep track of where their money is going that is the only story here. She paid back out of her pocket all the money in question when in reality the ex should be paying it back because that is who had access to the funds regardless if she was aware of it coming from the company or not. They don't care, they haven't seen a left wing politician in a scandal in so long they have to jump on it without even knowing the facts, Indicative of todays average "conservative" and the exact reason i stopped voting Con in 2006 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Violator Posted March 22, 2014 Share Posted March 22, 2014 What the hell are all of you people talking about did you even read the story? The phs is a private organization, she would never have had access to those funds to steal. Her ex husband was the one who was involved with it. You guys are way off base here and looking for a scandal where none exists . If the private society can't keep track of where their money is going that is the only story here. She paid back out of her pocket all the money in question when in reality the ex should be paying it back because that is who had access to the funds regardless if she was aware of it coming from the company or not. Ex husband works for a company that does business with the porvincial goverment he pays for 35,000 in trips and she says nothing not even wonders were the money is coming from and pays it back really quick that seems really suspect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J529 Posted March 22, 2014 Author Share Posted March 22, 2014 They don't care, they haven't seen a left wing politician in a scandal in so long they have to jump on it without even knowing the facts, Indicative of todays average "conservative" and the exact reason i stopped voting Con in 2006 I'm no conservative or right-winger at all. I hate them and BC Liberals with passion. But this kind of thing happens far too often with NDP and one of the reasons why voters haven't put them back into power for 16 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordCanuck Posted March 22, 2014 Share Posted March 22, 2014 All politicians are sleazy moneygrubber's. Im no conservative or liberal. I just hate when they all use our money for garbage like this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostsof1915 Posted March 22, 2014 Share Posted March 22, 2014 There's nothing in the streetLooks any different to meAnd the slogans are replaced, by-the-byeAnd the parting on the leftIs now the parting on the rightAnd the beards have all grown longer overnight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dazzle Posted March 22, 2014 Share Posted March 22, 2014 Has there really been much of an improvement in terms of people's welfare under the NDP-controlled ridings? Not really. I'm not really sure why she has to cough up the 35 k when it's pretty clear that Dan Smalls was the director of the organization who had access to the funds. I suppose she'll sue for it afterward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dazzle Posted March 22, 2014 Share Posted March 22, 2014 Ex husband works for a company that does business with the porvincial goverment he pays for 35,000 in trips and she says nothing not even wonders were the money is coming from and pays it back really quick that seems really suspect. Politicians and charity directors and founders are quite well-off people compared to the rest of the population. I don't want to get into the scams known as 'charity' - it's just way too long of a discussion and how the wages are distributed in those organizations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonLever Posted March 22, 2014 Share Posted March 22, 2014 What the hell are all of you people talking about did you even read the story? The phs is a private organization, she would never have had access to those funds to steal. Her ex husband was the one who was involved with it. You guys are way off base here and looking for a scandal where none exists . If the private society can't keep track of where their money is going that is the only story here. She paid back out of her pocket all the money in question when in reality the ex should be paying it back because that is who had access to the funds regardless if she was aware of it coming from the company or not. Ignorance is no defence. She was still married to her husband at that time and she did not ask where the money come from. Would she have repaid the money if the story become had not gone public? She had no choice but to repay now after getting caught with her hand in the cookie jar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sapper Posted March 22, 2014 Share Posted March 22, 2014 Ignorance is no defence. She was still married to her husband at that time and she did not ask where the money come from. Would she have repaid the money if the story become had not gone public? She had no choice but to repay now after getting caught with her hand in the cookie jar. interesting opinion. This would support every woman who accepts money or goods from a man who got the money illegally - being equally guilty. I'm curious how 100% of all women would know the source of every penny in a relationship? Do you suggest that they use auditors or how would they verify all money? In the news Jenny reports asking her husband who stated that he was paying for it - if one is to be hung for the misdeeds of others based on that then how does once I guess - certify if you will every penny in a relationship? Now I'm just a hard working lower middle class Joe and my wife and I have one shared bank account so it would be easy for my wife to verify every desposit if she wished. Given that the cost of these vacations on their own are not out of line for 2 working people each making 6 figures a year - I asked my wife tonight if she verified every dollar each year before we went camping? She should know right? The fact that Jenny didn't seek audited proof where her ex got money for a vacation is not ingnorance as you state - I can't think of a single couple I have ever known where the spouse demands evidence of earning source for all money spent. I could understand if it was a million dollar house on their budget but 3-5 thousand expence on several vacations wouldn't stand out for a couple that combined made in the hundreds of thousands a year. This I am sure has turned this divorce from bad to very bad - no wonder she needs private time to be with her kids as they hear what has happened and will happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sapper Posted March 22, 2014 Share Posted March 22, 2014 Ignorance is no defence. She was still married to her husband at that time and she did not ask where the money come from. Would she have repaid the money if the story become had not gone public? She had no choice but to repay now after getting caught with her hand in the cookie jar. sorry missed your repayment complaint where you suggest she repayed because she got caught with her hand in the jar Could you post the link that provides that portion of the story? I have searched all the major news stories and it was her ex that they say did it - not her so I am curious about this new evidence you provide Now I'm no lawyer but I am sure that going into a divorce it would be in her best interest not to be listed on any shared liabilities or debts with an ex. Just maybe with a divorce in process and not wanting her name involved she offered up full payement including her ex's portion. Like I said I'm not positive that is why but I will wait to see your source before forming an opinion Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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