Longtime provincial Liberal and Burnaby resident Brian Bonney is facing a new charge related to the “ethnic vote scandal” that blew up prior to the last election.
On Tuesday, the province’s Criminal Justice Branch announced that a special prosecutor approved a charge of breach of trust against Bonney.
A statement from the branch noted the new charge arises from the RCMP investigation into potential offences under the Election Act and offences arising out of the Draft Multicultural Strategic Outreach Plan.
The branch said over the course of the investigation, the special prosecutor received three separate reports to Crown counsel from the RCMP and after reviewing the entirety of the material, approved a further charge of breach of trust.
At the time of the alleged offence, Bonney was the communications director for Multiculturalism Communications, Government Communications and Public Engagement, Vancouver.
In 2014, Bonney and Mark Robertson, a Liberal party staffer, were charged with multiple counts of violating the Election Act, specifically the section relating to election financing, related to a 2012 byelection.
The charges include violating restrictions or limits on accepting or making a political contribution and three counts related to election expenses. The case remains before the courts.
Bonney worked for the provincial government for more than a year, handling communications for the ministry of multiculturalism. He resigned following the so-called “ethnic vote scandal,” after a review, ordered by Premier Christy Clark, found he was doing partisan work for the Liberals on taxpayer time.
