Quick Wins ethnic outreach scandal

The Quick Wins ethnic outreach scandal also known as ‘Ethnicgate’ was a political controversy beginning in 2013 in the Canadian province of British Columbia (BC) that resulted in the resignations of public servants and a cabinet minister in 2013 and Elections Act charges in 2014 against two staff members of the British Columbia Liberal Party.

A government review concluded that public servants were using their time and government resources to engage with ethnic communities for partisan purposes. An investigation by the RCMP and a special prosecutor also charged two Liberal party staffers with violations of the Elections Act in failing to disclose financial contributions for a byelection campaign. The trial is expected to proceed in 2015.

On February 27, 2013, the Official Opposition (the BC NDP party) used Question Period in the legislature to make public some leaked documents that showed the governing Liberal Party had prepared a Multicultural Strategic Outreach Plan that targeted “quick wins”—such as official apologies for historical wrongs like the Komagata Maru incident—to gain support from ethnic communities through a potential mix of partisan and provincial government activities and resources. It referred to collecting lists of names from government programs for Liberal party use, preparing criticism of political opponents and stressed a need for secrecy and subterfuge by using personal email accounts, not government ones.

Representatives of Chinese-Canadian, Indo-Canadian and other ethnic communities responded to the scandal due to perceiving the plan as being disrespectful, immoral and causing outrage.

Premier Christy Clark hosted an emergency cabinet meeting. Clark repeatedly apologized in the legislature for the issue, calling it ‘a very serious mistake.’

On February 28, 2013, Premier Clark and her cabinet ministers directed John Dyble, who was Deputy Minister to the Premier, Cabinet Secretary and Head of the BC Public Service, to investigate whether government resources were inappropriately used or the Public Service Act violated in development and implementation of the Liberal Party’s Multicultural Strategic Outreach Plan.

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Wikipedia