FORSETH – Chan case: Those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones

THE WORLD OF provincial politics was shocked by news that BC Conservative MLA Hon Chan has been charged charged with assault, assault by choking and uttering threats. Following the information becoming known, interim party leader Trevor Halford immediately removed Chan as an MLA for the party.

That was definitely the right thing to do.

The NDP, however, have seized on this story as their MLAs and supporters have gone on the attack asking when the party knew about it, as if inferring they had ignored it, and also saying that Halford hadn’t gone far enough, and should have demanded Chan resign his seat.

Now let me just say, at the outset, these are serious allegations, and if they end up being true, they will potentially reflect on the Conservative party.

That said, allegations of wrongdoing, as well as charges of criminality, haven’t escaped the BC NDP. And like the old saying goes, those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.

While the NDP puff up with self-righteousness over the incident, and continue with their holier-than-thou social media campaign, who can forget these events:

• high taxpayer-funded expenditures, including $3,900 for an NDP minister’s “happy hour” in Amsterdam in June 2025. (Canadian Taxpayers Federation)
• Brenda Bailey charged taxpayers for a $6,645 limousine service bill during a four-day trip to Boston in 2023. (Canadian Taxpayers Federation)
• from Jan. 1, 2024, to Sept. 2, 2025, almost 400 gift cards totaling about $15,000 were handed out to bureaucrats and volunteers, and some exceeded the $100 limit. (Times Colonist – February 2026)
• In 1995, multiple women, including former staff members, accused Robert Blencoe of sexual harassment … Premier Mike Harcourt removed Blencoe from Cabinet and kicked him out of the NDP caucus. (CBC News – January 2001)
• March came in badly for NDP Premier Mike Harcourt – and April promises to be at least as cruel. Almost since the beginning of the year the party that won power in 1991 promising an end to “playing favorites with political friends and insiders” has been on the defensive about its own ethics. (Maclean’s Magazine, April 3, 1995)
• NDP forced to admit its opponents got it right on kickback allegations – says it got new information on kickback allegations. Likely that was advice on looming political damage. (Maclean’s Magazine — April 3, 1995)
• The BC government has ordered the auditor general to investigate MNP, a private accounting company it hired to administer clean technology grants on its behalf. The investigation follows allegations of a conflict of interest with MNP allegedly acting as both grant writer and administrator for a grant program. (CBC News – April 2004)
• On March 2, 1999, the RCMP raided Premier Glenn Clark’s home, an event that became the defining image of his administration. Clark resigned on August 21, 1999, shortly after being informed he was under criminal investigation. (The Tyee, Dubious moments in BC’s political history, May 2013)
• It’s been a tough few weeks politically for Premier David Eby and his government. From alleged kickbacks to leaked memo about drug use in northern BC hospitals. (Global News – April 2024)
• Of all the tawdry, underhanded and despicable things politicians have got up to in this province, it is hard to match anything as low-down dirty as the affair known as Bingogate. The NDP, a party which professes a belief in social justice, was found to have been skimming hundreds of thousands of dollars from charities over a 20-year period. (The Tyee, Dubious moments in BC’s political history, April 2013)

And, of course, the BC NDP has recently gone about reducing financial transparency as well as the dismantling of the merit commissioner’s office.

Again, the Chan allegations are a serious issue, the truth of which will ultimately be decided in court. Regardless, the NDP attempting to capitalize on it, for political gain, is in my opinion, disgusting.