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VICTORIA — Premier John Horgan stood in the legislature Thursday to admit what had been readily apparent for several days, that his New Democrats have failed to live up to their own standards on preserving records, particularly emails.

“I am disappointed that we are not always meeting that standard,” said Horgan in facing up to multiple rule-breaking by senior staffers in his own office and two members of the cabinet.

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“I’m responsible for what goes on in this government, “ he told the house, “and I take full responsibility for not meeting the test that I set for us as a government when we were sworn in.”

Horgan confirmed that he’d ordered Don Wright, his own deputy minister and head of the public service, to “ensure that best practices are being used across government and ensure that if training has been inappropriate, better training be put in place.”

“I take this very seriously,” insisted the premier. That was in contrast to his own MLAs and ministers. For most of the week, New Democrats had mocked and sneered at the mere mention of the growing evidence of abuses on the government side.