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VICTORIA — B.C.’s New Democrat government faced sharp attacks from critics Monday over whether it bungled accusations by a whistleblower that may have sparked a police investigation into former cabinet minister Jinny Sims

Opposition Liberal critics zeroed in on emails sent by Kate Gillie — Sims’ former constituency assistant — to senior officials in Premier John Horgan’s office in March. The emails alleged, among other things, that Sims wrote visa application endorsements for some Pakistani citizens in exchange for promised campaign donations, and that some of those people were on a U.S. security watch list.

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The allegations prompted an investigation by Horgan’s chief of staff Geoff Meggs, which Horgan has said concluded there was no wrongdoing.

However, the RCMP is now in the middle of “an investigation being conducted into allegations of criminal wrongdoing against MLA Jinny Sims and other persons unknown,” according to a statement Monday by B.C.’s prosecution service.