Plecas told the gathering that people don't trust politicians, there's a scarcity of ethical leaders and the world is going to hell in a handbasket

B.C.’s controversial Speaker of the house Darryl Plecas has delivered a strange speech to around 150 politicians at the Lower Mainland Local Government Association’s annual meeting.

Audio from the May 8 speech was provided to Postmedia News by Shane Woodford from Radio NL.

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In the 30-minute sermon, Plecas told the gathering of municipal leaders that basically people don’t trust leaders, there’s a scarcity of ethical leaders and the world is going to hell in a handbasket.

Halfway through, one female politician called out, “I feel like I’m being insulted as an elected official. I feel like I’m being talked down to.”

Plecas responded, “I’m not saying that everybody who is in elected office is horrible. I am saying it’s a fact that most Canadians think that … We have a shortage of real leaders.”

Plecas — who defected from the B.C. Liberal party to become Speaker and secure the current B.C. NDP-Green alliance — had begun his speech by telling the crowd, “Democracies everywhere are crumbling,” pointing to studies claiming most people under the age of 30 would prefer a dictatorship to a democracy.

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Photo by CHAD HIPOLITO / THE CANADIAN PRESS

Plecas — also noted for his role in bringing down the two highest-ranking non-elected legislative staff in an expense scandal — challenged leaders to come to the legislature some time.

“Come to the leg and watch question period … We have people disgracing themselves at every single turn,” Plecas said, adding he gets letters from teachers who bring students into the legislature during question period who are appalled by the politicians’ behaviour.

He then went on to paint a dark global picture, claiming visiting ambassadors and dignitaries shared stories with him about the collapse of institutions.

“They talk about this every time,” Plecas said. “The sorry state of affairs around the world and how worrisome it is, how much trouble we are in, how things are starting to fall apart, how institutions are falling apart.”

From there Plecas talked about how few good leaders there are, and how good leaders are not always ethical leaders. He said “people often get elected to office because people don’t know them.”

“I can introduce you to lots of people who are seen as good leaders. Hells Angels have good leaders, organized crime generally has good leaders, Mafia has good leaders. As much as I personally despise Trump, he must be doing something right. Most Americans think he’s great,” he said.

He then made an odd statement comparing lack of genuine consultation on issues to a sexual assault.

“It’s not just about getting something done as a leader. It’s about getting it done in a certain kind of way. It’s about doing it in a very collaborative kind of way … making sure that everybody that’s affected has a say.

“It’s like First Nations people say, when people say that the government say that we’re consulting. What a bunch of rubbish. No, we don’t want consulting, that’s like, if that was OK you could say to somebody who was sexually assaulted, look, consult me first. It’s stupid. It has to be a case where it’s collaboration.”

At the end of the speech, Plecas apologized to anyone he had offended, then painted a very dystopian view of the future.

“I do want to emphasize that nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing is more important for people in elected office (than to lead well), and we have to get the alarm bells going because if we don’t we’re going to be in very serious hot water here, and I would say it’s not going to be in the too distant future.”

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