Kwan’s Role Dims NDP’s Outrage Over PHS Scandal

New Democrat MLA Jenny Kwan got a snap unpaid leave of absence approved Monday, notwithstanding that up until now in the legislature, there has been no such thing.

NDP Leader Adrian Dix said it was arranged Monday morning by new Opposition house leader Bruce Ralston and legislature clerk Craig James.

bit.ly/2FgNuZs via @VanCourierNews

Portland Hotel Society Had Little Oversight, Ex-Director Says

Former Portland Hotel Society board member Fred Jones says he was one of nine directors overseeing spending at the Vancouver charity, but hadn't been called to a single board meeting in three years.

Last week, the B.C. government released details of a damning audit that showed the non-profit group that looks after some of Canada's poorest citizens spent thousands of dollars on lavish hotels, limousine rides, expensive dinners and even a trip to a Disney resort.

bit.ly/2T8PJkY via @CBCNews

8 Red Flags From The Portland Hotel Society Audit

WATCH: Housing Minister Rich Coleman says he isn’t satisfied by the reasons departing Portland Hotel leaders have given for their spending. Geoff Hastings reports.

The biggest story in B.C. this week has been the forced removal of the Portland Hotel Society leadership, after investigations showed vast amounts of questionable spending.

bit.ly/2Q1ZLT2 via @globalnews

NDP MLA Jenny Kwan Repaying $35K For Europe, Disney Trips

NDP MLA Jenny Kwan says she is repaying $34,922.57 in expenses for trips she and her family took to Bristol, Vienna and Disneyland that were paid for by the Portland Hotel Society.

In an emotional appearance this morning in Vancouver, Kwan said she trusted her husband Dan Small, who was a director with the Portland Hotel Society, when he told her that he had paid for the family's personal expenses when they accompanied him on a business trip to Europe in 2012.

She said he also told her he personally had paid for an upgrade during a family trip to Disneyland the same year.

bit.ly/2scORAD via @CBCNews

New Democrat MLA Jenny Kwan Under Fire For $2,695 Trip Paid For By The Portland Hotel Society

VICTORIA — New Democrat MLA Jenny Kwan and her family received a $2,695 trip to Disneyland — as well as a second trip to Europe — paid for by the Vancouver charity at the centre of a scathing government audit Thursday.

The Disneyland trip was one of many questionable expenses by the Portland Hotel Society highlighted by government auditors, which forced the resignation of the society’s senior managers and its board of directors.

bit.ly/2TdarAo via @VancouverSun

Pete McMartin The Portland Hotel Society -- Oh. My. God

There’s just so much that jumps out at you that’s egregious, hilariously improbable and, in the context of a social welfare agency the efforts of which should be entirely concentrated on the poor and marginalized, obscene.

Almost $9,000 in limousine charges. In one year.

Stays at the best hotel rooms — some of them approaching $900 a night — in Paris, Istanbul, Ottawa, Vienna, Los Angeles, New York City.

bit.ly/2TnWoIu via @VancouverSun

Vancouver Building Seized Without Any Charges Against Owner

British Columbia's Civil Forfeiture Office has seized and sold a Downtown Eastside single-room occupancy hotel for more than $800,000 – despite the fact the building's owner was not charged with a crime.

The Vancouver Police Department, which investigated the file and referred it to the Civil Forfeiture Office, announced the seizure at a news conference Wednesday.

Sergeant Randy Fincham, a police spokesman, said four people were arrested as a result of the Project Twizzler investigation and charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking. Sgt. Fincham alleged the four men were running a drug ring out of the single-room occupancy hotel and used intimidation and violence – including head-shavings – to get area residents to sell drugs.

Sgt. Fincham said charges were not laid against the building manager or the owner, but they "ought to have known that what was going on was criminal activity." He said some suites had been "fortified" and a security system set up.

tgam.ca/2GFu6HD via @globeandmail