B.C.’s Attorney General is hailing what he calls a brave decision by the BC Lottery Corporation to scrap plans for replacing its aging Kamloops headquarters.

Dave Eby says a third party, Partnerships BC, reviewed the project and determined there was plenty of life left in the existing structure and taxpayer monies would better be spent elsewhere.

“They came back and said well actually the building is in very good condition. It requires new boilers, new cladding on the outside, the data centre needs to be upgraded. But these costs are a fraction of what a new build would be and you need to think very carefully about this. In fact we recommend you stay in the existing building and do the necessary upgrades. There are no safety issues.”

Eby says it was the responsible decision to make.

He was asked if perception issues around the money laundering controversy played any role in the decision..

“It is related to a broad sense to the money laundering issue in that the previous government did not have sufficient oversight in place to ensure that responsible decisions were being made in relation to BCLC. They spent over $7 million on an anti-money laundering computer program that didn’t work. That money is gone. They apparently were full speed ahead on replacing a building that didn’t need to be replaced.”

Eby also took exception to criticism of the move made by the two Kamloops MLAs.

“I have heard frankly some outrageous claims from previous ministers on this file that there are 400 additional staff members coming on at BCLC. I am not sure quite what they would be doing.”

Eby insists the BC Lottery Corporation headquarters will stay and continue to grow in Kamloops.

The Attorney General was speaking on NL’s Inside #bcpoli which can be heard below.