Outspoken Liberal Kevin Krueger has come out swinging against party turncoat John van Dongen, the media, NDP leader Adrian Dix and "the ridiculous John Cummins" in a 10-minute rant at the B.C. legislature.
On his way to a caucus meeting Wednesday, the Kamloops-South Thompson MLA spoke with reporters about his anger towards van Dongen, who left the Liberals in March to join the upstart Conservatives.
Saying that his one-time colleague has "delusions of grandeur," Krueger accused van Dongen of planning a "mutiny" against Gordon Campbell before he resigned as premier in 2010.
"Gordon Campbell, I believe, will go down in history as one of the finest premiers British Columbia ever had, and this little man with his jealousy and his self-serving behaviour continues to attack him long after he's gone," Krueger said.
In an affidavit filed in B.C. Supreme Court this week, van Dongen claims that he phoned Campbell on Oct. 29, 2010 and asked him to resign immediately. He said he did so in response to the government's refusal to hold an inquiry into the payout of $6 million in legal fees for the two former aides convicted in the BC Rail scandal.
Van Dongen also said he had spoken with a number of MLAs about his plans to ask for the premier's resignation before that phone call.
Krueger said Wednesday that he was one of those MLAs.
"John van Dongen has always been a management issue and when he presumed to phone me in late 2010 and enlist me in a mutiny against Gordon Campbell, he blathered on for 10, 15 minutes," Krueger said, adding that he told van Dongen he should resign instead.
He also pointed to the defector's 2009 resignation as solicitor general after it was revealed he lost his driver's licence over a series of speeding tickets.
"This guy stands up in the legislature and yammers on about his integrity. Where's the integrity when you're the minister responsible for public safety and you rack up a string of speeding tickets as long as your arm? Integrity is all or nothing," Krueger said.
He went on to throw punches in the director of opposition leader Adrian Dix, who recently admitted he was caught on the SkyTrain without a ticket.
"As far as I'm concerned, Adrian Dix has a pattern of deceit," Krueger said.
"Between John van Dongen and Adrian Dix and the ridiculous John Cummins, there's a conspiracy to try and discredit our premier. It isn't fair. She hasn't been given a fair shot. I don't think Gordon Campbell was given a fair shot."
Krueger also scolded the reporters in front of him, reminding them of their "obligation to report the news, not make the news." He told them, "you shouldn't give any credence to van Dongen."
Van Dongen made headlines earlier this week when he filed a petition seeking intervener status in the auditor general's application to see all evidence about the payout to BC Rail defendants Dave Basi and Bobby Virk.
Krueger has raised eyebrows with his off-the-cuff remarks in the past. In 2011, he sent Dix an apology email after he told radio reporters, "If there ever was a guy that shouldn't put his head up to get it shot off, as the soldiers refer to it, it's Adrian Dix."
