THE Official Opposition has sent a letter to B.C.’s Conflict Commissioner, asking him to rule on a perceived conflict of interest involving Delta North MLA Ravi Kahlon.

“This member serves on the Select Standing Committee on Crown Corporations, which is shaping and influencing recommendations to the Legislative Assembly regarding ride-hailing— yet his father holds a taxi license with Bluebird Cabs in Victoria,” said Jordan Sturdy, Official Opposition Critic for Transportation. “This certainly seems inappropriate.”

“It’s disappointing that MLA Kahlon had to get caught in order to declare this conflict,” said Stephanie Cadieux, who serves as Deputy Chair of the committee. “The right thing for him to do would be to recuse himself from the committee, but it doesn’t appear he’s willing to do that.”

“You would think Mr. Kahlon would have, at the very least, revealed this information to the Transportation Minister and other committee members, but he has admitted he didn’t do that,” said Jas Johal, MLA for Richmond-Queensborough. “Instead, he silently pushed ahead with work that could fundamentally impact the taxi industry and his family’s private interests. Quite simply, it’s wrong.”

“It’s clear this government has put up numerous obstacles to ride-hailing in B.C., and this incident calls into question the level of objectivity on the other side of the House,” said Peter Milobar, MLA for Kamloops-North Thompson. “What’s more, this is a government that continually tells British Columbians how transparent it is. It’s shocking to see one of its MLAs, who has a direct influence over ridesharing, fail to declare such a blatant conflict.”