B.C. Conservative leader John Cummins has accused the provincial government of doing more to help political insiders than the public after it appointed six of Premier Christy Clark's supporters to public sector boards. But a spokesperson for the premier has defended those appointments, saying all of them were qualified for those jobs.
Public Eye exclusively uncovered those appointments, which were quietly posted online by the government earlier this month. Specifically: Sheila Orr, who served as the MLA for Victoria-Hillside between 2001 and 2005, has been named to Knowledge Network Corp.'s board. She was one of 14 former legislators to endorse Clark's leadership bid, to which her husband contributed $1,000; Terry Segarty, who served as the Socred Credit MLA for Kootenay East between 1979 and 1986, has been name to the Royal British Columbia Museum Corp.'s board. He was a riding organizer for Clark's leadership campaign; Douglas Eastwood, a barrister for the Ministry of the Attorney General, has been named to the Justice Institute of British Columbia's board. He was the volunteer chair for Clark's leadership campaign; Macquarie Private Wealth Inc. branch manager Russell Lazaruk has been named to Camosun College's board. He was the South Island regional lead for Clark's leadership campaign; Fort Nelson lawyer Nathan Bauder has been named to the Passenger Transportation Board. He contributed $3,000 to Clark's leadership campaign and was one of its riding organizers; Linman Investments Ltd. president Lynne Kennedy, who served four terms as a Vancouver city councillor, has been named to the Royal British Columbia Museum's board. She volunteered on Clark's leadership campaign; and Private Career Training Institutions Agency chief executive officer Karin Kirkpatrick has been named to the Judicial Council of the Provincial Court of British Columbia. She contributed $500 to Clark's leadership campaign and was one of its volunteers.
Asked about those appointments, a spokesperson for the premier said, "It's a rather small percentage of overall appointments" and they're all "well-qualified."
Indeed, Bauder - who was named to the Mental Health Review Board and the Property Assessment Review Panel when Gordon Campbell was still premier - said he doesn't think his work for Clark had anything to do with him being named to the Passenger Transportation Board.
That comment was echoed by Camosun College board appointee Lazaruk, who said, "I've got a lot of board experience. I'm a director of a global investment bank. I like to think I got it on my merits."
"The real question is whether or not I'm qualified to take on this position at the Justice Institute," Eastwood responded when asked whether he thought politics influenced his appointment.
Noting his day job with the Ministry of the Attorney General involves seizing millions of dollars in assets of crime under the Civil Forfeiture Act, Eastwood stated, "I'm very familiar the types of services [the institute] delivers there."
"And I would note my appointment comes with only a very modest honorarium," he said, adding it's less than what he received while serving on a public sector board when the New Democrats were in power.
Nevertheless, Cummins said the appointments are an example of how "the only people that are getting ahead under this Clark government are cronies, insiders and lobbyists. The taxpayer sure as hell isn't."
"These people may just be fine," he conceded. "But the fact is there could be somebody better. And it would appear, when you go down the list, that the common qualification was they supported Christy on her leadership bid."
Kirpatrick, Kennedy and Segarty didn't respond to calls from Public Eye.
Sean Holman is editor of the online provincial political news journal Public Eye (publiceyeonline.com). He can be reached at [email protected].
