VICTORIA, B.C.: As British Columbia faces record job loses, soaring deficits, and families stretched to the breaking point, the BC NDP government is busy rewarding friends and insiders with luxury perks and lucrative contracts, all with taxpayer money.

In Question Period today, Conservative Opposition MLAs exposed the NDP’s pattern of insider rewards that raise serious questions about this government’s priorities and commitment to fiscal responsibility.

Bruce Banman, MLA for Abbotsford South, demanded the NDP explain spending $370,000 a year on bureaucrat car allowances amid a record deficit and tens of thousands of job losses. “40,000 British Columbians lost their jobs in just two months. B.C. is buried under an unprecedented $13 billion deficit. Food bank lineups keep getting longer. Yet this government’s priority is making sure senior officials drive luxury vehicles on the public’s dime.”

“The Minister of Finance defended this wasteful spending as a ‘long-standing policy’. 40,000 unemployed British Columbians might call it something else,” Banman added.

Reann Gasper, MLA for Abbotsford-Mission, pressed the government to explain its decision to cut critical supports for children with autism while freely spending on perks for senior officials. “At a time when families are losing funding to put their children through therapy, this government has no problem signing off on $1,200-a-month car lease allowances so bureaucrats and appointees can drive luxury cars.”

Kristina Loewen, MLA for Kelowna Centre, called out the NDP’s latest round of patronage appointments ahead of the FIFA World Cup. “Rob Fleming. Jane Shin. Both former NDP MLAs. Both handed seats on the PavCo board, conveniently right before one of the biggest events this province has ever hosted. British Columbians deserve to know who is sitting in those luxury suites and who is paying for it. This government has made an art form of rewarding its friends with positions and public money.”

Lorne Doerkson, MLA for Cariboo-Chilcotin, exposed the NDP’s pattern of awarding lucrative contracts to party insiders, even for work that never materialized. “A $250,000 contract. That was what was handed to a retired NDP deputy minister for advice on DRIPA amendments that never came. This government is not managing public money. It is dividing it amongst its friends.”

– 30 –

Media Contact:
Francesca Guetchev, Press Secretary
Francesca.Guetchev@leg.bc.ca
+1 (672) 922-0948