Some of the big bucks paid as severance to party stalwarts when the BC Liberals left power may have depended on a questionable interpretation of government rules, a CTV News investigation has found.

A policy meant to let B.C. government staffers do international development work at places like the United Nations may have led to some staff getting time to work on political campaigns, according to records and interviews.

And critics worry any definition of working for a “national or international development project such as CIDA, CUSO or UN overseas projects” that includes the BC Liberal Party wasn’t in the spirit of the rules.

“The UN and the BC Liberal Party have as much in common as the tooth fairy and the bogeyman,” said Dermod Travis, of the watchdog group Integrity B.C.

Travis is concerned about a $73,000 payment in 2017 to one staffer in former premier Christy Clark’s office, Evan Southern.

“The severance package he received after he left the premier’s office for the BC Liberal Party and returned is absolutely astounding,” he said.

Travis said he believes government staffers should resign their posts to work on political campaigns, which would result in no severance payments.

The payout to Southern is one of a series of payouts being examined by the office of the Speaker of the B.C. Legislature.

Southern told CTV News that his leave of absence without pay from government was approved, and the severance amount depended on his government work.

“Any severance received following dismissal without cause is determined by the B.C. Public Service Agency,” he wrote in an e-mailed statement.

Southern took a leave from his job as director of issues management at the premier’s Office to be an executive at the BC Liberal Party in 2015.

Premier Christy Clark hired Shane Mills to be director of issues management in the meantime, records show.

Then came the May 2017 election, where Clark intended to stay on as premier in a minority government. That’s when Evan Southern came back to be another director of issues management in the premier's office, records show.

In July 2017, the Liberals lost a crucial confidence vote in the legislature, and the NDP assumed power with the support of the BC Green Party.

On July 17, 2017 the appointments of both directors of issues management in the premier’s office were rescinded.

Records obtained through a Freedom of Information request show Mills got a severance of $145,646. And Southern got a severance too, of $73,777.

Southern is now the director of communications at the Capital Regional District’s Wastewater Treatment Project, and sits on the Victoria Police Board.

The B.C. government rule that governs paid leaves says, “a leave is not to be used to allow an employee/appointee to work for another employee or agency except where the leave is for the purpose of working for a national or international project such as CIDA [the former Canadian International Development Agency], CUSO, or UN overseas projects.”

The NDP Finance Minister, Carole James, didn’t express concerns about Southern’s leave or severance.

“The rules are in place. The public service has put those rules in place. And it’s important to have those rules in place,” she said.
 

Several severances examined by Speaker

The B.C. Speaker’s office has said it is examining multiple severance payments after the 2017 election, which saw the leadership of the BC Liberal Party be passed from Clark to interim leader Rich Coleman, and then to the current leader Andrew Wilkinson.

One of the cases in that group is that of Tobie Myers. Myers was the Chief of Staff in Rich Coleman’s Ministry of Energy and Mines and Deputy Premier.

On July 17, 2017 her appointment was rescinded, which resulted in a severance of $136,058, records show.

Months later, Myers worked for Coleman in the B.C. Liberal caucus in a permanent position, even though Coleman was an interim leader, officials said. When his term ended, hers did as well, and she got another severance cheque, officials said.

It’s not clear how much that second severance was. Myers hasn’t returned messages and calls.

Coleman told CTV News on Thursday that the B.C. government doesn’t consider the public service and working in the caucus as the same employer.

“The severance would have been for the work in government. I don’t know the details of that because I would have had nothing to do with that. But if they take a severance they can still go back to work after,” Coleman said.

“It’s definitely not double dipping as you’re entitled to whatever you’re getting. You can go back to work. That’s allowed,” Coleman said. “Everything was done correctly.”

Travis told CTV News that the current government should “seize the moment and fix this.”

Or, he says, some questionable payouts could continue.