The provincial government is dishing out more than $2.4 million in severance payments to the 13 public servants and staffers let go after Premier Christy Clark took office.
The Ministry of Finance released a list of payout amounts Thursday, including $549,776 to Allan Seckel, who was deputy minister under former premier Gordon Campbell.
Fellow Campbell deputy ministers Martyn Brown and Lesley Du Toit are also being paid $415,191 and $337,413, respectively.
Finance Minister Kevin Falcon defended the payments, which he said were made in accordance with the Public Sector Employers' Act.
"People who have been let go from government need to be treated fairly," he said. "The payouts, although in some cases large, in many cases those individuals have worked in government for more than a decade."
Falcon also boasted about the Liberals' 2002 amendment to the act, which limited severance payments from 24 months to 18 months. "It's always a lot of money, of course, but now it's done to new, more stringent rules."
The complete list, totalling more than $2,427,000, includes:
- Cathy Armstrong, administrative coordinator: $33,810
- Lara Dauphinee, deputy chief of staff: $192,886
- Richard Davis, ministerial assistant: $31,183
- Lesley Du Toit, deputy minister: $337,413
- Jeff Hanman, deputy chief of staff: $117,930
- Michael Harrison, ministerial assistant: $75,698
- Ronald Norman, head of Public Affairs Bureau: $323,917
- June Phillips, executive assistant: $72,994
- Allan Seckel, deputy minister: $549,776
- Dale Steeves, director of communications: $108,193
- Paul Taylor, chief of staff: $113,955
- Christine Willows, administrative coordinator: $51,033
