The B.C. government has hired a former Liberal insider to help train cabinet ministers on how to handle the media.
Judy Kirk, a former Liberal caucus executive director, is being paid as much as $24,000 for one-on-one media training sessions with Premier Christy Clark’s cabinet ministers.
The government says the training couldn’t be done by any of the almost 200 employees in its $26-million Government Communications and Public Engagement branch, including ministry communication directors, because media training must be done by communications professionals with proven track records in that specific field.
The cost is being absorbed within the existing government communications budget, the government said.
Kirk served as Liberal caucus executive director between 1994 and 1996. Her firm, Kirk and Co. Consulting, has also received communications contracts related to the harmonized sales tax, Site C dam and B.C. Ferries coastal consultation on route reductions last fall.
The contract was directly awarded to Kirk’s firm because it was less than the $25,000 threshold required for work to go out to public tender.
“I think it speaks to the partisan nature of the communications shop within the government,” NDP house leader John Horgan said.
Existing government communications staff, especially those who are former reporters, would likely be insulted to hear the government doesn’t think they have the skills necessary to do media training, Horgan said.
“Whenever there is sensitive work to do, they can’t seem to find any people to do it within their $26-million budget, their hundreds and hundreds of communicators, but Ms. Kirk seems to find these cherries every now and again lying on the ground for her to pick up,” Horgan said.
“The public would well expect that the government should be able to handle such things as being able to talk to reporters with the staff available.”
