Latest news with #TimStainton
Global News
5 days ago
- Business
- Global News
BC NDP take more heat from opposition over contracts for consultants, advisers
British Columbia's NDP government is taking more fire from the opposition BC Conservatives over contracts it has awarded to top advisers. The opposition is raising new questions after the province hired Dr. Tim Stainton's consultancy to review Community Living B.C. Stainton was one of the people who helped create the Crown corporation tasked with caring for some of B.C.'s most vulnerable people. CLBC's board is also chaired by former NDP cabinet minister Shane Simpson. 3:42 BC Conservatives question top mental health advisor's salary 'It seems that the NDP continues to go to the well with former ministers, former electeds. It makes you wonder how little confidence they have in their own current cabinet members when they have to do this,' BC Conservative finance critic Peter Milobar said. Story continues below advertisement 'And the bigger problem is the lack of transparency. Never a disclosure of how much they are getting paid, what the deliverable is expected.' Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy The BC Conservatives are also flagging the appointment of former NDP environment minister George Heyman as a special advisor on public sector bargaining. Milobar noted that the province didn't announce the appointment — rather, it emerged when Heyman changed his LinkedIn profile. 'The former head of the (B.C. General Employees Union) BCGEU is now advising the government on how best to negotiate with the BCGEU, that's certainly going to work out well for the taxpayer, I am sure,' he said. The questions come as the province faces scrutiny over two other contracts. Premier David Eby terminated a contract with Michael Bryant halfway through its six-month term, saying media coverage had become a distraction from the work Bryant was meant to do advising on the future of the Downtown Eastside. 2:32 Decision to hire Downtown Eastside consultant under fire And on Thursday, the opposition raised concerns about a $1 million open-ended contract with Dr. Daniel Vigo, B.C.'s chief scientific adviser for psychiatry, toxic drugs and concurrent disorders. Story continues below advertisement Vigo has been instrumental in spearheading the NDP government's efforts at implementing involuntary treatment for people with severe mental health, addiction and brain injury issues. Health Minister Josie Osborne said Friday she believed Vigo's work is 'worth every penny.' 'Having an expert like Dr. Vigo come and provide advice to government and undertake a very methodical and studious examination of the data that is out there, looking with legal experts at the Mental Health Act … this is not something that can be replicated inside government,' she said. 'It is really important at this point in time that we have this expert advice. And the recommendations that Dr. Vigo and his team have put forward to government are actions we are already seeing underway.' As a part of Vigo's work, the province has now opened 28 beds in two involuntary care facilities, one at the South Fraser Pretrial Centre and one at the Alouette Homes in Maple Ridge, for people who are not in contact with the criminal justice system.
CTV News
04-06-2025
- General
- CTV News
Critics say firm hired to review Community Living BC includes founding architect of the Crown corporation
Critics are questioning whether the province's review of Community Living BC will actually help prevent future tragedies. In the wake of a coroner's inquest into the death of a woman with Down syndrome, the province has ordered what it calls an 'independent review' of Community Living BC's home-sharing program. At the time of her death from starvation in 2018, 54-year-old Florence Girard weighed just 54 pounds. A court later convicted her provincially funded caregiver Astrid Dahl of failing to provide the necessities of life. Girard's death sparked a series of changes to the home-sharing program. 'I'm still hearing concerns from families,' said Sheila Malcolmson, the Minister of Social Development and Poverty Reduction, which oversees CLBC. 'The review that I've established is looking at how home sharing is operating right now in 2025 and whether the changes CLBC made since 2018 are having the impact we hoped.' The government has hired Tamar Consultancy to conduct the review. The firm has a limited footprint online, but Malcolmson confirms Tim Stainton is one of its principals. Stainton is a professor emeritus in the School of Social Work at the University of British Columbia. 'His credentials are beyond reproach, quite frankly. I believe that the professor was around in that group before 2005 that actually helped to create CLBC,' said CLBC board chair Shane Simpson. Stainton was part of the provincial Board of the Interim Authority for CLBC, which the province struck in 2002 to lay the groundwork for CLBC. Not only is he one of the original architects of the Crown corporation he has just been hired to review – he has also conducted research at UBC sponsored directly by CLBC. Reached by email, Stainton referred questions about his role in the review to the Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction. Simpson also has history with the agency that predates his time on its board. When Girard starved to death in 2018, Simpson was an MLA and the government minister responsible for CLBC. Down Syndrome BC president Tamara Taggart is skeptical the latest review, which is set to cost taxpayers $75,000, will yield much in the way of fresh ideas. She told CTV News she would rather see the province focus on implementing each of the 15 jury recommendations that came out of the coroner's inquest into Girard's death. The Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction expects the results of the latest review sometime in the fall.
