EDMONTON, AB (December 15, 2015): The patronage parade continues under Premier Rachel Notley with NDP party president Chris O’Halloran being named the new Outreach Manager at McDougall Centre.
O’Halloran is now the third NDP partisan to be named a manager of outreach services at the Calgary premier’s office. It’s uncertain how outreach will be done without a public phone number listed.
Failed NDP candidate Bob Hawkesworth was handed the title of Executive Director to be in charge of, “stakeholder relations, communications and outreach services,” and Marcella Munro is the Stakeholder Outreach and Communications Manager.
“Albertans now have three managers at the same office, managing the exact same portfolios. It’s clear the premier’s office in Calgary is becoming nothing more than a soft-landing pad for NDP party loyalists,” Wildrose Shadow Democracy and Accountability Minister Jason Nixon said. “These managers managing managers are even more offensive given the fact Albertans are losing their jobs by the thousands as the NDP continue with their risky economic experiments.”
During budget estimates debate, Wildrose Leader Brian Jean pressed if there were any more hires anticipated at McDougall Centre, with Notley saying only an administrative position was open.
In opposition, Notley criticized the appointment of failed candidate Evan Berger as a decision, “that was made very much to bring on an old friend, an insider, and find them a soft landing.”
Nixon said the only serious job creation program the NDP have put forward is for NDP partisans in the premier’s office.
“New job titles, new patronage posts, and creating more managerial positions across government for individuals with close ties to the premier – this is the NDP record in government,” Nixon said. “Albertans were hoping for a new way of doing things, instead the NDP are repeating the same bad habits that Albertans clearly voted against in the last election.”