The Conservative MLA for Prince George-Mackenzie is slamming the provincial government for appointing a retired cabinet minister as an advisor on collective bargaining.
On Thursday, June 5, the Conservative Party of British Columbia put out a release quoting Kiel Giddens criticizing the hiring of George Heyman amidst a “broken bargaining process, widespread labour unrest and out-of-control public sector costs.”
Heyman was the NDP MLA for Vancouver-Fairview from 2013 until 2024 provincial election, serving as minister of environment and climate change strategy from July 2017 to November 2024. He chose not to pursue re-election.
His LinkedIn page says that he’s been working as a “special advisor to BC minister of finance on public sector negotiations” since April.
“George Heyman was the BC NDP environment minister who helped to bring in job-killing CleanBC policies and is the former head of the BCGEU — the very union he’s now being brought in to advise on and negotiate with,” Giddens said in the release.
“This is what happens when a government runs out of ideas. They recycle insiders and pay consultants with deep NDP ties to fix the crises they helped create in the first place.”
Speaking to The Citizen during an open house at his constituency office on Friday, June 6, Giddens said a former head of a union engaging in bargaining with that union on the government’s behalf is “a real problem for taxpayers for fairness.”
“An NDP insider is trying to do a backroom deal around a bargaining process,” he said. “I think that erodes trust in public sector bargaining and certainly we don’t see that as fair for taxpayers.”
The Citizen requested an interview with Finance Minister Brenda Bailey to discuss Heyman’s appointment but was told she was not available. A spokesperson instead provided some information on Heyman’s appointment.
They said that all parties involved in bargaining were apprised of Heyman’s position in early April and his contract runs through July 31 with a maximum value of $58,000.
“Similar to the work of other advisors in years past, George Heyman has been brought in on a short-term contract as a special advisor reporting to the Minister of Finance and is available to assist the various parties in bargaining upon request,” the spokesperson said.
“As a former BCGEU president and cabinet minister, George brings a wealth of experience in negotiations and understands the value of BC’s public sector workers.”
The spokesperson added that past government have similarly retained special advisors on a limited basis, including former CUPE British Columbia president Paul Faoro in 2022 and former deputy minister Lee Doney, who served under both NDP and Liberal governments, in 2012 and 2014 negotiations.
