Heads Won't Roll?

When Premier Gordon Campbell announced during a televised speech in February that British Columbia would run two years of deficits, he stressed that the government was already finding places to save money.

One of those places was from among the top ranks of the civil service. He promised to cut the positions for one in five of the province's senior bureaucrats. As he put it in that Feb. 2 speech, "The senior executive ranks will be reduced by 20 per cent to contribute to this overall belt-tightening."

The gesture, made at a time when British Columbians were being asked to accept deficit spending and reduced services, suggested the pain would be widespread. Within the civil service, workers in lower ranked jobs were assured the bosses' jobs would be affected as their jobs were.

But nine months later it is not at all clear that the government followed through and met its target, despite having claimed that it did. In fact, it may only be halfway there.

Government has number, no details

In an Aug. 24 email, the then head of the civil service, Jessica McDonald, wrote, "The senior executive ranks of government were reduced by 20 per cent, with a resulting savings of about $5 million."

In earlier messages she had clarified that "senior executives" included just deputy ministers and assistant deputy ministers, not managers or front line supervisors. And another message to staff said the reduction would be achieved by leaving vacancies unfilled and that it included "recent executive changes" announced in January.

The Citizens' Services ministry is responsible for managing the public service. A spokesperson for the ministry said that 165 deputy minister and assistant deputy minister positions had been cut by 33, which works out to exactly 20 percent.

But when asked for a list of which 33 positions had been cut, the spokesperson said it would not neccessarily be easy to draw together such a list.

He said he would have to set up a "technical briefing" on the subject with a ministry official, either the new deputy to the premier, Allan Seckel, or citizens' services deputy minister Kim Henderson. That was last week and neither was available by publishing time.

Using public records

A citizen or journalist who wanted to test the government's claim could, however, draw together his or her own list by combing through the most recent public accounts, the government directory and the cabinet's orders in council to compile the relevant lists.

Below are three such lists. The first is of the 21 senior executives who left the government in the time period in question, between the start of the year and September. The second list, necessary to determine the total number of senior executives, includes the 131 people who were in senior positions at the start of the year and remained in them through September. The third list is of the six people added to senior positions over that same period.

Using the figures from those lists, at best the government is halfway to its goal.

At the start of the year there were people in 152 deputy minister, associate deputy minister and assistant deputy minister positions. So for the government to cut 20 percent of them, they would need to eliminate 30 positions.

But by the end of September, the government had eliminated just 21 positions, or about 70 percent of Campbell's stated goal.

And when you add in the six appointments listed below that were made in the period, the net reduction was only 15, or about half what the government has claimed.

'Pre-election fabrication'

Even those departure figures require some generous counting. The listed of the departed includes several people who are known to have left the government, but who never had their appointments rescinded through orders in council. They are still officially in their positions, though not working in them.

It also includes at least one person who did officially leave, but who is actually still working for the government. Mike Lambert was the associate deputy minister for the Integrated Land Management Bureau until Feb. 16. He has since taken a job as an executive director in the oil and gas division of the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources.*

The list also includes Marilyn Hedlund and Karen Dellert as having left their assistant deputy minister positions in the Ministry of Children and Family Development. Both departures were announced in a Sept. 15 email -- three weeks after McDonald said the 20 percent cut had been achieved -- though neither's order in council had been rescinded by publication time.

The only way to reach the government's figures, it would appear, would be to count people who left the government before January and well before the premier's Feb. 2, 2009 assertion. The names of another 15 people who departed can be found to reach the government's totals only by going back as far as 2007.

The onus is on the government to prove its numbers are accurate, said New Democratic Party finance critic Bruce Ralston.

"It's a pretty straightforward question," he said. If the government has really cut 33 senior executive positions, he said, it should be easy to provide a list.

"I suspect this may be another pre-election fabrication," he said. "It was all part of the pre-election package . . . They said a lot of things that were false before the election."

Deputy ministers, associate deputy ministers and assistant deputy ministers who left the government after Jan. 1, 2009:

1. Antoniak, Annette; CEO Olympic Secretariat
2. Freeman, Mary; associate deputy minister, Housing and Social Development
3. Hesketh, Joan; deputy minister, Environment
4. Lambert, Mike; associate deputy minister, Integrated Land Management Bureau (now with Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources)
5. Macatee, Gordon; deputy minister, Health Services
6. Mentzelopoulos, Athana; executive director, B.C. Progress Board
7. Trumpy, Chris; deputy minister, Finance
8. Bond, Paula; assistant deputy minister
9. Bones, John G.; assistant deputy minister
10. Callbeck, Douglas G.; assistant deputy minister, Management Services
11. Matherson, Neil C.; assistant deputy minister, EFO
12. Miller, Kathleen N.; assistant deputy minister, Transportation
13. Milner, Jane Andrea; assistant deputy minister
14. Phelan, William E.; assistant deputy minister
15. Powell, John S.; assistant deputy minister, Corporate Services
16. Reed, Janine; assistant deputy minister, Public Sector Employers' Council
17. Reuther, Barbara; assistant deputy minister, Corporate Services
18. Stancil, Daphne E.; assistant deputy minister, Agriculture and Lands
19. Wilton, Barry T.; assistant deputy minister, Client Services
20. Hedlund, Marilyn; assistant deputy minister, Ministry of Children and Family Development (announced Sept. 15)
21. Dellert, Karen; assistant deputy minister, Children and Family Development (announced Sept. 15)

Total = 21

Deputy ministers, associate deputy ministers and assistant deputy ministers remaining as of September 2009:

1. Brown, Martyn; deputy minister/Chief of Staff
2. Brownsey, Lorne; deputy minister, Corporate Initiatives
3. Byng, Dave; chief operation officer, Transportation
4. Carr, Steven; chief operating officer, Integrated Land Management Bureau
5. Ciceri, Robin; deputy minister, Advanced Education (who resigned in Nov.)
6. De Faye, Robert; deputy minister, Aboriginal Relations
7. Du Toit, Leslie; deputy minister, Children and Family Development
8. Dyble, John; deputy minister, Health Services
9. Fast, Don; deputy minister, Small Business
10. Gorman, James; deputy minister, Education
11. Hayden, Dana; deputy minister, Solicitor General
12. Henderson, Kimberly; deputy minister, Citizens' Services
13. James, Beth; associate deputy minister
14. Junger, Robin; associate deputy minister, Environment
15. Konkin, Doug; deputy minister, Environment
16. Lapper, Robert; deputy minister, Labour
17. MacDonald, Cairine; deputy minister, Housing and Social Development
18. MacDougall, Michael; chief operating officer, Health Services
19. Main, Grant; deputy minister, Healthy Living
20. McDonald, Jessica; deputy minister, to the Premier (resigned in October)
21. Milburn, Peter; deputy minister, Transportation
22. Morhart, David; deputy solicitor general
23. Norman, Ron; associate deputy minister, Public Affairs Bureau
24. Pedersen, Larry; deputy minister, Agriculture and Lands
25. Reimer, Gregory; deputy minister, Energy
26. Seckel, Allan; deputy attorney General (now deputy minister to the premier)
27. Shoemaker, Wes; deputy minister, Solicitor General
28. Steenkamp, Philip; president/CEO B.C. Olympic Secretariat
29. Paul Straszak; president/CEO Public Sector
30. Tarras, Lynda; deputy minister, Head of Public Service Agency, Advanced Education
31. Wall, Dale; deputy minister, Community and Rural Development
32. Wanamaker, Lori; deputy minister, Tourism
33. Whitmarsh, Graham; deputy minister, Finance
34. Ahmed, Sarf; assistant deputy minister, Children and Family Development
35. Archibald,W. Ralph; assistant deputy minister, Environmental Stewardship
36. Armstrong, Glen Edward; assistant deputy minister, Finance
37. Ayers, Karen Jean; assistant deputy minister, Housing and Social Development
38. Bailey, Lynn D.; assistant deputy minister, Environment
39. Baltes, Janet; assistant deputy minister, Finance
40. Baskerville, Shannon; assistant deputy minister, Advanced Education and Labour Market Development
41. Begg, Kevin L.; assistant deputy minister, Solicitor General
42. Bethel, John; assistant deputy minister, Citizens' Services
43. Blasetti, Frank; assistant deputy minister, Transportation
44. Bond, Allison Hayward; assistant deputy minister, Housing and Social Development
45. Bragg, Denise G.L.; assistant deputy minister, Agriculture and Lands/Environment, Corporate Services
46. Brouwer, Shauna Janice; assistant deputy minister, Tourism, Culture and the Arts/Community and Rural Development, Management Services
47. Brown, Stephen; assistant deputy minister, Health
48. Butterfield, Renate; assistant deputy minister, Education
49. Carroll, Sandra; assistant deputy minister, Transportation
50. Carter, Michael T.; assistant deputy minister, Small Business, Technology and Economic Development
51. Caul, Douglas; assistant deputy minister, Public Service Agency
52. Cavanagh, John; assistant deputy minister, Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources
53. Chopik, Kathy S.; assistant deputy minister, Premier's office
54. Currie, Tami D.; assistant deputy minister, Housing and Social Development
55. Davidson, Heather; assistant deputy minister, Housing and Social Development
56. Dawes, Jacqueline; assistant deputy minister, Advanced Education and Labour Market Development
57. Dickson, Heather J.; assistant deputy minister, Advanced Education and Labour Market Development
58. Doyle, Patrick; assistant deputy minister, Children and Family Development
59. Elangovan, Joan Q.; assistant deputy minister, Small Business, Technology and Economic Development
60. Faganello, Tara; assistant deputy minister, Attorney General
61. Fayad, Deborah A.; assistant deputy minister, Citizens' Services
62. Foxcroft, Debra; assistant deputy minister, Children and Family Development
63. Fraser, Lois; assistant deputy minister, Citizens' Services
64. Friesen, Robert S.; assistant deputy minister, Forests and Range
65. Furey, Mike; assistant deputy minister, Community and Rural Development
66. Fyfe, Richard; assistant deputy attorney general
67. Galbraith, David; assistant deputy minister, Healthy Living and Sport
68. Gillen, Bob W.G.; assistant deputy attorney general
69. Goodman, Gordon D.; assistant deputy minister, Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources
70. Griffin, Sandra; assistant deputy minister, Children and Family Development
71. Hackett, Stuart; assistant deputy minister, Citizens' Services
72. Hansen, Brian; assistant deputy minister, Small Business, Technology and Economic Development
73. Harrington, Molly; assistant deputy minister, Housing and Social Development
74. Hazlewood, Andrew G.; assistant deputy minister, Healthy Living and Sport
75. Hill, Wendy; assistant deputy minister, Health Services
76. Hopkins, James; assistant deputy minister, Finance
77. Hughes, Bette-Jo; assistant deputy minister, Citizens' Services
78. Jardine, Kevin D.; assistant deputy minister, Cabinet Operations
79. Jensen, Tom R.; assistant deputy minister, Community and Rural Development
80. Jensen Wayne; assistant deputy minister, Citizens' Services
81. Kendall, Jacquie; assistant deputy minister, Advanced Education and Labour Market Development
82. Kislock, Lindsay; assistant deputy minister, Agriculture and Lands
83. Knight, Craig R.; assistant deputy minister, Health Services
84. Kot, Jill; assistant deputy minister, Citizens' Services
85. MacFarlane, Paige; assistant deputy minister, Education
86. MacLaren, Les M.; assistant deputy minister, Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources
87. MacMillan, Elizabeth; assistant deputy minister, Healthy Living and Sport
88. Maranda, Pierrette; assistant deputy minister, Intergovernmental Relations Secretariat
89. Markwart, Alan E.; assistant deputy minister, Children and Family Development
90. Mattison, James C.; assistant deputy minister, Environment
91. McHale, Jerry; assistant deputy minister, Attorney General
92. McKnight, Elaine; assistant deputy minister, Health Services
93. Miller, Keith; assistant deputy minister, Education
94. Moysey, Sharon; assistant deputy minister, Housing and Social Development
95. Munro, Steve; assistant deputy minister, Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation
96. Nakagawa, Bob; assistant deputy minister, Health Services
97. Nikolejsin, David J.; assistant deputy minister, Citizens' Services CIO
98. Owen, Peter H.; assistant deputy minister, Education
99. Paine, Julian C.; assistant deputy minister, Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation
100. Parnell, Grant G.; assistant deputy minister, Agriculture and Lands
101. Paton, Arlene D.; assistant deputy minister, Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation
102. Peterson, J.D. (Dave); assistant deputy minister, Forests and Range
103. Phipps, Albert O.; assistant deputy minister, Solicitor General
104. Porter, Charles; assistant deputy minister, Forests and Range
105. Poutney, Richard G.; assistant deputy minister, Citizens' Services
106. Proudfoot, Mike A.; assistant deputy minister, Transportation
107. Rasmussen, Bruce; assistant deputy minister, Citizens' Services
108. Ritchie, Carol J.; assistant deputy minister, Citizens' Services
109. Sasaki, Harvey W.; assistant deputy minister, Agriculture and Lands
110. Schultz, Ray L.; assistant deputy minister, Community and Rural Development
111. Shimkus, Jody M.; assistant deputy minister, Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources
112. Sidhu, Manjit; assistant deputy minister, Health Services
113. Sieben, Mark K.; chief operating officer Children and Family Development
114. Smith, Terry P.; assistant deputy minister, Chief Coroner
115. Snetsinger, James G.; assistant deputy minister, Chief Forester
116. Soles, I James; assistant deputy minister, Small Business, Technology and Economic Development
117. St. John, Valerie; assistant deputy minister, Health Services
118. Sturko, Derek; assistant deputy minister, Solicitor General
119. Sutherland, Craig; assistant deputy minister, Forests and Range
120. Symes, Elan C.; assistant deputy minister, Finance
121. Taylor, Sheila A.; assistant deputy minister, Health Services
122. Townsend, Gary; assistant deputy minister, Forests and Range
123. Vincent, Tom; assistant deputy minister, VP Public Sector Employers' Council
124. Walman, Barbara J.; assistant deputy minister, Labour
125. Walters, Peter D.;assistant deputy minister, Tourism, Culture and the Arts
126. Wenezenki-Yolland Cheryl; assistant deputy minister, Finance, Comptroller General
127. Wittenberg, K. Ruth; assistant deputy minister, Advanced Education and Labour Market Development
128. Wood, Robert; assistant deputy minister, Attorney General
129. Yardley, Jim R.; assistant deputy minister, Tourism, Culture and the Arts
130. Zacharatos, Phil; assistant deputy minister, Forests and Range
131. Zacharias, Mark; assistant deputy minister, Forests and Range

Total = 131

Assistant deputy ministers hired since Feb. 2, 2009:

1. Bain, Nancy A.; assistant deputy minister, Transportation
2. Boyd, Wes; assistant deputy minister, Healthy Living and Sport
3. Denlinger, Rebecca; assistant deputy minister, Solicitor General
4. Halls, Lori; assistant deputy minister, PSA Talent Management
5. Morel, David; assistant deputy minister, Advanced Education and Labour Market Development
6. Rogers, Carolyn; assistant deputy minister, Public Service Agency

Total = 6

*An earlier version of this story said the former deputy minister of finance Chris Trumpy is working for the Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources Ministry. The Chris Trumpy working for EMPR is in fact his son.