Variety is the spice of life and I'm offering a little candy intermission from the posts on the brewing scandal that is the privatization of British Columbia's liquor distribution and warehousing.
That photograph was part of $3,600 of taxpayers' money blown in one afternoon by Premier Christy Clark on a ceremony closed to the public and media.
On March 24, 2012, a news release was issued at 5:30 p.m. notifying B.C. that John Yap had been sworn-in as Minister of State for Multiculturalism. It didn't say where the ceremony took place. I found out, via Freedom of Information, that audio/visual services cost $2,300 (including $100 to rent a B.C. flag and stand), a hired videographer billed $616 to shoot the ceremony and the room at the Chinese Cultural Centre was rented for $150.
This was on the second-to-last Saturday of Clark's March from hell (read about that here). It was also the second-to-last Saturday of the fiscal year in which the Office of the Premier was budgeted $9 million. Governments like to spend their full budgets instead of pump unused bucks back into the coffers. It's a "use it or lose it" mentality that doesn't respect the fact that the money isn't theirs. It's yours.
Read more in my Vancouver Courier story.
See the documents below. (And prepare yourself for more #LiquorLeaks)
FOI John Yap Swearing-In
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