Premier Christy Clark’s government has appointed two loyalists of former Premier Gordon Campbell to significant posts in the past week.
On July 3, the B.C. Ministry of Finance issued a release saying that former Gordon Campbell chief of staff Paul Taylor will be the new chair of the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC).
He will not receive a salary for the post, which will last 18 months at most, although he will be paid for expenses, the ministry said in a release.
Taylor’s stint as Campbell’s chief of staff lasted only two weeks because he started the job on October 25, 2010, and Campbell resigned on November 3, 2010.
Taylor was then paid $114,000 in severance.
Taylor had been CEO at ICBC, making $300,000 annually, until he announced his resignation in April 2008, on the same day that the RCMP announced an investigation into a scandal arising from the corporation’s automotive research and training facility.
That facility had rebuilt hundreds of wrecks, which were auctioned to dealers and vehicle brokers using incorrect designations and improper disclosure.
The other significant appointment this week of a Campbell loyalist came when Clark shook up her media relations team for the third time in 15 months and appointed Mike Morton to be her new press secretary. Morton, who held the same job under Campbell, will be paid $125,000.
