VICTORIA – The sister of a B.C. government health worker who took his own life after being falsely accused of wrongdoing calls Premier Christy Clark’s response to a report on the issue callous and cynical.
Linda Kayfish says Clark’s handling of the matter has been entirely political, from the point in 2012 when the Liberal health minister announced the actions of the workers had jeopardized the privacy of residents and the ministry’s reputation.
The ombudsman’s report released last week says the eight workers were fired because of a flawed and rushed investigation and didn’t deserve the personal, financial and professional harm they suffered.
Her brother, Roderick MacIsaac, took his own life four months after being fired, and Kayfish questions the premier’s “false sense of propriety” for saying politicians should not get involved in firing decisions in the public service.
Ombudsman Jay Chalke’s report found that the premier and other officials did not direct the dismissals, but were aware of them.
A retired Supreme Court of Canada judge has been appointed by the B.C. government to oversee reparation payments recommended in Chalke’s report and Clark apologized to the workers and their families.
A statement from lawyers for Kayfish allege the Liberal government “knowingly subjected (Kayfish) and the others to needlessly hurtful and alienating treatment.”
“This was pure politics and my family was just collateral damage to her. She thinks we’re expendable,” says Kayfish, referring Clark in a news release.
The government knew of the obvious wrong since 2013, but avoided the solutions of accountability, apology and meaningful compensation, lawyer Joanna Gislason says in the release.