The B.C. government has cut its contract with a special consultant on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside short amid backlash over the appointment.
As Global News first reported last week, the province hired former Ontario cabinet minister Michael Bryant on a six-month contract to review ongoing programs in the troubled neighbourhood and to advise on future policy.
Bryant began the work in February, but the appointment wasn’t publicly announced and drew backlash, including from the Opposition BC Conservatives.
On Tuesday, the Premier’s Office issued a statement saying Bryant’s “work under government’s contract with his consulting company concluded” on Sunday.
“We have a shared dedication towards improving conditions in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, and thank him for his work to this point,” the statement reads.
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“However, debate and discussion around this time-limited contract is distracting from the important work underway.”
Eby is scheduled to take questions from the media about the move at 3 p.m. Global News will stream the availability live here.
The terms of Bryant’s six-month contract included $150,000 in remuneration, along with $25,000 in expenses. It also included language that could see the pay doubled to $300,000 if his contract were extended.
Under the agreement, he was to provide monthly updates and reports to Social Development and Poverty Reduction Minister Sheila Malcolmson, along with a final report.
Last week, Eby confirmed he had put Bryant’s name forward for the Downtown Eastside consultancy.
The Opposition has raised concerns about the terms of the contract, along with questions about why Bryant left his last job as the CEO of Legal Aid BC.
In 2009, Bryant was charged with criminal negligence causing death and dangerous driving causing death after an incident that left Toronto bike courier Darcy Sheppard with a fatal head injury, but was never prosecuted after the charges were controversially withdrawn.
He later wrote a book about the experience and his own battle with alcoholism.
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