The ministry of children and family development made $560,120 in renovations to its the fourth floor of its Victoria headquarters, Public Eye has learned. That amount was $300,000 more than the original budget suggested the ministry’s executive financial officer Sarf Ahmed. This, according to documents obtained via a freedom of information request. And it included spending $41,500 on a consultant to "incorporate design elements that create a warm, welcoming environment" for the First Nations community. Among those elements: an $8,500 seven-foot cedar totem pole and additional art pieces totalling $21,877.51.
An information note dated January 24, 2007 also states the renovations were, in part, undertaken to "create a larger meeting space filling in a much needed and long standing shortage of a suitable sized room" to host gatherings of 50 people or more.
In an email, top ministry bureaucrat Lesley du Toit stated the "Minister agrees on why we are doing (the renovations) and is OK with going ahead." Indeed, children and family development communications director Barb Wright defended its cost, saying the renovations are "$68,762 less than a typical project for B.C. government office space of a similar size."
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