What the Children's Ministry did with $560,000

Lindsay Kines, Times Colonist Friday, November 02, 2007

- Oversaw a deluxe redesign of its executive offices and reception area at its downtown location -- at a cost nearly three times the estimate.- Hired a consultant for about $40,000 to make its boardroom more welcoming to First Nations. It now has a double-wide video-conferencing screen, and glass panels designed by a local artist.- Bought a two-metre totem pole and other pieces of art for $21,500. he Ministry of Children and Family Development, already under fire for underfunding programs that help sexually abused children, recently spent $560,000 on a deluxe remodelling of its boardroom and executive offices in downtown Victoria.The ministry confirmed yesterday that it hired a consultant for about $40,000 to make the boardroom more welcoming to First Nations, purchased a two-metre cedar totem pole for $8,500, and bought additional pieces of art at a cost of $13,000.

Initially estimated at $200,000 last summer, the project came in at nearly three times that, according to documents obtained by Public Eye Online, which broke the story on its website yesterday.Children's Minister Tom Christensen says the cost escalated when the scope of the project expanded beyond the boardroom to include the fourth-floor reception area as well as the offices of deputy minister Lesley du Toit and her assistant deputies. His staff say construction and material costs also increased.But the NDP yesterday accused Christensen of approving an "outrageous overrun" at the same time he was refusing to give Victoria's Mary Manning Centre an additional $170,000 to prevent the layoffs of child sexual abuse counsellors."It reflects some disturbing priorities for the minister that he had no problem signing off on this thing being almost three times over budget," Victoria-Hillside MLA Rob Fleming said. "And yet he stood up repeatedly and said no to counselling services for sexual abuse victims."

The ministry has also been under scrutiny this week after it used sweeping sections of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act to censor key aspects of a child sexual abuse report before releasing it to the Times Colonist. The TC filed a complaint with Information and Privacy Commissioner David Loukidelis after obtaining an uncensored copy of the report, and Loukidelis announced on Wednesday that he has launched an investigation. Yesterday, the ministry granted repor-ters a tour of the re-design at its Brough-ton Street headquarters.A totem pole greets visitors as they step off the elevator onto the fourth floor, where even the linoleum is covered in First Nations art.The reception desk is itself a sculpted piece of mixed-media art, and textile art hangs on the walls.In the boardroom, designed to hold up to 50 people, a double-wide video-conferencing screen dominates one end of the room, while glass panels, also designed by a local artist, line another wall.

The media were not shown the executive offices, but did get a view of the well-appointed meeting room on the first floor, which used to suffice. Christensen admitted yesterday that the project is a tough sell for a ministry that works with neglected and abused children."If I was thinking only politically, I would have said, 'Don't ever do a renovation,'" he said. "Because I know it's going to be public and the perception is always going to be negative."But he insisted the renovation was necessary, both to handle larger meetings and make the ministry more welcoming to First Nations people. He also said it was paid for from a different pot of money than pays for services to needy children, adding that the ministry has increased spending in that area as well and hired 200 more social workers.NDP critic Adrian Dix acknowledged that renovations are sometimes necessary."I'm saying that they shouldn't choose deluxe options," he said. "They're not just three times over [budget] because things got more expensive; they're three times over because they chose to be over."They chose the fancy option."

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Tom Christensen in hotseat - Video CHBC
Web posted on Friday, 02 November 2007

A beautiful new office creates an ugly political mess.