OTTAWA -- The wife of a former provincial Conservative party strategist has landed a patronage appointment with the federal government.
The appointment has opposition parties crying patronage and hypocrisy and left some Tories shaking their heads.
Janice Sokolyk, a registered nurse, was appointed in December as the chairwoman of the Board of Referees for the Manitoba division of Employment Insurance in Winnipeg. The board hears appeals of employment insurance claims.
The criteria for the job include knowledge of the economy and labour market conditions, experience leading group discussions and experience interpreting and applying rules and guidelines.
The appointment is for a three-year term. According to a government of Canada website, the job pays $400 per hearing a day and is a part-time gig.
A spokesman from Human Resources and Social Development Canada said he could not confirm that figure nor give out information on how much specifically Sokolyk will be paid.
Sokolyk is married to Taras Sokolyk, who was chief of staff to former Premier Gary Filmon and is known as a key Tory party organizer in Manitoba.
For Manitoba politicos, the Sokolyk name is also synonymous with the 1995 vote-rigging scandal that contributed to the fall of the Filmon government.
Party sources say Sokolyk is close with Manitoba senior minister Vic Toews. Taras Sokolyk currently works as a vice-president with Canad Inns, which is run by another of Toews' close allies, Leo Ledohowski.
Janice Sokolyk's appointment hit some Conservative Party insiders in the solar plexus.
"You've got to be kidding me," said one insider. "That is totally inappropriate."
The source said the appointment would have had to be known to Toews and added the party should give Taras Sokolyk a wide berth.
Winnipeg NDP MP Pat Martin said this is obviously a plum job meant as a thank you to an "old guard Tory" in Manitoba.
Opposition parties have become more and more critical of the slew of Conservatives being appointed to the judiciary, public boards and other government gigs across the country, particularly when the Tories ran on a platform to clean up government and put an end to political patronage.
Liberal MP Anita Neville said she thinks patronage is always going to be a part of politics but said it is hypocritical for Toews and other Tories to be so open about doing it when they were so critical about it before taking office.
The chair of the board of referees works with a three-members panel as an independent, administrative tribunal mandated to provide fair and impartial quasi-judicial hearings of appeals of Employment Insurance decisions.
The other two panel members are appointed by Employment Insurance Commissioners. One is to represent workers and one is to represent employers.
mia.rabson@freepress.mb.ca
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