Bob Hawkesworth appointment to run McDougall Centre condemned by Wildrose

The Wildrose Party is crying foulafter former city councillorand failed Calgary-Foothills NDP candidate Bob Hawkesworth was announcedasthe executive director ofPremier Rachel Notley's southern Alberta office on Saturday morning.

Hawkesworth, who will run the McDougallCentrein downtown Calgary, failed to win a seat in a recent provincial byelectioncalled after former premier Jim Prentice resigned his seat on election night.

Prior to his recent provincial run,Hawkesworthsat on Calgary city council for 23years and was an MLA for Calgary-Mountain Viewfor two terms.

Calgary-Foothills went to Prasad Panda of the Wildrose Party.

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Jason Nixon, the Wildroseaccountability critic, says the appointment is "completely and utterly unacceptable."

"McDougall Centre is a government facility operating for the government of Alberta, not for the NDP party," he said."So using it as a position to slip in a political reward for a failed candidate, it's completely inappropriate, and if you look back, you'll see very clearly Rachel Notley agreeing with us on that point."

Nixon points to the fact the campaign period for the Calgary-Foothills byelection ended on Wednesday, meaning Hawkesworth was still able to fundraise to pay off election debts during that time.

Transparency

He also takes issue with the fact the hiring process was not transparent.

"We advocate that we need to have proper hiring processes, proper interviews and ensuring that Albertans are getting the best person for the job, not waiting until the very end of a political campaign period and then rewarding a failed candidate in less than 72 hours," said Nixon.

"I'll go so far as to say this: if it was proper and legitimate, it wouldn't have been announced on a Saturday morning, I can assure you of that."

Opposition

This isn't the first time the opposition has gone after the NDP government for patronage appointments.

It also criticizedthe placement of John Heaney asthe head of the public service, andMark Well, a former NDP communications strategist, asthe head of the Public Affairs Bureau.

"The NDP fought with the Wildrose while they were in opposition to stop the PAB from being a partisan organization within the government and going back to an apolitical organization, which it should be," said Nixon."And unfortunately it appears that went out the window when the NDP became the government."

According to a press release, Hawkesworth's new duties will include "the day-to-day operation of McDougall Centre, including stakeholder relations, communications and outreach services."