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Her call for a public explanation for the treatment of her brother galvanized news coverage of the firings and put the Liberals on the defensive publicly.

Within 24 hours, the government began the paperwork for the review that Chin had recommended into the human resources practices that led to the terminations.

“The evidence is clear that the government’s decision to conduct the review was prompted by the need to manage the larger political issue created by Ms. Kayfish’s news conference,” concluded Chalke in the report released Thursday.

But the need to manage the public side of the political issue conflicted with a behind-the-scenes effort to minimize the legal fallout from the firings and protect those still in government who’d authored the debacle.

Despite advice to the contrary — Chin would testify that he thought the review should be broader in scope — the politicians allowed the bureaucrats to put a lid on it.

“Not a fault-finding mission, nor is it second guessing the termination decisions,” as the terms of reference had it. “It is the process that is under review, not the decisions that were made.”

Nevertheless, for public purposes the Liberals tried to portray the review as an exercise in clearing the air.

Health Minister Terry Lake told the legislature that the reviewer, Victoria lawyer Marcia McNeil, had “a very broad mandate.”

Next day the premier went him one better. “It is important that this review be thorough,” she assured the house on Oct 8, 2014. “It is important that we get to the bottom of it, and that is what we hope to do.”