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VICTORIA — The B.C. NDP government’s hiring spree of partisan friends and insiders is “sickening” and the kind of hypocrisy that turns the public off politics, says Green Leader Andrew Weaver.

Weaver, whose friendly power-sharing deal gives the NDP the votes to stay in power, levelled scathing criticism Wednesday at Premier John Horgan’s administration for giving dozens of taxpayer-paid jobs to party workers and loyal supporters when Horgan used to strongly condemn the same practice under the Liberal government.

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“It’s offensive actually,” Weaver said in an interview. “And this is why the taxpayer gets so disenfranchised with our political system, is that you criticize someone for doing something and you do exactly the same.”

He said it’s “hypocritical” for the NDP to stack publicly-paid jobs with campaign officials and well-connected loyalists when, as opposition, the party explicitly promised not to commit the same mistakes. It’s similar to the NDP’s promise to ban corporate and union donations, while still holding the cash-for-access fundraisers like the Liberals, said Weaver.