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The session won’t return until November 16. Think of it as a super long weekend.

Based on the unwritten rules for releasing bad news and then running for cover, the government seemed downright ashamed of Hawkesworth’s appointment.

It’s not, of course.

Premier Rachel Notley likes and respects Hawkesworth — that’s why she helped campaign for him during September’s Calgary-Foothills byelection.

When he lost to the Wildrose’s Prasad Panda the wheels began turning to give Hawkesworth the McDougall Centre job.

But the government knew that rewarding a longtime NDP insider with a $150,000-a-year job would look and smell like a patronage appointment, something the NDP fought against while in opposition. That’s why the government’s announcement of Hawkesworth’s appointment looks so sheepish.

You could argue that as a former Calgary alderman and two-term NDP MLA, Hawkesworth is experienced, capable and knows Calgary intimately.

You could also argue, as the Wildrose did, that the NDP is being hypocritical by indulging in cronyism.

“The NDP promised a new a way of doing things, instead they’ve fallen into the exact same bad habits as the previous government barely six months after being elected,” said Wildrose MLA Jason Nixon.

Twisting the knife in a little deeper, Nixon then referred to an old quote from Notley when she was in opposition criticizing the PC government of the day for giving a defeated cabinet minister, Evan Berger, a government job after the 2012 election. “It was a decision that was made very much to bring on an old friend, an insider, and find them a soft landing,” complained Notley.