Bob Mackin
He got his start as an aide in Glen Clark’s NDP government almost 30 years ago. She is a business partner of jobs minister Ravi Kahlon’s sister.
On Oct. 10, a notice from Premier David Eby’s cabinet appointed William Duvall and Opreet Kang to the board of Clark-chaired BC Hydro through the end of July 2028.
Duvall and Kang will be paid a basic $17,250 per-year retainer and could earn up to $25,950 in meeting fees annually.
William Duvall (left) and Opreet Kang. (VCH/YouTube)
Local, regional government ties
Duvall is the former director of corporate safety, security and emergency management at Metro Vancouver. After eight years there, he joined District of North Vancouver as municipal solicitor in August 2024.
Coincidentally, the biggest construction project in the district is Metro’s $3 billion-over-budget North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant.
Duvall began his career as ministerial assistant to NDP forests minister Dave Zirnhelt from 1996 to 1998. Zirnhelt famously said : “Don’t forget, government can do anything.”
Last May, North Vancouver district hall adopted the NDP government’s $10 charge on freedom of information applications.
Kang and Kahlon
Six months before the 2024 election, Kang partnered with Parm Kahlon to open the Core Firm consultancy. Kang was on the Vision Vancouver executive board from 2011 to 2018 and was elected to the NDP-aligned Vancity credit union board in 2023. The late John Horgan’s former chief of staff, Geoff Meggs, was among her endorsers.
Two-step
On March 31, the NDP government announced the installation of Duvall and Kang as health board chairs. Duvall in Vancouver Coastal Health, after Penny Ballem’s reassignment as CEO of Provincial Health Services Authority. Kang got a promotion from Fraser Health vice-chair to interim chair, when Jim Sinclair suddenly retired amid ongoing emergency room staff shortages.
Sinclair and Kang were named to the board shortly after the NDP came to power in 2017. Last fiscal year, Sinclair was paid $70,772.35 in retainer, fees and expenses, more than double Kang’s $32,720.20.
At VCH, Ballem made $72,307 as chair and Duvall $30,705.
The NDP processes patronage appointees through the Crown Agencies and Board Resourcing Office, headed by assistant deputy minister and longtime NDP insider Vanessa Geary.
When the BC Liberals were in government, it was known as the Board Resourcing and Development Office. BC Hydro and the health authorities are not subject to Merit Commissioner oversight.
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