Eby’s office silent on $450K contract for “radical communist” comedian

The B.C. NDP and Premier David Eby's office are not answering questions about a contract showing the province could spend nearly half a million dollars on a self-described “radical Marxist comedian".

Source: Wikimedia Commons

The B.C. NDP and Premier David Eby's office are not answering questions about a leaked contract showing the province could spend nearly half a million dollars on a self-described “radical Marxist comedian” hired to write the premier’s jokes.

According to the documents, comedian Charles Demers was retained at $165 an hour under a two-year agreement valued at $150,000, with two optional one-year extensions that could bring the total to $450,000.

Demers’ political leanings are also attracting scrutiny. In a 2018 CBC interview, he described himself as a lifelong Marxist.

“As a teenager, I was in a radical communist sect, with a Marxist newspaper published in New York that we sold on street corners,” he said at the time.

The B.C. NDP redirected questions about the contract to the premier’s office, which did not respond by the deadline.

The contract, which runs from Feb. 6, 2025, to Jan. 31, 2027, requires Demers to research, draft, and edit speeches, speaking notes, media advisories, news releases, digital content, reports, strategies, and op-eds. The terms also call for regular progress updates and virtual meetings with staff.

It's unclear what specific services Demers has delivered so far. However, a glowing quote attributed to him praising Eby already appears on the premier’s NDP website bio page.

“David speaks in ways that are principled and committed to progressive values, showing that not only does the political left have answers to the big challenging questions, we have the best answers to them,” Demers wrote.

Eby and Demers' ties go back years. In 2022, the comedian spoke at the premier's swearing-in ceremony. That relationship has prompted questions about whether the contract was sole-sourced or if other candidates were considered.

Asked about the deal at a Monday press conference, Eby laughed off a reporter's quip — "Do you get a discount if the jokes bomb?" — before defending the need for outside help.

“I would love to be able to write my own speeches the way that I used to,” he said. “But I do need support to be able to respond to each event that I go to. Speechwriters are a necessary part of the job.”

Eby added Demers has so far billed only $14,000 and noted his government has cut more than 800 public sector jobs in recent years.

B.C. Conservative finance critic Peter Milobar accused the NDP of misplaced priorities.

“Premier Eby is telling families and small businesses to brace for cutbacks while his government quietly signs contracts worth nearly half a million dollars for a comedian,” Milobar said in a statement Tuesday. “In the middle of the largest deficit in B.C.’s history, this is not only tone-deaf, it’s offensive to every taxpayer.”

B.C. currently faces a record $11.6-billion deficit.

“We have rampant spending, out of control, and the decision-making by the premier, in the backdrop of a supposed hiring freeze, is to hire a personal friend to write jokes,” Milobar added in an interview with Global News.

Demers, a regular panelist on CBC Radio One’s The Debaters, also receives public broadcaster compensation. Combined with the provincial contract, his taxpayer-funded earnings could place him well above the average Canadian full-time salary of $57,500 in 2023, according to Statistics Canada.