Earlier, Public Eye reported former senior real estate developer and manager Gary Cowan received a $75,000 payout when his $360,000 provincial government contract was prematurely terminated. And now we have learned his wife Diane Rabbani, the government's former merit commissioner and head of the public service agency, also received a severance package when she left government earlier this year. According to the terms and conditions of her contract, which was obtained via a freedom of information request, the value of that package would have likely been 15 months of pay or $208,750 (assuming $167,000 in annual compensation). That depature coincided with an attempt by the premier's office to change Ms. Rabbani's title from deputy minister to associate deputy minister. Suspicious minds may wonder why someone who apparently left government under their own power received a severance. But it might have something to do with the fact her employment contract states "if your appointment as Deputy Minister is eliminated...the government may offer you an alternate position as a Deputy Minister."