September 12, 2008
Politics seem to be breaking out everywhere with the Federal election underway, municipal contests just over the horizon and two provincial by-elections expected in Vancouver this fall. And if we're not getting our fair share of canned speeches and mudslinging on the CBC, we can always look south of the borders where our American cousins will surely make history by electing either a black president or a woman vice president.
Some of you may recall that the Legislature of British Columbia was scheduled to meet for six weeks this fall. This fixed parliamentary calendar was one of those promises Gordon Campbell made when he became Premier all those years ago, when he was eager to portray himself as a populist reformer committed to openness and accountability for elected representatives. The Legislature belonged to the people, not the Premier he said. Unfortunately, the Premier has since discovered that when the House is sitting, he and his Cabinet colleagues are usually held to account for government's many decisions and actions.
Last week the same Gordon Campbell announced that he was cancelling the fall session of the Legislature because government had no legislative business requiring MLAs' attention. The move is another sad example of how arrogant and out of touch Campbell and the BC Liberals have become.
First, Campbell seems to have forgotten that his government introduced a 2008 legislative agenda that was too ambitious to receive full debate and scrutiny in the 50-day spring session. Indeed Campbell used closure to ram through 8 different bills in May and was forced to shelve legislation on key issues including First Nations governance, insurance reform, as well as logging road safety and management. For him to suggest that government had no outstanding legislative business is simply dishonest.
Second, and more importantly, Campbell seems to have forgotten that the Legislature is where the public, the media and the opposition hold government accountable. We've all seen the recent stories about massive pay raises for senior executives, the closure of beds for our vulnerable seniors, and the impact of the Carbon Tax. Has the government heard the public outrage on these issues? When will we see the much needed provincial investments in commuter rail service and funding to replace Belmont Secondary School? For an increasingly out of touch Premier Campbell, those matters appear to be of little concern.
Perhaps the most outrageous example of political arrogance is the deafening silence from the Premier's Office over the Auditor General's report on the removal of lands from the Tree Farm Licence west of Sooke. I cannot imagine any previous Premier, left or right, completely ignoring an independent report that says the Government ignored the public interest, and yet Campbell has still to utter a word on the matter. Without a Legislative session this fall, it seems that he and his colleagues will continue to hide from accountability on this fundamentally important issue to all residents of the south Island.
All of this brings me back to the central issue: accountability. Politics and governance without accountability is pointless and self-destructive. It leads taxpayers to feel ignored and become disillusioned with the political process. People like that often stop voting, and then the community, the province, and the country suffers.
Voters will be asking well-intentioned federal and municipal candidates what they will do to improve our democratic institutions. They'll want to know how we make Parliament work for the country and how we can ensure council tables are a welcome place for all residents to bring their opinions and ideas. Premier Campbell, through his actions, is reinforcing the public perception that politics is entirely based on self-interest. By refusing to answer for his decisions in an open forum he is adding to the growing cynicism, not diminishing it.
