December 18, 2001

T'was the Week Before Christmas and All Through the House
the garbage was taken out …

The top news story on the main government website is about yet another man being appointed to a senior position (T. Richard Turner as chair of the British Columbia Lottery Corp.).

Meanwhile, the long awaited report of the consultant (in place of a true public inquiry) on BC Ferries is buried very deeply in one of the more "challenging" pdf files ever seen - see http://www.bcferriesinquiry.com/bcferryfinalreview.pdf for the partial report or try your luck with http://www.bcferriesinquiry.com.

Could it be that the costal MLAs are as angry with the Campbell government as the Fraser Valley MLAs are with the Energy Panel's recommendation to store natural gas in their valley?

The "independent" ferry report seems to confuse political rhetoric with objective assessment. Is the following introduction a political creed or an objective statement from an unbiased inquiry?

"Having recommended greater separation of BC Ferries from the Province, we then considered the quantum of that separation. During the course of our review, we learned that the majority of maritime jurisdictions throughout the world have discovered that with respect to the provision of cost effective, customer driven ferry service, the private sector can do it better. We also learned that commercialization around the world is a response to the state of government finances and the need to provide better service on a more cost effective basis. That being the case, the continued devolution of government services to the private sector is not expected to abate."

Oh that WAC Bennett could rise and respond!