August 22, 2001

A 90 Day Commitment taking 220 days plus, plus, plus ...

Both the long (pdf) and short form of the New Era document said "Pass a Community Charter to outlaw provincial government "offloading" of costs onto municipal governments, and to give local governments greater autonomy and better planning tools to reduce pressure on property taxes."

"Pass a Community Charter ..." in the first 90 days is pretty clear, and it didn't happen. Bill 12 used legislation to set up a committee that may report back by January 2002, or may have its deadline extended. On February 19, 2002, the budget will be introduced to implement the service reviews - draconian cuts to match the former dramatic change. Municipalities may want to have the assurance of the promised Charter before that budget but that doesn't look very likely.

Legislature watchers have noticed that the Campbell crew increasingly answer questions by making reference to the "New Era Document" - the provincial equivalent of the "Red Book". Perhaps Minister Falcon could be given the task of translating it into plain language. Hint: 220 is more than 90.