Cuts in the regions

April 5, 2002

Yukon Breakup - A Model for Campbell's Caucus

Gordon Campbell's caucus could learn something from the Yukon. On April 2nd, three Liberal MLAs said enough is enough and crossed the floor to sit as independents. That changes the balance in the Yukon legislature to 8 Liberals, 5 New Democrats, 3 Independents and 1 for the Yukon party.

The Globe & Mail reported that former Liberals, "Wayne Jim, Don Roberts and Mike McLarnon, told a news conference that they left the party because Premier Pat Duncan wouldn't listen to caucus members."

The BC Liberal government is in no danger of teetering into an election call due to members crossing the floor. 75 members of the Campbell caucus know best (not counting the Speaker or Premier) whether they share the frustrations that lead Jim, Roberts and McLarnon to cross the floor. It is a fact that the BC Premier's office has expanded to record size. It is also a fact that Premier Campbell is known to be stubborn and not likely to change his views or direction.

BC Liberal backbenchers are taking the heat for their Premier's ideologically driven agenda. According to the latest Ipsos-Reid poll, Premier Campbell's popularity now lags his party. Audio books for the blind have been cut, welfare has been slashed, child protection is being sacrificed to budget cuts, court houses are closing, by month's end school boards throughout the province will be laying off teachers and in some cases closing schools, the health authorities refuse to consult with the public on their plans while the health unions leak damaging internal documents, and this is after just ten months!

Three of what were 11 Liberal MLAs crossed the floor in the Yukon. If just 4 of 77 BC Liberal MLAs crossed the floor to form a new party, they would immediately become the Official Opposition with more perks and privileges than they would ever see as government backbenchers. The BC legislature will adjourn for the summer on May 30th. As MLAs hit the barbeques and spend more time talking to their constituents, they might come to admire their Yukon colleagues and conclude that there are better ways to spend the next three years.

January 16, 2002

Taking the Cuts to the Regions
while using Fort St. John as a backdrop for a sellout to big Tobacco

A staged cabinet meeting held Wednesday, January 16, 2002 in Fort St. John at the North Peace Cultural Centre, 10015 - 100 Ave, was a setup for big tobacco.

Safety decisions up to each municipality! Cynics might say that the government was trying to get as far away from Victoria as possible on the eve of layoff announcement day. The cynics are optimists when it comes to the Campbell government. They are went to Fort St. John in order to use the community as a backdrop for their sellout to the tobacco industry. Will the announcement that smoking can take place in restaurants and bars be accompanied by a new rule to ignore hard hats and safety boot requirements depending on local whim?

Layoffs will affect every community in BC. For example, try clicking on the government phone directory and searching under Fort St. John. The Fort St. John District Forestry office alone shows 50 people. Most other government ministries also have a presence in Fort St. John. From the Ministry of Children and Family Development to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, from a judge to a sheriff, the government phone book shows 83 more government employees plus the 50 in forestry for a total of 133 real people plus 3 vacancies.

Fort St. John could lose 30% of those people. That would mean the loss of 41 jobs in Fort St. John not counting any that don't show up in this kind of simple phone book search. Tourist information says that the city has a population of 14,818, when the surrounding area is included the population numbers 50,000. Losing 41 jobs would probably mean the loss of about $2 million in payroll thereby taking down other jobs in retail sales.

Fort St. John is one of the bright spots in the BC economy; the oil and gas industry keeps Fort St. John busy and growing. The Ladyfern gas discovery, about 100 kilometers northeast of Fort St. John, has made government revenues from natural gas exceed forestry revenues. Speaking to the October 24th staged cabinet meeting, Energy and Mines Minister Richard Neufeld spoke of expansion (not including offshore) in oil and gas that would create 8,000 direct jobs and yield $16 billion in government revenue. That is precisely the reason that cutting government services, let alone firing 41 people in Fort St. John, is extremely foolish and unnecessary.

The loss of about 41 jobs in a small community might not seem impossible to overcome, but consider the services provided by some of the 133 government workers in Fort St. John. Keep in mind that there could be more, this is the quick list from the online government phone directory.