May 20th is the last sitting day of the BC Legislature until October. Attention has been focused on 990 year "leases" for BC Rail and on the mean spirited Bill 37, but what did government intend to get out of the spring session? With just ten sitting days left, it may be time to send Premier Campbell an interim report so he won't be surprised if he receives a failing grade.

The Throne Speech is the first place to look for hints on what government planned for the spring session of the legislature. A careful review of the speech as well as an examination of legislation introduced as of May 4th suggests that less than 1,100 days after taking power, the Campbell government has run out of steam. With ten sitting days to go, the government has introduced only 36 Bills (Bill 1 is a formality containing a title and no text). Almost twice as many Bills were introduced by this time in the two previous spring sittings under Campbell. There is no major piece of legislation that could be called the hallmark of the spring session. The most common thread is continued deregulation and housekeeping. It is possible, but not likely, that there could be an avalanche of legislation introduced in the dying days of the session. Anything the government declares as part of its agenda must be passed, using closure if necessary, by May 20th, and any remaining Bills are put over to October. At best the government will stand accused of not having its legislative drafting under control, at worst, there will be no substantial legislation and it will be apparent that Campbell's vision is limited to union bashing, substantial service cuts and deregulation. Going back to the Throne Speech helps put the meager legislative agenda in perspective. The speech focused on imagined economic achievements and events past the date of the next election, the 2010 Olympics and more university seats. If what we are seeing now is all the Campbell government has to offer, it's time to sing "is that all there is?"