The government PR machine hasn't been so busy since the period around Black Thursday, January 17, 2002, when the government announced massive downsizing and pumped out a blitzkrieg of information, perhaps geared to create information overload. The actual reports that government claimed supported its "core review" were never released despite exhaustive freedom of information requests. When asked how they justified their actions, they said: "We have 77 of 79 seats." Three years later, 110 days to the election, the government seems busy mending fences.

Several news releases a day cover attempts to fix past mistakes. Cuts to services to women are to be partially restored; inadequate funding for the Forestry Revitalization Trust is to be partially supplemented; some money is to be directed to worker and patient safety in the health system. One of the recent announcements is for a $25 million grant to the BC and Yukon Chamber of Mines for a new B.C. centre for geoscience. The government must be hoping that its partial fixes will hide the damage done by cuts that went too far.

In December 2001 the BC & Yukon Chamber of Mines reproduced on its website its letter to Minister Richard Neufeld. The letter pleaded:

According to Geotimes, a publication of the American Geological Institute, the initial round of cuts saw eight of the 45 geologist positions at the BC Survey declared redundant. In fiscal year 2001-02 "resource development" in the Ministry of Energy and Mines had a budget of $36.158 million; it was reduced to $24.514 million in 2002-03, and to $14.3 million in 2003-04. According to the Ministry's service plan the Geological Survey accounted for only $2 million of the $14.3 million resource development budget in 2003-04. The core review called for staff cuts of 38 percent and a budget cut of 40 percent to the Ministry. When asked during budget debate in 2002 how that would affect geoscience done by the Ministry, Richard Neufeld replied: "…we will attempt to do as much as we can within the ministry with the staff we've got. We are looking at geoscience in a partnership process between ministry and industry and how we can carry on with the geoscience program." The January 26th announcement about a $25 million grant to the BC and Yukon Chamber of Mines says a lot about how the cuts worked out!