April 26, 2005

NED jr.

With less than 22 full days before voting booths open on May 17th, the Campbell Liberals finally released their election platform; the 2001 version was called NED so the reduced version introduced late in the 2005 campaign might be named NED jr. In some ways it is framed like the service plans which ministries tabled on budget day, as required by law. It lists five broad goals that no one would question and then lists various actions that will be taken to support each goal. A key part of the required service plans is missing; the platform does not provide measurable outcomes. Providing a measurable outcome would allow voters to understand what the Liberals are planning to change. The Campbell platform is also silent on what will happen to ICBC and other crown corporations.

An example of what can happen when measurable outcomes are not specified is found in the section on education. The stated goal is "to make B.C. the best educated, most literate jurisdiction on the continent." One of the actions in the platform is to "Give government the ability to directly communicate with all teachers in B.C.", another is to "Legislate a ban on inappropriate partisan political activities in our public schools." Can't the government already communicate with teachers? What do the Campbell Liberals consider to be "inappropriate partisan political activities"? Would that be the use of classrooms and students for government to make announcements? Would it be the use of schools by community organizations for evening activities? Will the government have a black list of who can and cannot use rooms in the evening?

A full page of the 44 page document is devoted to defending the government's changes to Pharmacare. They claim that "280,000 British Columbians now pay less, or nothing at all" but with over 4 million British Columbians, that might mean that over 3.7 million pay more; of course, not all British Columbians require prescription drugs so we don't know for sure how many pay more and how many pay less. The platform doesn't say what a Campbell government will do as Pharmacare costs continue to rise at double digit rates. If the past is any indication, user fees will be increased and the costs will be offloaded onto those who are ill. The alternative is to deal with the pharmaceutical companies who encourage the use of drugs whether appropriate or not, but the Campbell government has a weak spot for the drug companies. It is easier to offload costs onto sick seniors than to deal with bad prescribing. When Pharmacare was changed, then Health Minister Collin Hansen promised an independent study to evaluate the consequences; the election will be over long before that study is made public.

The government that eliminated the Ministry of the Environment cannot be trusted to enforce environmental protection yet NED jr. promises to "Lead the world in sustainable environmental management, with the best air and water quality, and the best fisheries management – bar none." This from the Campbell government that returned fines collected from fish farms and that continues to deny the link between sea lice and the extinction of pink salmon in the Broughton Archipelago.