Gordon Campbell promised to stop all government advertising, at least that which could be interpreted as partisan, four months before the next election. The outrageous "best place" ads stopped on January 17th (the cost is still secret); on Wednesday, January 26th, another government ad will be televised across the province, stored for streaming video on the Internet, and transcribed for those who prefer to read. Another production of a staged cabinet meeting has been exempted from the government advertising ban.

The promise to hold monthly "open cabinet meetings" has not been honoured; the Campbell government routinely missed months in the summer. There were no "meetings" between September 29th and December 10th, 2004. It is not as if many British Columbians wait with baited breath for the latest word out of a staged cabinet meeting, but it does illustrate yet another broken campaign promise from Campbell. Worst of all is the recognition that the meetings are well rehearsed for the audience before they retreat behind closed doors for a real cabinet meeting.

In the pre-election period, government news is generated by slowly leaking details of the February 15th budget. The news release on the Solicitor General's budget for police is one such example, many more budget leaks will occur before Valentine's Day. Don't expect the voters to send Gordon a card with a big heart.