On April
24th when the BC Legislature resumes sitting after a two
week recess, there will be only 16 sitting days remaining
in the spring session, and rumours have it that there may
not be a fall sitting, despite the "Parliamentary
Calendar". Unless the Campbell government comes
up with some surprises in the next four weeks, the first
full session after the May 2005 election might go down as
one of the dullest on record.
In the
September 2005 mini-session, the government passed corporate
tax cuts worth $143 million per year on an annual basis,
perhaps not surprising for a governing party which receives
more than 70% of its financing from the business sector
and less than the NDP from individuals. The BC Liberals
said nothing about the corporate tax cuts during the May
2005 election campaign. The two dozen Bills introduced as
of the 2006 Easter break are mostly housekeeping statutes
combined with side-bar items like the "Apology Act"
and the "Ministerial Accountability Bases Act, 2005-2006"
(which helps assure that Carole Taylor will get her bonus
pay). Nowhere on the legislative agenda will you find any
Bill which relates to the three fundamental issues raised
on opening day of the session when the Speech
from the Throne said:
Note
that "three waves" reduces the Campbell government's
focus from "five great goals". Rhetoric about
health care and aging was followed by the Premier's post-Olympic
tour of selected European health facilities. British Columbians
still lack an answer to questions about the position of
the Campbell government when it said that the five principles
in the Canada Health Act (universality, accessibility, comprehensiveness,
portability and public administration) remain largely undefined.
Perhaps it is time that the Campbell government offers its
definitions.
The
Throne Speech said: "We will not succeed in providing
our children the best education if we fail to ask the critical
questions and refuse to consider changes that will make
our education system the best it can be." What has
the Campbell government done to ask and answer critical
questions for education since its February speech? In the
advanced education sector, institutions are engaged in advertising
campaigns to combat declining enrollments. It will be a
couple of years before the hard data are out to document
their problem, and many more years before research determines
how much of the problem was caused by the near doubling
of tuition fees. In the K-12 sector, the issues of class
size and composition have been put over to a non-binding,
perhaps ineffectual, "round
table".
The
third point of emphasis in the Throne Speech, Asia-Pacific
opportunity, emphasized infrastructure development so as
to better serve that market. This week truck
drivers threatened another strike over concerns about
slow moving traffic in and out of the Port of Vancouver
and soaring fuel prices. Look for the Campbell government
to say that its Ottawa's problem. While the Campbell government
is focused on twinning the Port Mann Bridge, traffic in
downtown Vancouver is grinding to a halt, and it will get
worse this summer as 2010 improvement projects discourage
many drivers from going near downtown.
With
the exception of the outstanding work done by Adrian Dix
and other members of the NDP Opposition on child protection
issues, the BC Legislature has proven itself to be as exciting
as the Canucks this season. In stark contrast to its first
term, it looks like the Campbell government has run out
of steam and is content in maintenance mode. If it fails
to call a fall legislative session, it will confirm that
perspective. Campbell should declare whether he is abandoning
the Legislative Calendar. At the very least, he should introduce
and pass legislation in the few days that remain in the
spring session to establish an independent "Children's
Representative" as recommended by Ted Hughes.
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