In several columns Vaughn Palmer did an excellent job of pointing to the idiocy of government backbenchers who form the majority of the Legislature's Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services. A special meeting of the Committee has been called for 10:00 AM on Friday, December 14th, to fix the mistake they made when they recommended a cut of $750,000 to what the Representative for Children and Youth, Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, requested for her 2008-2009 budget. Palmer reported that Committee Chair Bill Bennett (MLA for East Kootenay) phoned to acknowledge that the Committee made a mistake in cutting Turpel-Lafond's budget.

What has not been reported is the role of the Premier and his staff in this charade; we will never know what took place if the Liberal backbenchers don't spill the beans. BC has a one-man government. When Campbell is away decisions don't get made; when he is present, initiatives aren't taken without his approval. So how did six government backbenchers manage to create so much embarrassment for the Campbell government?

On November 26, 2007 Turpel-Lafond released her progress report which sharply criticized the Ministry's "draft Good Practice Action Plan". She requested a budget for 2008-2009 in the amount of $6.558 million, an increase of $1.743 million over the 2007-2008 budget of $4.815 million. Her request is the first budget she and her staff prepared; her initial budget was prepared for her by staff in the Ministry of the Attorney General prior to her assuming office. On November 29 the Finance Committee considered her budget request; its role is to make recommendations to the government (presumably the Minister of Finance, but actually the Premier). In its December 6 report, the Committee recommended a 2008-2009 budget for the Representative amounting to $743,000 less than she requested. Vaughn Palmer and Keith Baldrey appeared on their usual CKNW weekly wrap-up of provincial politics and criticized members of the Committee for their arrogance and incompetence. The NDP members of the Committee called on the government to fully fund the Representative.

Those with experience in how legislative committees work find it hard to imagine how such an embarrassment could have been created without prior authorization from someone in the Premier's office. The backbenchers all want to be appointed to cabinet. They know that a cabinet shuffle is not far away and that vacancies will be created when those not agreeing to stand for election in 2009 are shown the door. Bone headed moves like attacking the Representative for Children and Youth aren't likely to advance a backbencher's career, hence prudent MLAs check with the boss or his staff before leaping into the abyss. Of course, while Campbell and his staff control everything they only take responsibility for successes, hence Committee Chair Bill Bennett and his cohorts are told to twist in the wind and fix the problem that they were allowed to create. It would be refreshing if at least one of them told the whole story on who gave them their marching orders to look like fools. Our system doesn't reward that kind of honesty.