CKNW Editorial
for March 7, 2000

It's not good enough, Mr Premier. You can't just sell those fast ferries and leave it at that. There must be an investigation - a thorough one. Now one can understand why you would like to simply put this all behind you with a personal confession that it was a bad mistake. But this wasn't just a little mistake ... it was one that touched both the public and private sector and cries out for explanations so we won't see this sort of massive screwup again.

Let me take you back to yesteryear when, at the loud and persistent insistence of the NDP, an inquiry was held into the building of the Coquihalla Highway by the Bill Bennett government. There is no question but that the government wanted this built quickly so that it would be ready by the time of Expo. And there were huge over runs ... and statements by the minister responsible that were dissembling at best. My oh my how your party screamed for a full investigation - and they were right. And it was investigated and the facts were laid before the people of British Columbia. And it turned out that there was political interference in that deal resulting in significant cost overruns.

There's a strong parallel between the Coquihalla and the fast ferries including an absence of candor, to put it mildly, of the ministers responsible. The great distinction between the two boondoggles, of course, is that at the end of the day at least we had a highway to show for it.

The fast ferries differed from the Coquihalla in another material way. We knew about highways and the Coquihalla wasn't about trying something new and hitherto untried ... there was no decision necessary as to whether or not the highway was needed either. The highway in fact had existed for decades in the sense that there was a road beside the old Kettle Valley route that was passable and indeed used by a few of us that knew about it.

The fast cats were an entirely new technology both in the types of vessels themselves and their suitability for the routes planned. Moreover, one of the principal rationales for the fastcats was that we would build, in British Columbia, a new industry that would give us, for the first time since World War II, a strong viable ship building industry.

We know now that the fastcats failed for a number of reasons and cost taxpayers half a billion dollars with all the bills not yet in. How did that happen, Premier?

Why was there no business plan? Why did we not know what market there was in the world for this new technology? Why didn't we have sales on the books before we got going? Why did we build boats which were clearly so wrong for the routes intended? How come we didn't realize that there was driftwood in the Gulf of Georgia, indeed seals and other wildlife, that would get caught up in the driving mechanism? How come the damned things were so uncomfortable? And how come they didn't work?

Would you have us believe, Premier, that it was all the fault of one man, Glen Clark? If that is so - and it's very hard to believe - how come none of his cabinet colleagues spoke out? What sort of government process was in place so that $500,000,000 could be slipped by Cabinet committees, Treasury Board and Cabinet itself? Is the process such that this sort of thing could happen again? If you say no, it couldn't happen again, what safeguards have been put in place since?

It's true that the Auditor-General has, from an accountant's point of view, given us a shocking report, but this doesn't get into personal blame and this must be done. There must be an accountability beyond simply blaming a past premier.

What safeguards should be put in place before any government involvement in business operations either can't happen again - my preference in light of the catastrophes like the fastcats and the Barrett government's equivalent, Swan Valley Foods - or if it does, will prevent these sorts of disasters?

The public has spent a half a billion dollars and you'd like the ferries sold never to be heard from again. And from a political point of view, one can understand that. But the public that spent that money is entitled to know who's to blame, how it happened, and how such nonsense can be avoided in the future.

That means a full enquiry, Premier, and the sooner the better.