CKNW Editorial
for April 6, 2000

There is, when you think about it, a curious human phenomenon which might be summed up by two axioms

Axiom I - the bigger and more long lasting the screw-up, the less public attention will be paid to it.

Axiom II - when the screw-up becomes apparent, the bigger it is the more the public will accept any good that's happened as exonerating those in charge.

The NDP government has benefited by these axioms to a fare-thee-well. They have screwed up so many things so badly that the public has become jaded. Take Forest Renewal BC. To take this enormous and expensive boondoggle through its entire history is not for this morning because I'm not a forensic accountant and that's what it would take. We do, however, have a pretty good handle on what's happened through the mouths of two NDP backbenchers and one public servant.

The idea was, originally, to take a lot of money away from forest companies that were suffering dreadfully from fallen overseas markets and use it to put former forest workers into useful employment, or perhaps train them for new work, and to help out communities that had been battered by the economic down turn. What has happened is that this agency has spent about $1.8 billion since it's inception and has very little to show for it.

What is the evidence?

Let's turn to the words of Gerrard Janssen, an NDP backbench MLA when the FRBC so-called business plan was presented to the select Standing Committee on Forests, Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources. His comment to the President of FRBC was this " ... so you spent more money than you did last year, employed fewer people and did far less work." Mr Janssen's colleague,

NDP MLA Rick Kasper said at the same meeting "George Morfitt (The Auditor-General) and his office are going to have a field day ... I'm not impressed. This is my second or third year and I'm getting a little depressed. If you think we're critical, wait until Morfitt and his gang get in there."

Well Morfitt and his gang did get in there. The Auditor-General reported that [FRBC] has "spent about $1.8 billion since it was set up in 1994 and has not established where it wants to go or how it will get there and went on to say that spending was never linked to clear objectives and that often spending targets exceed needs."

In short, except where the government stole a couple of hundred million for it's own shaky financial needs, this huge undertaking, without, of course, any of the disciplines of a competitive marketplace has spent nearly two billion dollars without even the semblance of a business plan.

But the worst of it all is when you look at the area they claim success - the retraining of workers. Early this year the story broke that in giving money for the training of 6300 displaced forest workers - a noble objective to be sure - they did not get an advance tax ruling from Revenue Canada, as any prudent business person would do, yet told the recipients that there were no adverse tax considerations. Suddenly workers who were, you'll remember, out of work and being re-trained, were faced with enormous tax bills from Revenue Canada. It's clear that had FRBC asked Revenue Canada at the outset whether or not income tax would be assessed on these benefits the answer would have been yes ... that information, truthfully imparted to workers would probably have

meant that many would not have taken the funds and gone elsewhere ... but then, if they'd done that there would be no program for FRBC and former Forests Minister Dave Zirnhelt to boast about, would there?

When asked what he thought should be done about FRBC Rick Kasper replied "They lied, they misled the people, they totally screwed up, and they should be fired."

And you know ... your NDP government was indeed galvanized into action. They acted with great haste to these criticisms ... they raised the salary of the president of FRBC and guaranteed him a handsome golden parachute should any future government try to get rid of him.

But, of course, the screw-up is so large that we the public have thus far (and I include myself in this criticism) simply yawned when the subject comes up. And what the hell it's only about $2 billion dollars to add to the ½ billion peed away with the fastcat ferries ... and who says that Health, Children and Families and Education need more money anyway?