CKNW Editorial
for May 18, 2001

A word, first, about the need for a properly funded opposition. It is in the best interests of all British Columbians that there be good opposition as I have said before. But there’s something else – more people voted against the Liberals than it normally takes to elect a government. 42% of British Columbians did not want the Liberals and they must be adequately represented. Because we operate on a first past the post basis the opposition has 3 seats whereas under proportional representation they would have 33. Even if there had been a transferable ballot the NDP would have about a dozen seats. I realize that we don’t have those systems but the point is that majority rule cannot be tyrannical and that can only be avoided if the minority has the ability to be heard.

The Campbell government has promised some changes to the way the legislature works and one of the proposals is to make the parliamentary committee system work. Simple though this sounds, it would be a considerable reform.

Let’s not kid ourselves, however. Committees stacked with Liberals are not likely to be all that critical of a Liberal government. In all cases except Public Accounts, the committee will be chaired by a Liberal member and you can be sure that he is on the make, just certain that his chairmanship is the last stepping stone to cabinet. But it will, for all that, be a great improvement. Quite apart from keeping idle government backbench hands from doing the devil’s work, it should produce some worthwhile work.

To give the committee even more fizz, the selection of members and the election of chairs should be left entirely to caucus. This would show that Mr Campbell is serious about giving backbenchers more authority and prestige.

This is the weakness of the federal system. It is populated by eunuchs put there so the government will be done as little harm as possible and the Prime Minister, to make absolutely certain nothing embarrassing happens, selects the Chair.

The committee system will not be as effective as it might be in Victoria simply because there are not enough opposition members to give committees any spice. Since an opposition member automatically chairs the Public Accounts Committee – a reform brought in by Dave Barrett, incidentally – there will only be two opposition MLAs left and that puts them pretty thin on the ground.

I would like to see some secret ballots in the House but this would have no effect when the government has such an enormous majority. That debate will have to await another day.

Mr Campbell has promised free votes. He can well afford this idea now but the reform is not really such a big deal. As long as the leader can see how everyone votes and reward and punish accordingly the free vote is really meaningless.

Surely, though, if Mr Campbell really does wish to leave behind lasting reforms he will follow through on his notions for a constituent assembly to investigate much broader reforms. I profoundly disagree with his idea of simply selecting such an assembly by lot as if it were a jury. I believe that such a group should want to do the work and should be selected by the people in a vote. They should also have resources. I challenge Mr Campbell to follow the recommendations of the ad hoc committee I sat on and have the legislature – not his government – appoint a commissioner to chair such a committee and report directly back to the legislature. The mandate of this commissioner should be very broad and include the power to look into how we elect members of the legislature and whether or not another way would ensure that all British Columbians would be better represented.

For to get back to the beginning – we cannot overlook the fact that 42% of British Columbians – a very sizeable number indeed – did not want Mr Campbell or his party to govern the province. Of course we believe in majority rule but we also believe in the rights of minorities and in the principle of loyal opposition. We have an adversarial system – as are all modern democracies – which means that propositions of the majority must be fully tested by the minority so that, if nothing else, the public has full knowledge of all the facts.

The responsibility on Gordon Campbell is enormous. The temptation for him and his caucus to be triumphalist will be very strong indeed. Unquestionably the majority of British Columbians wanted to see the back of the NDP. But there is more at stake here than political revenge. There is the much greater business called democracy which only prevails when all citizens have a role to play.

Mr Campbell has it within his power not just to improve our financial lot – and that is a very heavy responsibility indeed … but too, for the first time in the province’s history, address the question of how we govern ourselves and make it so the average citizen, for the very first time, feels connected to the process by which he is governed and to the people doing the governing.