CKNW Editorial
for July 2, 2001

There is certainly change in the air in Victoria and, quite frankly, it’s not easy to assess – and won’t be until it all unfolds.

Many who have watched power move inexorably and entirely into the premier’s office have lamented the inability of "responsible" government to live up to its definition. In this sense, of course, "responsible" means that the executive, which is to say the cabinet and premier, are "responsible’ to the legislature and must account to them for power – power which can instantly be removed by a legislature so inclined. Over the years the executive and in latter years the premier or prime minister has nullified the ability of the legislature to control the executive to the point now where the legislature has come to do as it’s told. The system has, then, become a sham – a sort of game where everyone pretends that the MLAs control the cabinet but where in fact such a notion is laughable. Many of the public – including me until I went into the place – think that the legislature is where MLAs debate policy and come up with legislation. In fact the Legislature rubber stamps what cabinet wants done.

Now Gordon Campbell has long been against this development and has stated over and over again that he wants the legislature to have meaning again. And he is taking steps which, at first blush, seem to be working to that end. He has put backbenchers on Treasury Board which is the most powerful of cabinet committees as it controls government expenditures. He has created committees of the caucus on all manner of things and is curiously calling them cabinet committees. And he is committed to so-called "free votes" in the legislature.

But you have to think on this for a bit. Is Mr Campbell really making the backbencher more of a factor in running the government – which under "responsible government" is not the backbencher’s role or is he seducing and co-opting him?

Let me explain. Under our system, MLAs other than those in Cabinet, are not the government. Cabinet is the government. In theory, it is the job of the MLAs to hold the government accountable. Again, in theory, this is done by the MLAs questioning government practices in Question Period, on bills in debate and when ministerial estimates are being debated. That’s the theory but we all know that when government MLAs question the government, be it in Question Period, on Bills, or in Estimates the questions are invariably powder puffs.

If that is the disease, you have to ask what the cure is. Is it to seduce government backbenchers into thinking that they are really part of the government (which under our system they are not) or is it to give them a better opportunity to make recommendations to cabinet, through independent parliamentary committees, and to in fact slow down or stop government when they think they’re wrong?

You see Mr Campbell has no right to tell Caucus how they are to handle their affairs. You may remember a couple of years ago when Mr Campbell "fired" an MLA from caucus for writing phony letters to a paper I complained that he had no authority to do so. As a member of that caucus he had the right to make such a recommendation but it was up to the caucus chairman on the majority vote of caucus to make the decision. This is not nit picking at all … the question I raise goes to the root of the matter. Either the MLA is to be a free person or he is not. As the system has become, he has not. The question is whether or not inviting the MLA into the government councils frees him or coopts him. And I say the latter.

In the broader sense, I would abolish "responsible" government in favour of a republican system. But in the meantime – and it will likely be a long meantime – we must decide how to make "responsible government" work again.

The MLAs who are now on Treasury Board and on caucus committees are kidding themselves if they think they are really part of government. And if they are part of government, that’s not where they are supposed to be.

Now to the second part of the equation. If Premier Campbell was truly divesting himself of power he would give, subject to cabinet restraint, power to his ministers – a free hand. As Bill Bennett did, certainly in his earlier years. But Mr Campbell in his ten page missive to cabinet ministers has made it clear that not only are ministers to do what they are told by him but that they had better pay very close attention to what the Premier’s unpaid, in house henchmen have to say. I think I can honestly say that few if any of my colleagues when I was in cabinet would have submitted to a system where we had to pay even the slightest attention to the premier’s minions much less report to them.

When you put it all together, the truth emerges. MLAs are to think they have power. They are to be flattered into believing that they are playing their proper role under our system where in fact they will be forced into being part of the government they are supposed to be free of, without that part being anything other than a feel good exercise. And far from the premier giving free rein to his ministers, he has them under the tightest leash.

This may be what the people want – but at least they ought to know what, under the guise of collegiality, is really happening. For the message Premier Campbell is really giving is this – I have a huge caucus which I must keep under control. I can’t do this under the old repressive system because there are too damn many of them. So I must invent a repressive system of my own and the best way to do that is make the backbench believe that they are participating and keep the cabinet under constant reminder that they owe their big salaries, cars and perks to me.

That’s the reality, folks – don’t be fooled by the make believe.