Vancouver Province

November 17, 2000

The latest poll looks more like the approval rating of an Iron Curtain government than a real reflection of what British Columbians are thinking but there we have it. 63% for the Liberals and the rest chicken scratches. This Liberal lead is so enormous that it behooves on to speculate just what it means.

It probably means the end of Bill Vander Zalm’s reveries of more years staring into his beloved TV camera. It’s curtains, Bill, for if nothing else the public is telling all who will listen that they know what the stakes are here. The luxury of taking their deep-seated dislike of Liberals out on the BC version by voting Reform is subsumed in a firm determination to send the NDP packing.

It also means that the bloom has gone off Premier Dosanjh’s rose – big time. His loony cabinet shuffle that saw the appointment of Corky Evans Health Minister, when all know he couldn’t run a hot dog stand, and the bringing in Chief Ed John, are rightly seen as cynical attempts to help the NDP’s dimming prospects in the Kootenays and to solidify the aboriginal vote. Another NDP lesson unlearned - when you try to get cute with the modern voter, it doesn’t work anymore, period.

But there is a curious probability that springs out of these numbers. A premier Gordon Campbell may be forced by the size of his victory to bring in some startling reforms to how the Legislature works. Let me explain.

The rules set up perhaps a dozen committees of the legislature which are supposed to investigate the ongoing administration of government. The members are selected by party leaders in proportion to their numbers in the House with the Committee selecting the Chair who is, naturally, the pick of the premier. But until now, these committees (with the exception of Public Accounts which is chaired by an opposition member) meet once at the beginning of the parliament, then at the call of the chair and with the government majority, adjourn sine die, never to be heard of again. The reason is obvious – the very last thing a premier needs is a bunch of idle backbencher hands doing the devil’s work by holding government minister’s feet to the fire.

But consider this – suppose the Liberals elect 70 MLAs next Spring, by no means out of the question. By stretching things Mr Campbell might appoint 20 cabinet ministers with 20 parliamentary assistants to go along. A Speaker, a deputy speaker, a whip and a deputy whip still leaves 26 backbench MLAs without a sinecure and an enhanced pay picket to strut with down main street back home. 26 backbenchers to grouse, something all unrewarded backbenchers do best.

Perhaps you have to have been there as I have. I watched from my pleasant and well paid cabinet perch as intelligent, restless MLAs were treated as ciphers in the system, which is precisely what they are. Legislation is often presented to them 5 minutes before being tabled in the house and they get no notice whatever of, much less participation in, policy decisions of cabinet. Caucus meetings are badly attended by ministers, especially ministers the caucus think have something to answer for. They see their cabinet colleagues with all their perks and first class travel to faraway places and it’s not long before a very unpleasant, for the premier, fractiousness sets in.

Gordon Campbell may have but one choice – make the committee system work which is to say convene ‘em and let ‘em fly at it just to give those idle hands something to do. This would mean that, once they’d found their feet, government backbenchers would be looking into the bowels of ministries, summoning ministers and their deputies to appear and give evidence, and generally putting the glare of sunshine on the inner workings of government. And, of course, any opposition members of these committees would feel like they’d died and gone to heaven as they warm up the tootsies of the government they loathe.

There’s a reason why premiers past have refused to allow the committee system to flourish. Now may come the delicious irony of seeing a premier who, because of unheard of success, is in more trouble than if he had a bare majority and forced to keep that success under control by subjecting himself and his government to the glare of unwelcome snooping.