The Written Word
for February 7, 2001

As you will have seen, the report of the ad hoc committee looking into the BC constitution is on this website for your examination. I thought today I might give you a bit of background.

No one, say the politicians, wants to talk about constitutions. And, I suppose that’s technically true. If you were to sit yourself down at a table in your local pub and announced that you had something you wanted to say on the BC or Canadian constitution people would think you’d taken leave of their senses.

But suppose, instead, you say that the bloody government is out of touch with the people … that MLAs and MPs were useless as tits on a bull … that it didn’t really matter who you vote for … that Ottawa (Victoria) didn’t give a damn about ordinary people. You’d probably find that there was no need to introduce the topic because it was already being discussed.

The complaints one hears about governments and MLAs or MPs being out of touch is 100% true. The system has descended to the level that the Prime Minister or Premier is absolute master of all he sees. The backbenchers and even cabinet members must always stay on the right side of their boss or there’ll be hell to pay. The leader of the party even has the right to refuse to permit a person to run under the party banner if they are naughty and under our system this is well nigh fatal to any chance for victory.

The four who sat on the committee, Gordon Gibson, Gary Lauk, Nick Loenen and I were all once MLAs and two of us were once in cabinet. We saw how the system worked or, more accurately didn’t work unless you consider a one man, limited dictatorship as a working system. Our spiritual leader was the late Mel Smith.

There was a desire, of course, to make up a constitution that would work, but we soon saw that this was in truth begging the question. Even if we could have agreed, which is doubtful, it was not for us, four "elites" in the eyes of many, to make up the rules – this was for the people. We did append our individual thoughts for whatever help they might be in the public debate we hope will ensue but our emphatic conclusion was that a constituent assembly, elected, be formed with the mandate to look at how we govern ourselves and what changes we should make. We also suggest that a constitutional commissioner be appointed by the Legislature – not by the government - to "quarterback" the process.

The rest is up to the people. We know that once elected, politicians are reluctant in the extreme to change how they got there. They will promise superficial reforms, such as "free votes" but will be most loath to do anything that might harm their re-election chances.

The forthcoming election gives both parties a golden opportunity to pledge real reform. If, as the polls indicate, Gordon Campbell is the next premier he has the chance to be a premier that really did leave a lasting legacy.

I hope you read our report, come up with your own thoughts, then do all within your power to force the next government to truly reform the system so that politicians and bureaucrats can have their dignity restored and go back to being the servants of the public, not the premier.