BC Politics with Hubert Beyer

VICTORIA – Soon after the current legislative session winds down – about the middle of July – Premier Glen Clark will do some cosmetic surgery on his cabinet. If you’re a gambling person, here’s a safe bet: Moe Sihota will be back in cabinet.

And if you don’t mind taking a bit of a risk, put a couple of dollars on Jan Pullinger being turfed from cabinet.

The former will be greeted with hoots of derision from opposition members and sundry government critics, while the latter won’t draw much flak. In either case, Clark isn’t one to stop potential criticism from doing what he wants to do, right or wrong.

Sihota will probably emerge as minister of a new fisheries ministry, yet to be created. Fisheries has become such an important issue in British Columbia that Clark will want a separate ministry to deal with it. At present, fishery is part of Corky Evans’ Agriculture and Food Ministry.

Sihota was dumped from cabinet last year after the Liberals accused him of a conflict of interest, involving his long-time friend Herb Dhaliwal’s co-signature on a mortgage and Dhaliwal’s subsequent appointment to the B.C. Hydro board of directors.

After investigating the allegations, then Conflict Commissioner Ted Hughes ruled that Sihota wasn’t in an actual conflict of interest when he "participated" in Dhaliwal’s original appointment. Even though Sihota played a role in attracting Dhaliwal as a potential appointment, the order was actually signed by then premier Mike Harcourt.

Hughes further ruled that Sihota was neither in an actual nor an apparent conflict of interest when he participated in Dhaliwal’s reappointment to the Hydro board. Sihota signed that order.

But Hughes added that if the current definition of apparent conflict of interest had been in force at the time of Dhaliwal’s original appointment, Sihota would have been in trouble.

"I would have had no hesitation in concluding that Sihota’s participation in that appointment constituted an apparent conflict of interest," Hughes says in his report.

Sihota hasn’t taken well to his time out. Starved for publicity and something worthwhile to do, he has, on several occasions, lambasted his cabinet colleagues for running their portfolios too timidly.

Faced with the choice of having Sihota sniping from the sidelines, where he could do considerable damage, or having the opposition roast him over the coals for reappointing the controversial politician to cabinet, Clark will choose the latter.

Pullinger is another kettle of fish altogether. The Small Business and Tourism Minister She got herself -- and by association the government -- into hot water when she closed her Ladysmith constituency office and turned it over to the federal NDP for the duration of the recent election campaign.

The water temperature go even hotter when she told the legislature that she had received "the explicit approval" and "the blessing" for turning her constituency office into a federal NDP campaign headquarters from former Conflict commissioner Ted Hughes.

Hughes doesn’t suffer fools gladly, particularly when they bandy his name about in an attempt to legitimize their foolery. He said he didn’t know what the hell Pullinger was talking about.

Hughes has made it clear on numerous occasions that MLAs wishing to quote him in or outside the legislature had better have something in writing from him, supporting their claims. Pullinger had no such thing.

The last thing Clark needs is a cabinet minister further discrediting his government, especially at a time when he’s trying to get positive coverage from issues such as his stand on the Canada-U.S. salmon war.

My guess is that Pullinger will cool her ministerial heals on the backbench for a while to contemplate her rather asinine behavior.