MORFITT TO SHED LIGHT ON BUDGET DARKNESS
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VICTORIA – Auditor General George Morfitt is walking through a political minefield these days. He’s conducting an independent inquiry into last year’s budget fiasco.
Morfitt’s path is fraught with obstacles you usually find only in a war zone, but if he succeeds in rooting out the culprits that derailed the process which normally should lead to a responsible and fairly accurate fiscal forecast, then, in the parlance of his profession, he will have delivered value for the money..
When Clark was one of the pitbulls in opposition, he very much wanted Morfitt to become auditor general, which he eventually did. That was in 1988. In 1994, Morfitt was re-appointed for another six-year term.
And just about now, Clark probably wishes Morfitt was fine-tuning his golf game instead of fishing in murky political waters.
What Morfitt intends to find out is how a budget that, before the last election, according to the government, would deliver a surplus, ended up deeply in red ink. And the outcome could be very embarrassing for the government and a handful of top bureaucrats.
The way in which Morfitt proceeds signals a tough inquiry. He is placing witnesses under oath, a procedure employed very effectively by former Conflict of Interest Commissioner Ted Hughes. Remember, Hughes got the ball rolling that eventually bowled over former premier Bill Vander Zalm.
If Morfitt simply interviewed the key players in the budget fiasco, chances are they would color their accounts to protect themselves. Under oath, they are compelled to tell the truth to the best of their recollections.
Placing senior finance ministry officials under oath also protects them against possible retaliation from their political masters. In short, under oath, witnesses tend to run for cover.
There has been much speculation how a budget forecast can promise a surplus during an election campaign and turn out to be deep in deficit right after the election.
The government has steadfastly maintained the discrepancy was due to economic fluctuations and a flawed forecast procedure. Critics says the government knew damned well before the election that the budget was headed for a deficit, but hid that fact from voters to win the election.
I agree with the critics. Since the controversy first flared up, a lot of finance ministry documents and memos have surfaced, many of which warned the government at the time that its budget forecast was too optimistic.
But the premier knew that the forecast of a budget deficit would severely hamper his chances of squeezing another mandate out of the voters. So he stuck with the optimistic forecast.
Both critics and defenders of the government agree that any budget forecast is somewhat flawed, particularly in a province that relies so heavily on revenue from natural resources, which can fluctuate wildly and without notice. But even that doesn’t account for the fiasco of last year’s budget projections.
Morfitt’s inquiry may produce two beneficial results: the forecast procedure may be changed to reflect the vagaries of economic forecasts, and governments may in future be less inclined to hoodwink the public.
At times like this, it becomes obvious why we have agencies, independent of government, to keep the system on the straight and narrow. Can you imagine the results of an internal finance ministry investigation into this or any other matter, the results of which may or may not be released to the public?
Morfitt has shown in the past that he’s no patsy. If he finds dirt, he’ll expose it, albeit in somewhat more diplomatic language than your average newspaper columnist would use. But that’s alright. I’ll translate Morfitt’s findings into very plain English.
FIRST PIGS WILL FLY
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VICTORIA – For an all-party committee in British Columbia to agree on something will have to wait until pigs learn to fly.
It, therefore, came as no surprise that the Select Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs couldn’t reach agreement in its final report, tabled in the legislature last week.
In fact, the only surprise was that the Liberals and the dying-on-the-vine provincial Reform Party issued a joint press release, complete with both logos, stating they wholeheartedly disagreed with the majority report that represented the views of the NDP members of the committee.
Liberal Mike de Jong, the man McLean’s Magazine recently touted as one of a hundred Canadians to watch, mumbled something about a lack of certainty and finality in the Nisga’a Agreement-In-Principle, while Jack Weisgerber, true to Reform, immediately called for a province-wide referendum on the proposed treaty.
The parties didn’t disagree on every issue. Motherhood statements like "there is wide-spread support for settling aboriginal claims" or "the treaty process is overwhelmingly viewed as the best option for settlement" enjoyed unanimous support.
Committee members also agreed that the Indian Act should be replaced with a system of aboriginal self-government, operating within the framework of the constitution, the Criminal Code and the Charter of Rights. And nobody was against eliminating the tax-exempt status for Status Indians. All pretty safe stuff.
My favorite is this passage: "To promote closure on past injustices and move forward, the Crown should issue an apology to aboriginal people." That ought to take care of 150 years of injustice.
The rest was stuff basic disagreement is made of in this province. Treaties, the Liberal and Reform minority report says should be settled primarily in cash, not land, and to hell with the fact that our forefathers took the land from the Indians without any compensation.
The committee worked long and hard to reach its disagreement. Over the course of a year, it held 31 hearings in 27 communities, receiving more than 800 written submissions or oral presentations. The exercise cost about half a million dollars.
The Liberals and Reformers didn’t like the fact that the proposed Nisga’a agreement contains a clause that would give them treaty entitlement to about 18 per cent of the Canadian Nass River’s annual salmon catch.
"Commercial fishing entitlements should not be included in treaties," the minority eport says.
On the other hand, the opposition party members of the committee had apparently no objections to giving First Nations some role in the management of the province’s wildlife resource. The report noted, however, that because of conservation concerns, the ultimate authority for wildlife should rest with the government.
They also agreed on the need for compensation of third parties affected by treaties. Such compensation, the report said, should wherever possible not be in cash but the form of alternatives such as joint ventures or transfer of licences to First Nations.
The big one the committee disagreed on was who should ratify the Nisga’a treaty and all subsequent ones. The NDP, whose members wrote the main report, said the legislature is the proper place to deal with treaty ratification. The Liberals and reformers want all British Columbians to vote on each treaty.
It would have been nice to have unanimity on a matter of this importance. It isn’t every day an attempt is made at righting a terrible wrong, but as I said, first pigs will have to learn to fly.
FOUR DAYS WITHOUT POLITICS
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VICTORIA -- Hey, democracy doesn’t come cheap, and one of the prices I pay is having to listen to our Members of the Legislative Assembly, as the summer sun erases the last memories of the past winter’s blizzard.
And with the long Canada Day weekend coming up, I thought there was no better way to fight the blues that invariably settles over me this time of year than to hit the road for a few days.
No matter how often I take the ferry, I never fail to enjoy the trip to Vancouver. And I want to tell B.C. Ferries chief Frank Rhodes that these days, even the food is pretty good. And if were Frank, I too would be ticked off by the sign outside a restaurant on the way to the Schwartz Bay terminal that says: "Caution – Ferry Food Ahead."
The first day’s destination is Harrison Hot Springs. Last time I was there, was about 15 years ago to attend a three-day trade union seminar that was to prepare me for my stint as president of the Victoria Newspaper Guild
The place has changed dramatically. The original buildings, which had become a little seedy have been renovated, and a brand-new hotel has been added, thanks to some heavy Japanese investment. Mind you, the prices have changed, too, with nothing to be had under $120 a night.
And here’s a little tip: Next time you drive between Vancouver and Hope, take Highway 7 instead of Highway 1. It’s virtually empty and unbelievably scenic.
Next day, we stop in Lytton and stay overnight at the Totem Inn, a great place with cozy cottages and a fantastic view of the Fraser, flanked by high mountains, some of which are still snow-capped.
That evening, I have a few beer with my old friend Chris O’Connor, woodlands manager for Lytton Lumber, a company that employs about 50 people, which makes it the major employer in Lytton.
Chris tells me they’re more scared of the red-tape riddled Forest Practices Code than Greenpeace. Whether the government’s promise of streamlining the code will work, remains to be seen, he says.
He has just written a letter to the editor which he planned to send to the Vancouver Sun. I wrestled it from him instead. It’s worth a read: "Dear Sir,
"I am writing with a suggestion for the premier and his government. Why doesn’t he take the assets of Skeena Cellulose (formerly, a long time ago, Canadian Cellulose) make it into a Crown corporation and try to run it for a few years, and then change the name to B.C. Timber, then roll it into a new Crown corporation called B.C. Resources Investment Corporation (BCRIC), give five shares to every British Columbian and sell the rest.
"In a few years, change the name to Westar and plan to sell it to Jim Pattison in twenty years. It seems to me that this would be a good idea and I think Bob Williams might be available to manage he takeover. I think I have seen his movie before."
Next day, on the way to Whistler, I stop at Lillooet to say hello to Christl Roshard, the editor of the Bridge River Lillooet News of Ma Murray fame. It’s Saturday and the paper is closed. I tried, Christl.
Along the hauntingly beautiful Duffy Lake Road, I drive on to Pemberton and Whistler. Even though it’s summer, the place is bustling. I remember how incensed I was 15 years ago or so, when the government pumped some money into the development of Whistler. Turned out to be one of the best investments ever made by a B.C. government. Wrong again, Hubert.
For the first time in days, I have service on my cell phone. I check my e-mail and find a letter from a Christoph Dietzfelbinger of Smithers, who tells me he won’t be sorry if he never reads another of my columns.
Among other things, he doesn’t like my treatment of Greenpeace. Also says I avoid criticism by coming down on both sides of an issue at different times. Well, you can’t please all the people all the time.
And now I’m ready to face the dreary prospect of a legislative session that might well go on for another couple of months. But the trip sure helped.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CANADA
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VICTORIA – Politicians are at home for the long weekend. The press gallery is deserted. I’m sitting in front of my computer and hear the dull thuds of a cannon outside the Parliament Buildings. It’s Canada Day.
Frank McKenna, that eloquent spokesman for Canada, said the other day Canadians should be passionate about their country. Thinking about Canada, he said, should give us goose bumps.
How right he is. Passion, not to be confused with patriotic rhetoric, is the one thing that could make Canadians worthy of this beautiful country. Instead, we have become a nation of whiners.
Four years in a row, the UN has voted Canada the best place on earth in which to live. Millions would give their eye teeth to live in Canada. And we complain.
We complain about our politicians, we complain about Quebec; we complain about our politicians; we complain about rising prices; we complain about a thousand inconveniences others would gladly accept for a chance to live here.
Half the country complained that Preston Manning didn’t want to move into the official residence of the leader of Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition, the other half complains that he changed his mind.
We screamed bloody murder when successive federal governments gave us big deficits. Then we whined when Jean Chretien forced us to tighten our belts to get rid of the deficit.
We want the best Medicare system in the world, but we don’t want to pay more to keep it viable. We ask sacrifices from our politicians, but complain about their salaries and pensions.
We want Quebec to stay in Confederation, but we don’t want to make any concessions. Many Canadians fear, and rightly so, that our country will fall apart if Quebec leaves, but we get hung up on the semantics of a simple phrase: distinct society.
It’s about time we give our heads a shake.
It is said that immigrants have a greater appreciation for this country, and perhaps that’s so. I came to Canada in 1957. I have shared 40 birthdays with my adopted country. And what a time it has been.
I never have and never will take Canada for granted. I have seen too much ugliness and hardship in my young years.
I listen to reruns of Peter Gzowski’s Morningside, that wonderfully Canadian program, and long-forgotten memories are flooding my mind and I hear again the shrill voices of Nazi propaganda, indoctrinating the minds of Germans on the only radio station they were allowed to listen to, and in most cases could get.
I think of the food shortages and near-starvation after the war. I remember my mother crying because her children had nothing to eat, and am grateful for the bounty I enjoy.
Frank McKenna is right. We need to feel passionate about our country. We need to feel goose bumps when we think about Canada.
Canada is more than a federation of provinces. It is a concept in nation-building, a concept that could be a model for a still fractured world.
We can start by being role models for the younger generation. Instead of filling the ears of our children with tales of inadequacies of this country, real or imagined, we should instill a quiet pride in them of a country where all races can live in harmony.
We must teach them about the history of Canada, a country that escaped being swallowed by the United States only because our forefathers dared to dream of something different and unique.
Canada is too beautiful a country for its people to whine. Happy birthday, Canada.
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