Have
you ever heard of the Labour, Citizen’s Services and Open Government Ministry? I doubt many have --- it is a rather weird and
bizarre grouping to put together don’t you think?
Regardless,
it’s the Open Government portion of the name that interests me, and if you go
to the Ministry’s website, you’ll
find the following:
Information Access Operations service mandate is:
Information Access Operations service mandate is:
“To lead and deliver optimal services on
behalf of the Province of British Columbia, in fulfilling the obligations under
the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIPPA); the Document
Disposal Act (DDA) and the Core Policy and Procedures Manual (CPPM) Chapter 12
for the management of records within the provincial government’s control and/or
custody. The IAO is committed to fostering strong, meaningful relationships
and offering innovative services to its beneficiaries while exemplifying
transparency and accountability”.
I
added the underlining to the above quote from their website, including the last
four words … “exemplifying transparency
and accountability’
Isn’t
it rather curious for Christy Clark’s BC Liberals to use that selection of
words, to talk about being ‘open’ … ‘transparent’ … and ‘accountable’?
Perhaps,
more accurately, words to describe how this government operates should instead
by … Hypocrisy … Insincerity … Disingenuous … and Misleading come to mind.
This
is not the individual back-bench MLA’s who are part of Christy Clark’s
government … NO … this is the Cabinet Ministers, the Premiers Office … and the
Premier herself who dictate this is how our provincial government operates.
Harsh
words, perhaps, but fitting I believe.
Fitting
given it took an eight year legal fight to have the government final release missing
details of their secret multimillion-dollar contract with IBM … but ONLY after the
BC Supreme Court forced it to do so.
Here’s
another one, from a story that ran in the Province newspaper late in May; “BC
government continues pattern of secrecy with Bill 35 — Pharmaceutical Services
Act”
While the B.C. Liberals scramble to convince the
public that overriding free speech is necessary to protect the public from
animal diseases, they are embarked on an even more restrictive legislative path
with regard to PharmaCare.
The Liberals have taken serious flak for the new
Animal Health Act, which specifically overrides the Freedom of Information and
Protection of Privacy Act, to allow the government to keep information about
animal-disease outbreaks — including at fish farms — secret. The act would
muzzle provincial employees and lab workers, and appears to apply free-speech
restrictions to the public and media, although the minister assures us it’s not
meant to do that.
How
about the way government accounts for tax dollars and revenues it receives? Auditor General John Doyle wasn’t impressed, last
Fall, giving the government a ‘qualified audit report’:
"In the auditing profession, a qualified audit report is a
rare occurrence. It indicates to the
users of the financial statements that some of the information is not
auditable or is misleading."
He also
stated; “… for a government that strives for transparency
and accountability, this is unacceptable.”
And what about 'transparency' and 'accountability' with regards to bonuses for the Executives of Community Living BC? One minute they're gone, then the next minute they are back as pay raises.
How many things happen, behind the closed doors of the Premiers Office in Victoria, that are of a similar nature … and that we don’t hear about.
How many things happen, behind the closed doors of the Premiers Office in Victoria, that are of a similar nature … and that we don’t hear about.
That
is until they become the lead story in the news – or until someone like
Abbotsford South MLA John van Dongen says he can’t be part of it anymore. In his speech to the members of the
Legislature on March 26, 2012 he said:
“When more and more decisions are being made
for the wrong reasons, then you have an organization that is headed for failure.”
“What I believe people expect from political
leadership are core values that include integrity and a genuine commitment to
public service. Integrity includes
honesty, ethics and personal character. Integrity is non-negotiable. It is
foundational for a strong organization. Most importantly, integrity includes
accountability.”
And
he ended his statement saying:
“I will put my time, energy and talents to
serve my constituents and the party that can best provide British Columbians
with a broadly-based, credible, free enterprise option. Therefore, I am pleased
to announce that I will now be sitting in this House as a member of the BC
Conservative Party….”
A
government isn’t open and accountable by saying they are … they are open and
accountable through their actions. The
actions of this government show they are anything but open and accountable.
I’m
Alan Forseth in Kamloops, with the thoughts of one conservative. Do you have any thoughts and opinions you’d care to add?
5 comments:
We already understand that the BC Liberal party is pretty much toast. The lack of transparency is caused by government being too big, which is why almost every government is accused of a failure to be transparent, etc.
At some point, the BC Conservative party has to start going after the real enemy-the BC NDP. As much as I dislike the BC Liberals, the BC NDP would be a disaster for this province. Unless something very dramatic happens over the next 10 months, we will have Premier Dix next spring, and it will be the 1990's all over again-only worse this time.
People should find a copy of Mark Milke's book, Barbarians in the Garden City for a history of the 1990's NDP. It is easy to be complacent unless you remember what those days were like-and if anything the party is more left wing. There are some very radical candidates running for the NDP (e.g. Geoff Meggs).
The NDP will see a plurality of seats as a mandate to remake BC in their own image. The consequences to the private sector will be horrific.
I believe that the BC Conservatives and BC Liberals will have little choice but to form an "anyone but the NDP" coalition-as the only way to avert disaster. It is not plausible to me that the BC Conservatives can grow quickly enough to defeat the NDP on their own. Not what we want, but the lesser of 2 evils.
Have to disagree with your comment that the BC Libs and BC Conservatives getting together would be the lesser of two evils. The BC Liberals are only a 'slightly' slower moving train wreck of the NDP.
This is exactly the reason why small 'c' conservatives have abandoned ship to create a true common sense alternative to BOTH options we have had until recently.
As I have mentioned before, there is no sitting on the fence any more --- and no being politically neutral.
BC Conservatives are building the alternative, and those who are like minded in principles and beliefs MUST do everything they can to help prepare for the election in 2013.
With respect, I have to ask, what part are you playing in seeing that happen?
I am about as conservative as it gets, and ordinarily have no use for the Liberal party in any shape or form. But I just don't agree that the Liberals are only slightly better than the NDP.
Current trends unchanged, we will have a NDP "landslide" next spring, when expressed in the number of seats. They will take that as a mandate to reshape the province in their own image. Big government, big taxes and doomsday for the mining industry. The pipeline projects will be dead, and will never be revived-this is a once in a lifetime chance and if they are turned down, BC will be off limits for years, decades probably. Even if the Dix government is one term, the companies backing these projects will not take the chance on us again-it is over.
I want all the things most conservatives want. I live on Vancouver Island-the heart of darkness because the NDP dominates things here. There are not enough conservative minded people here right now. Virtually everyone wants big government to take care of things.
Look around, left wing values are the default paradigm now. The education system is 100% controlled by the left. The media is disinterested in any meaningful input from conservatives-preferring to rely on left leaning intellectuals and political operatives. The entire culture defaults to left wing thinking and mindless acceptance of the green agenda, which is just socialism re-branded.
Look around the world-Stephen Harper is the last elected leader who is even close to being a conservative as I understand the concept, and even he is basically governing from the centre. He has had to accept that something is better than nothing, and no one who followed him earlier in his career would believe how he governs now.
Down south, Obama has been a world class disaster and still has a 50-50 chance of re election.
So, i am not sitting on any fence, but I am not prepared to casually sit back and accept a NDP victory and hope for the best, believing we can undo the damage in 2017. I wish I could see signs that the BC Conservatives can get big enough fast enough but I just don't. I am facing the truth, as much as I dislike it. I don't see this as disloyalty, I see it as the best of a number of very very ugly alternatives.
Greetings Jartann ...
I wasn't questioning your large or small 'c' conservative values -- only that there is just one way to make things happen, and that is for people to roll up there sleeves and get to work.
EVEN IF every people who now supports the BC Conservatives was to return to the Liberal tent,k they would not win the next election. There are also literally tens of thousand of additional people who would join the ranks of those not voting as they would be unable to support either option (BC Libs / NDP) in good conscience.
I mean no disrespect, however if you truly want to see the "BC Conservatives get big enough, fast enough' then there is a role for you to plan in helping make that happen.
We may not win the next election, but we will need BC Conservatives in the legislature that will hold the NDP's feet to the fire.
Vancouver Island is one of our strongest areas with a hard working team -- if you want, I would be delighted to pass on the names of a few people to contact.
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