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www.albernivalleynews.com
Thursday , May 9, 2013 Alberni Valley News
Alberni Valley
NEWS
The Alberni Valley News is published every Thursday by Black Press Ltd., 4656 Margaret St., Port Alberni, B.C. V9Y 6H2. Phone: (250) 723-6399. Fax: (250) 723-6395. Classifieds: 1-855-310-3535. The Alberni Valley News is distributed free to 9,500 households in Port Alberni, Cherry Creek, Sproat Lake and Beaver Creek. The Alberni Valley News is Vancouver Island owned and operated. 2012 CCNA
CANADIAN COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER AWARD 2012
Publisher: Teresa Bird Editor: Susan Quinn
EDITORIAL
Same rules apply to feds NDP selling its voters ‘trust us’ policy Chapter eight of the 2013 Spring Report of the Auditor General of Canada should ruffle the feathers of every taxpayer in this country. The title of chapter eight is “Spending on the Public Security and Anti-Terrorism Initiative.” The word “uncontrolled” should have been at the front of that title. The spring report is the result of a performance audit designed to identify “… how well government is managing its activities, responsibilities, and resources.” The conclusion of the Attorney General on the massive spending program geared to keep Canadians safe from terror is that, “… departments and agencies reported spending $9.8 billion on PSAT Initiative activities, but information on whether departments used $3.1 billion in Initiative funding was not available.” Information on where $3.1 billion went is just not available? Why? It’s tax time and Canadians are being asked to provide proof of income and expenses to ensure we’re following rules to keep our economy humming along. Why is the federal government playing under a different set of rules? The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat mandate is to provide advice and support to Treasury Board ministers and provide oversight of the financial management of government. Given that they have identified three possible scenarios that might account for what happened to the money (they are at least good at that) it shouldn’t be a big leap to drill down a little further. Money should be something easy to track. This department received X amount, then X gave it Y who spent it on Z. Here’s the paperwork about what Z is. According to the report, weaknesses in the way the government assesses proposals for funding and their reporting processes, were identified as far back as 2004. This isn’t pocket change, so the question needs to be asked: How well is the government managing activities, responsibilities and resources in this case? In a word: badly. — Campbell River Mirror
TOM FLETCHER B.C. Views
V
ICTORIA – When Adrian Dix took over as B.C. NDP leader two years ago, he struggled to communicate, especially in the sound bites of radio and TV. There was a running joke in the legislature press gallery: It didn’t matter what question you asked him, you got a six-minute answer that ended with the evils of log exports. Even more than under Carole James, the NDP railed against log exports. “B.C. logs for B.C. jobs” became one of Dix’s favourite slogans. As the election approached, another Dixism was heard daily: “Say what you’re going to do, say how you’re going to pay for it.” So it was a surprise a few weeks ago when the NDP signaled it would essentially not offer a policy on log exports. They’re going to meet with “stakeholders” and
come up with a plan after they get a majority government. This is exactly the same non-policy the NDP had in 2009. They don’t have an answer to the industry’s point that the high price gained by premium logs in foreign markets is what keeps many loggers working, and subsidizes the harvest of other logs for B.C. coastal mills. Another thing the NDP doesn’t like is private power development. This issue featured prominently – in the NDP leadership contest two years ago. Leadership contender Mike Farnworth told the party faithful he would study independent power purchase contracts, and if he found that they are not in the public interest, he would “mend them or end them.” By this spring, Dix had a new non-position on power purchase contracts. He will “assess them and
address them.” Either they plan to risk a costly legal battle, or they’re just paying lip service. All you have to do to find out is elect them. Labour code changes are another blank slate. A memo from the B.C. Federation of Labour executive to members last year described how they were working closely with the NDP to rewrite B.C. labour law. The NDP election platform punts this issue until after the election Adrian Dix as well, promising an independent expert panel to decide on issues like whether to end secret-ballot votes for union certification. This isn’t just a bad idea, it’s a 30-year-old bad idea. It’s based on the destructive old notion that employers are the enemy of workers, and only a union can protect them. The long decline of union membership in the private sector
‘‘Say what you’re going to do, say how you’re going to pay for it.’
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isn’t caused by employer bullying or secretballot votes that protect employees’ freedom of choice. The cause is global competition. The only protection workers have from that is their own efficiency. Balancing the budget? An NDP government will strive to do that over “the business cycle,” says finance critic Bruce Ralston. Old-timers might remember this one. It’s taken from the NDP’s 1991 election platform. If you still believe in a predictable “business cycle,” you may be willing to accept that an NDP-led B.C. will become the first jurisdiction in human history to eliminate poverty by setting annual targets and paying out borrowed money to lowincome parents. On ferries, fracking, union contracts, capital construction and other weighty matters, the NDP’s answer is the same: trust us. Tom Fletcher is legislative reporter and columnist for Black Press and BCLocalnews.com
Commitment to accuracy To report corrections and clarifications, contact editor Susan Quinn at 250-723-6399 or e-mail: editor@ albernivalleynews.com or drop by our office at 4656 Margaret St.