Inquiries. Audits. How much easier it would have been, and how much less politicized, if the public’s right to know had been front and centre from the start of our flagship transit project.
Unless it had worked perfectly from the get-go — that is, nary a jammed door or square wheel to be found — Ottawa’s ambitious light-rail project was inevitably going to be the target of ugly political jockeying. There was just too much public money, involving too many levels of government, to avoid this. Now, with important elections set for 2022, we may have finally hit peak politicking.
Yet so much of it could have been avoided — no matter how expensive the project — by respecting that old cliché: The public has a right to know.
This past week, Ontario’s transportation minister, Caroline Mulroney, announced a public inquiry into LRT. It comes as the Confederation Line lurches back to life, having been down for 54 days due to a September derailment that resulted from a gearbox falling off a train. Mulroney made her announcement after Mayor Jim Watson and a majority of council rejected a judicial inquiry into the system’s problems and asked the city’s auditor general to take a peek instead.
Watson and council face a municipal election next Fall. As sincere as some of his council foes may be about getting more facts on the table, they are also delightedly aware that a judicial inquiry (usually public) could embarrass the mayor leading up to the election. So, politics. For his part, the mayor’s rejection of their proposal and support for a private AG probe instead snuffed out that danger. Politics again.
Meanwhile Mulroney, a Conservative, watched these shenanigans involving a mayor who is a former Liberal MPP and cabinet minister. With the excuse of billions in provincial funding to safeguard, she called her public inquiry. The provincial Tories also face the voters, on June 2, so targeting a Liberal mayor must have seemed a no-lose temptation. Sigh: more politics. (It’s no surprise that the federal Liberal government, which has also dumped vast sums into LRT, has slunk quietly into the shadows. There’s no political advantage to area Grit MPs in getting involved in this mess at this time.)
Respect that old cliché: The public has a right to know.
This doesn’t mean a provincial inquiry, which Mulroney wants to fast-track (pardon the pun), won’t reveal valuable information; everyone hopes it will.
But how much easier it would have been, and how much less politicized, if the public’s right to know had been front and centre from the start of our flagship transit project. Instead, Ottawans will remember that it took a local CBC journalist to find out that the winning bid for the Trillium Line Stage 2 contract went to a company that hadn’t met the minimum technical score for the project. Councillors demanding information were shut down for months.
Ottawans may also remember that only through Freedom of Information requests from civilian researcher Ken Rubin did we all discover that crumbling concrete and a leaky tunnel were part of the construction mix for the Confederation Line.
It’s true there are certain confidentiality needs in any city contract. But crystal-clear emphasis on the principle of transparency as the starting, default position for all public spending could have avoided the political posturing we now witness from all sides. It would have allowed the city and its private partners to focus on what the mayor insists they should be doing: going about the job of fixing light rail’s deficiencies and building the system our billions were meant to produce.
But politicians, it seems, always prefer politicking. That train, unfortunately, has left the station.
VANCOUVER – The British Columbia provincial election campaign is expected to officially kick off Saturday, but party leaders have been vying for votes for months in the lead up to the Oct. 19 fixed election day.
Here’s a look at some of the issues that are expected to be front and centre over the next month and what the political parties have said about them so far.
Health Care
B.C. Conservatives promise significant changes to the system, including sending people outside the province for care, expanding private clinics, and providing compensation for workers who lost their jobs for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
The NDP defends its management of the health file, pointing to a new contract with doctors, adding 250,000 nursing hours and 835 new family doctors. Leader David Eby says for the first time in more than 20 years, fewer British Columbians are looking for a family doctor than the year previous. In the days leading up to the election campaign, the government signed an agreement with Ottawa that would see the province get an estimated $195 million to cover diabetes medication and hormone therapy, if a new federal PharmaCare bill becomes law.
The Greens want to establish community health centres in each of B.C.’s ridings to replace the current network of urgent and primary care centres,
Crime
A series of high-profile crimes involving repeat offenders has pushed the issue of public safety into the spotlight, as residents and businesses look for answers to what they say is a rapidly deteriorating situation.
Researchers and police say statistics show most crimes are down in B.C., but that hasn’t quelled the voices calling for more to be done on bail reform, enforcement of regulations and other changes to the justice system.
B.C. Conservatives are promising to increase funding to police, applying “zero tolerance” for violent, repeat offenders and appointing judges that prioritize victims’ rights.
The NDP, meanwhile, says the province has among the lowest violent crime rates against children and seniors in Canada, and pledges to invest in what it calls solutions to root causes of criminal activity such as drug and mental health treatment, support programs, health care and housing.
The BC Greens have said they’ll fund a “continuum of response” to mental health, substance use, and other complex social issues, with a focus on prevention and community-led responses. The party also says it will draft a Community Safety and Policing Act and improve officer training to “shift police culture.”
Housing
The NDP government has attempted to lower the province’s sky-high housing costs and increase supply through a range of initiatives including putting limits on short-term rentals, launching a $500 million fund for non-profits to buy rental properties, and passing legislation requiring communities to allow multi-unit housing on lots previously zoned for single-family homes.
The B.C. Conservatives say they’ll get housing costs under control by promoting the development of new housing supply “while cracking down on illegal money laundering that has inflated prices and facilitated criminal activity.”
The Green housing plan includes $1.5 billion for a non-profit housing fund and the introduction of vacancy control to cap rent increases between tenancies.
Toxic drugs
The province’s drug toxicity crisis has killed more than 15,000 people since the B.C. government declared a public health emergency in 2016.
The NDP dialed back its drug decriminalization policy earlier this year, narrowing places where people can possess small amounts of illicit drugs for personal use. More recently, leader David Eby said a re-elected NDP would open facilities to treat people involuntarily if they have concurrent mental health and addiction issues.
It’s similar to a plan that was announced by B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad days earlier. Rustad has promised involuntary care for “those at serious risk due to addiction, including youth and adults, to keep the most vulnerable safe” and says he’ll build secure treatment facilities.
Sonia Furstenau, leader of the BC Greens, says both men are walking “off every reactionary cliff” and that the province needs more investment in prevention and addressing the root causes of what’s happening in communities. She says people need secure housing, a basic constitutional right to safety, and access to health and mental health services and treatment.
Economy
British Columbia’s finance minister announced earlier this month that the deficit this fiscal year will be $1.1-billion higher than originally forecast, coming in at nearly $9 billion.
The news comes as one business leader said many British Columbians are experiencing their own “personal recession.”
Katrine Conroy defended her party’s budget as finance minister, saying it’s not the right time to balance the budget when the government needs to provide services and support those struggling over a lack of affordability.
John Rustad’s Conservatives are promising to cut “wasteful spending” and remove “useless and redundant regulations” to support small businesses.
Leaders
This is David Eby’s first election as premier and party leader. He was acclaimed as leader of the New Democrats in 2022, after the only other candidate in the race was disqualified.
John Rustad went from relative obscurity as an ousted BC United MLA to the Leader of the B.C. Conservatives. The party gained more notoriety after the BC United suspended its election campaign but Rustad is largely untested as a leader.
He faced criticism in the lead-up to the campaign for some of his party’s candidates, which include a suspended doctor who was removed after repeatedly saying COVID-19 vaccines were more dangerous than the illness, and a candidate who was replaced after sharing social media content about the “5G Genocide.”
BC Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau was first elected as MLA in the Cowichan Valley in 2017, and has been the leader of the BC Greens since 2020.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 20, 2024
British Columbians are voting in the next provincial election on Oct. 19. The NDP is hoping to hold on to power, while those on the right are running in a new political landscape after the former Opposition BC United folded and its Leader Kevin Falcon placed his support behind the B.C. Conservatives.
Here’s a look at B.C. elections over the past three decades:
British Columbia New Democratic Party, 1996
The NDP win a majority government under Glen Clark despite Gordon Campbell’s Liberals winning the largest portion of the popular vote at 41.8 per cent. Clark became leader after former premier Mike Harcourt resigned over money from charity bingo events being siphoned into the party.
British Columbia Liberal Party, 2001
The NDP and then premier Ujjal Dosanjh suffer a resounding defeat at the hands of the British Columbia Liberal party and are only able to hold on to two seats in the legislature. Former premier Glen Clark had resigned in 1999 after he was accused of receiving free renovations from a neighbour who had an application for a casino licence before the government.
British Columbia Liberal Party, 2005
Gordon Campbell’s Liberal party maintains its majority government status though the party drops from 77 seats to 46. The NDP — which came into the election without party status in the legislature with only two seats — grew its support to 33 seats under leader Carole James.
British Columbia Liberal Party, 2009
The Liberals form a majority government again, under Premier Gordon Campbell. He would resign before the next election over his government’s decision to adopt an unpopular Harmonized Sales Tax.
British Columbia Liberal Party, 2013
The Liberals win a fourth straight majority, this time under Christy Clark. She was defeated in her Vancouver Grey-Point riding by lawyer and NDP political rookie David Eby but later won a seat in the legislature in a byelection in the Westside-Kelowna riding. The BC Greens earned their first seat in the legislature, with Andrew Weaver winning in Oak Bay-Gordon Head.
British Columbia New Democratic Party in coalition with Green Party of British Columbia, 2017
The Liberals win a small minority following the 2017 election, but leader Christy Clark loses a confidence vote and resigned. The NDP’s John Horgan became the next premier, after signing a confidence and supply agreement with the support of the three Green members of the legislature. The two parties had a total off 44 seats, the minimum required for a majority.
British Columbia New Democratic Party, 2020
John Horgan calls a snap election one year ahead of the province’s fixed election date and in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Horgan tells reporters he’s calling the election early because the province can’t afford “partisan hectoring and uncertainty about whether bills will pass or not.” The New Democrats win a majority.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 20, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
OTTAWA – Treasury Board President Anita Anand has been sworn in as federal transport minister at a ceremony at Rideau Hall, taking over a portfolio left vacant after Pablo Rodriguez resigned from cabinet and the Liberal caucus on Thursday.
Anand thanked Rodriguez for his contributions to the government and the country, saying she’s grateful for his guidance and friendship.
She sidestepped a question about the message it sends to have him leave the federal Liberal fold.
“That is a decision that he made independently, and I wish him well,” she said.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was not present for the swearing-in ceremony, nor were any other members of the Liberal government.
The shakeup in cabinet comes just days after the Liberals lost a key seat in a Montreal byelection to the Bloc Québécois and amid renewed calls for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to step down and make way for a new leader.
Anand said she is not actively seeking leadership of the party, saying she is focused on her roles as minister and as MP.
“My view is that we are a team, and we are a team that has to keep delivering for our country,” she said.
The minority Liberal government is in a more challenging position in the House of Commons after the NDP ended a supply-and-confidence deal that provided parliamentary stability for more than two years.
Non-confidence votes are guaranteed to come from the Opposition Conservatives, who are eager to bring the government down.
On Thursday morning, Rodriguez made a symbolic walk over the Alexandra Bridge from Parliament Hill to Gatineau, Que., where he formally announced his plans to run for the Quebec Liberal party leadership.
He said he will now sit as an Independent member of Parliament, which will allow him to focus on his own priorities.
“I was defending the priorities of the government, and I did it in a very loyal way,” he said.
“It’s normal and it’s what I had to do. But now it’s more about my vision, the vision of the team that I’m building.”
Rodriguez said he will stay on as an MP until the Quebec Liberal leadership campaign officially launches in January.
He said that will “avoid a costly byelection a few weeks, or months, before a general election.”
The next federal election must be held by October 2025.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said he will try to topple the government sooner than that, beginning with a non-confidence motion that is set to be debated Sept. 24 and voted on Sept. 25.
Poilievre has called on the NDP and the Bloc Québécois to support him, but both Jagmeet Singh and Yves-François Blanchet have said they will not support the Conservatives.
Rodriguez said he doesn’t want a federal election right away and will vote against the non-confidence motion.
As for how he would vote on other matters before the House of Commons, “it would depend on the votes.”
Public Services and Procurement Minister Jean-Yves Duclos will become the government’s new Quebec lieutenant, a non-cabinet role Rodriguez held since 2019.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
— With files from Nojoud Al Mallees and Dylan Robertson
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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