Promises, promises
| Local Politics |
Bob Simpson's Musings
Last week Premier Christy Clark rolled out her “jobs plan” for BC. Labeled “Canada Starts Here,” the plan starts out stating BC is Canada’s “westernmost province” and “the first port of call for people and goods that come to Canada.”
While the first part of that statement shouldn’t be a revelation to any Canadian with the slightest geographic sense, the second part is highly contestable. I’m pretty sure there are other provinces with ports, railways, roads and airports were people and goods can come into Canada.
It reminds me of Gordon Campbell’s arrogant claim that BC is “greatest place on Earth” at the time we were “welcoming the world” for the Olympic games. The over-the-top rhetoric of BC’s new jobs plan isn’t new, but I’ve never understood why we need this kind of language to lay out the government’s agenda. Most people I talk to don’t buy the outlandish claims, find the language used insults their intelligence, and say that all the bells and whistles accompanying these grand pronouncements only add to their cynicism toward politicians.
The grandest of pronouncements of course are the promises politicians make about the economic benefits that will occur as a direct result of their plans.
Remember the NDP’s “jobs and timber accord” with its promise of 40,000 new jobs? Or the Campbell government’s “forest revitalization strategy” with its claim it would attract billions of dollars in new investments and create thousands of new jobs in the forest industry? Those jobs strategies were also accompanied with much fanfare and grand rhetoric, but neither of them produced any of the promised economic benefits and jobs.
That might be one reason why Premier Clark avoided making specific jobs claims in her strategy last week, but she did pronounce that BC will see eight new mines opened, nine more expanded and ten new non-treaty agreements with First Nations. Never mind that new mines must get federal government approval, are dependent on global commodity prices and currency exchange rates, and will require the cooperation of first nations, something the Premier best not take for granted.
In order to introduce more realism and honesty into the pronouncements of political leaders perhaps we need to look at an independent office of the legislature to assess the merits of politicians’ promises and report, independently, on their achievement. This could include an appraisal of party platforms during elections, so voters are given an opportunity to judge each party leader’s promises before they decide how they’ll vote.
Bob Simpson
MLA Cariboo North
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