Gary Coons

 The legislature was supposed to sit for six weeks this fall. Instead, we got five days. And those five days only came about because Premier Gordon Campbell came to the sudden realization – in late October – that the global economy was melting down.

 In cancelling the fall session, Premier Campbell told reporters that there was nothing for the legislature to do. Give them credit for consistency; other B.C. Liberal cabinet ministers have called the scheduled legislative session “busy work.”

In reality, the Campbell government is reacting to its basest political instincts in ignoring their own legislative calendar and cancelling sittings. Having fall sessions means the opposition more opportunities to point out the arrogant decisions of the government.

This fall was no exception. As British Columbians are looking to their government for help in areas such as child poverty and homelessness, the Campbell government is spending tens of millions on self-promoting TV ads. Instead of putting his effort into dealing with the forestry crisis, Gordon Campbell has been handing out phony gold medals with his name on them. Those medals are symbolic of an arrogant premier whose first priority seems to be his own re-election.

We all know examples of those hurt by the government’s misplaced priorities. Some of the worst examples came to light during this shortened fall session:

• our excellent child and youth representative, Mary Ellen Turpel Lafond, said the plight of First Nations children has gone significantly worse under this government;
  
• seniors at a care home in another metro Vancouver are being evicted because of decisions made by the Campbell government – all while there is still a shortage of space for our seniors;
  
• residents of B.C.’s first publicly funded social housing complex were being evicted, even as homelessness is at crisis levels in this province.

These stories paint a picture of a Campbell government out of touch with the needs of British Columbians. It’s precisely these kinds of stories that the premier was hoping to avoid.

Fixing those problems isn’t busy work. Fixing those problems is why British Columbians elect their government. And it’s why they expect their representatives to spend more than five days in the legislature in the fall.

What we really needed to do was to take strong actions to secure our economy, take immediate steps to reassure British Columbians and to help the middle class. These steps should have focused on the fundamentals: middle class and small business tax relief; skills training and education; community and green infrastructure; a re-vitalized forest industry; and getting rid of government waste so we protect the things that matter most to British Columbians.