The diminished B.C. Green caucus opened strong in its debut as an opposition party with no ties to the government.
The former three-person Green caucus was in an awkward position over the last term. Members were technically opposition critics, but had signed a contract to support the NDP government.
It’s impossible to be both, which they proved conclusively. Debates sometimes turned into harmless pillow fights. And their serious disagreements always prompted “… then why are you supporting them?”
Now the remaining two MLAs – leader Sonia Furstenau and Adam Olsen (Saanich North and the Islands) are the distinct minority in a 57-28-2 house.
They lost all their balance-of-power clout. But they’ve got the independence to … raise a little hell.
Furstenau made a thoughtful, critical opening, and it prompted a subtle sign of her new place in the power structure. She directed a question to Premier John Horgan, but he opted to let a minister handle it.
It was about the need for more personal information about the people getting COVID-19, to learn about income and race disparities the virus is creating.
Furstenau said that as it’s hitting some people harder than others, “we’re not actually all in it together.”
The throne speech mentioned the issue vaguely, but Furstenau said the data is needed immediately to target support measures. She told Horgan bluntly: “Telling people to stay home is not good enough.”
She wound up dealing with Health Minister Adrian Dix. She told him,“We are one of the least transparent provinces in Canada. … Most other provinces are far ahead of us in providing more detailed information … this doesn’t seem to be a priority.”
Dix disputed her case.
“I simply disagree.”
He acknowledged B.C. does not report disaggregated data, “but we know what the facts are” on racial case counts and the prevalence amoung front line workers.
In a later debate, Furstenau returned to Horgan’s double-cross of her party by calling the election, despite the promise not to in the confidence agreement. She said the NDP earned their coveted majority, but the vast majority of COVID-19 infections (30,000) was reported between the start of the campaign and the first sitting of the new parliament. And 300 of the total deaths were reported during that time frame.
“The question is not whether the election caused infections. It did not.
“The question is whether British Columbians deserved more than a caretaker mode from their government during a state of emergency.”
That’s the enduring drawback to the NDP’s self-serving pivot. They lectured people for months about the need to be “100 per cent all in” and focus exclusively on fighting the pandemic to the exclusion of all else.
Then, at the cabinet level, they took an extended time-out solely because the prospects of winning an election looked so good.
Said Furstenau: “We went through an election during the worst phase of a pandemic. For what? To fall behind and then continue the work that was already under way with all-party support?”
She said all politicians will have to wrestle with the loss of trust that created. The NDP will have to win it back. Opposition MLAs will need to empathize with the continuing difficulties the government faces, while putting aside the anger and disappointment about the election call.
Meanwhile, Olsen followed up his leader’s opening remarks with a question about a curious omission in a cabinet order (detailed in this column on Saturday).
Three areas of the capital region united in a plea for a designation change that will help in getting grants. The NDP government conferred it on one portion of Horgan’s riding (the Juan de Fuca area), not the other Gulf Islands ones, in a Green riding
Horgan said Tuesday it’s being reviewed. If it’s just a bureaucratic oversight, it’s a curious one, because it was always considered a single request to cover the three areas.
If it’s a political snub, it’s a remarkably small-minded way to stick it to the Greens.
This week the Greens were at it again, condemning secrecy around the potentially critical foundation problems at the Site C dam, revealed years into the job.
“This is really starting to look like a cover-up,” said Furstenau.
So far, the demoted, former “junior partners” look to be holding their own.
lleyne@timescolonist.com
