Premier Christy Clark has added to the outer reaches of her already bloated cabinet by appointing a parliamentary secretary for “energy literacy and the environment.” Where to begin?
Political titles, of course, are a minefield. Did you know we have a “minister responsible for citizens’ services?” In passing, you could be forgiven for wondering what the others do for a living.
But behind every political truism lurks a still darker truth. The real job of this minister is to spy on us. His officials are installing a massive file-linking system that will build, as they inadvisably boasted before anyone was listening, “a holistic view of each citizen.”
The only service this monstrosity could conduct is a funeral service — for our privacy and the right to be let alone.
Before that, there was the portentously named Balanced Budget and Ministerial Accountability Act, which averred conclusively (one might think): “The main estimates for a fiscal year must not contain a forecast of a deficit for that fiscal year.” By my count, there have been five forecast deficits in a row since that Custer-like piece of bravura came down, yet it’s still on the books.
However, let’s return to the matter of this new portfolio, energy literacy and the environment. The premier might as well have inserted the word “screw” between “and” and “the,” since that is the inference most people will draw. It’s a bit like having a Ministry of Butterfingers and Family Glassware. You can have one or the other, but not both.
I confess that taking issue with this troubles me. I truly believe Canada’s economic future lies in developing our energy potential. There is no other viable option.
So what if someone invents cheap wind power or reliable solar power? We have no competitive advantage in sun or wind. All you have left is a worthless, stranded asset.
But just about the last way of gaining support for a fossil-fuel policy is to come up with something as clumsy as this. First off, you imply that British Columbians, all things considered, are illiterate and in need of re-education. Insulting people’s intelligence is hardly a promising start.
By then making this poor soul also responsible (in some unnamed way) for “the environment,” you reveal the whole exercise for what it clearly is — a feckless, rather two-faced attempt at propaganda.
Is there a better way to proceed? Sure there is.
Last time I looked, we had a minister of finance in our employ. So too a minister of health, a minister of education and assorted others as well.
All these officials are fully aware of the degree to which government programs depend on revenues from energy. In Alberta, for instance, a third of every penny spent on public services comes from natural resources.
The place to begin is by asking these ministers to speak out. They have a compelling story to tell.
Indeed, as things stand, they have an unanswerable case in their hands. There is no alternate way to preserve the level and quality of essential services than by exploiting the resources we possess. Maybe in 50 years, but not today, not tomorrow, and not in many of our lifetimes.
The premier might say, well, that is exactly the message her new parliamentary secretary has been hired to deliver. But no one listens to paid flacks, and devoid of broader duties, that’s what this job amounts to.
In truth, we do need a lesson in energy literacy, but the people who require it are sitting at the cabinet table. If those in the know cannot go out and explain the facts of public finance, there is no reason to suppose that transparent flummery will do better.
