[LabComm] Week in Review -- NDP uncovers Olympic overspending

[BC NDP NEWSWIRE]

Week in Review -- NDP uncovers Olympic overspending



A new sport is being considered for the 2010 Winter Olympics, and the Campbell Liberals are showing themselves to be the early favourites.

The sport? Avoiding Accountability. 

Premier Gordon Campbell and Colin Hansen, the Minister responsible for the Olympics, spent much of Question Period this week telling <strong>NDP Olympics Critic Harry Bains</strong> the 2010 Games won't cost British Columbians more than $600 million. Costs associated with programs such as 2010 Legacies Now and Own the Podium are not included in that $600 million figure. 

"The Premier continues to insist that the Olympic price tag is $600 million," said <strong>NDP Leader Carole James</strong>. "That figure doesn't include Legacies Now, it doesn't include Own the Podium, it doesn't include the money spent promoting the games in Torino, and it doesn't include the money for the Olympic Secretariat. 

"We know the price tag for those three programs alone is close to $150 million," James added. "How much more is out there that we don't yet know about?" 

An obviously uncomfortable Hansen tried to equate asking questions about accountability with support for the Games themselves, apparently forgetting the bidding process was begun by the former New Democrat government. The Premier, meanwhile, launched into a statement about the benefits these Olympics-related programs will bring. 

"All of that is beside the point," said James. "British Columbians want the Games to be successful, but they also want to know how much we'll be pay for them.

"If the Premier is so very proud of these programs, he should have the strength of conviction to be up front about their cost." 

Equally worrying, James said, is the continued thread of secrecy that surrounds this government. The Liberals won't give the Auditor General's office the resources it needs to oversee Olympic spending, and they have refused to specifically ask for the Auditor General's oversight on spending for the 2010 Games.

"It's obvious this government doesn't want full disclosure about Olympic funding," James said. "British Columbians should be very wary of a government that goes to this much trouble to keep something secret."<br />

<h2>Liberals forced to back off secrecy plan</h2>
Despite promising the most open and accountable government in Canada, the Campbell Liberals have a record of trying to keep the public from finding out what they're up to. 

Their latest plan would have seen major changes to the Freedom of Information Act that would have allowed them to hide the facts about their controversial privatization deals and prevented the public from seeing the conclusions of a public inquiry.

The NDP team, joined by public-interest groups and the province's independent FOI advocate, raised concerns that the changes would make it even harder to get honest answers from the Campbell Liberals.

Facing mounting pressure, the Liberals backed down earlier this week, scrapping their plans to change the FOI Act.<br />

<h2>Lurching from crisis to crisis, Health Minister pretends there's no problem</h2>
The Liberal government continues to lurch from crisis to crisis in health care and <strong>NDP Health Critic David Cubberley </strong>says it's time for a plan to fix the crisis.

The latest crisis was another Code Purple -- when the hospital can absolutely accept no more patients -- at Kelowna General Hospital. It followed the release of a report which said the overcrowding in British Columbia's emergency rooms is worse than any other jurisdiction in Canada -- and a shortage of acute care beds is to blame.

"The Health Minister says the problem is complex and there isn't a simple solution," said Cubberley, the MLA for Saanich-South. 

"Let me put it simply for him: the Liberals broke their promise to add long-term care beds, which as left seniors waiting for long-term care spaces in acute-care beds," Cubberley said. "hen the Liberals cut one of five beds from an already lean acute-care system. So emergency rooms get backed up because there aren't enough beds for patients to be admitted to."

Health Minister George Abbott said the Code Purple in Kelowna was a result of two serious automobile accidents. Cubberley said that is little comfort to British Columbians concerned with the ability of their health care system to respond to major incidents.

"This is the largest hospital in the interior," Cubberley. "That it would be essentially incapacitated by two automobile accidents says the system is awfully close to the breaking point on any given day."

Still, Cubberley says, we have a Health Minister who refuses to acknowledge the problem, preferring to call health care workers and others who point out problems "alarmists."

"Emergency Room doctors have been telling this minister since 2003 that overcrowding is a serious and growing problem, and his response has consistently been dismissive," said Cubberley.

"We need a plan that anticipates potential strains on the system, and we need a minister who has a strategy for health care that goes beyond putting on his rose-coloured glasses."

This weekend, <strong>NDP MLAs Jenny Kwan, David Chudnovsky and Shane Simpson</strong> are collecting signatures on a petition asking Campbell to stop the cuts at Mount Saint Joseph Hospital. The petition will be tabled in the Legislature by Tuesday, May 16. <a href="http://stopercuts.bc.ndp.ca/">Click here to download the petition</a> and find our more about how Campbell's bed cuts have created an ER crisis in BC.<br />

<h2>Liberal patronage appointments continue</h2>
Last week, <strong>MLA Bruce Ralston</strong> revealed that the Campbell Liberals are stacking the Agricultural Land Commission with patronage appointments, forcing the Liberals to rescind one of the appointments.

This week, it seems the Liberals are still giving friends and insiders key positions on the body that controls the future of our agricultural land base and can turn developers into millionaire overnight.

In spite of the recent controversies, the Campbell Liberals have confirmed that Ted Tisdale, a BC Liberals constituency association president, is being considered for an appointment.

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