Worst Government Ever? Part One

Part One, Liberal Policy

Speculation and serious talk is starting to grow across the province of New Brunswick - are the Shawn Graham Liberals the worst government - ever?

Now the term "worst government ever" is relative, since it's not easy for anyone except a hard core historian to judge whether the current gang has made more mistakes and bungles than any other government in the past 200 years. But even looking at the last 50 years it's hard to imagine a new government getting off to a worse start and back-tracking on more commitments. And even "re-back-tracking" on some of them.

They're not responsible for a global economic meltdown (as far as we know) but just look at all the different sectors and departments the provincial government is responsible for overseeing and there is already a clear pattern of total incompetence.

The biggest department in our provincial government is health. It accounts for more than 40% of the provincial budget. And it's a mess. The Liberal decision to amalgamate all the health boards into two - one English and one bilingual, was the equivalent of waving a big red flag in front of an angry bull. Louis J. Robichaud created equal opportunity, Hatfield perfected it, McKenna entrenched it in the Canadian Constitution, and Lord re-wrote the Official Languages Act without a single murmur of protest. In two years the Graham Liberals have provoked a constitutional challenge that will split English and French communities in this province for the next decade. Over what? The number of hospital boards - smooth move.

The health reforms introduced by Mike Murphy and Shawn Graham have so far produced the following results (in addition to the language wars): a hospital was re-opened in Perth-Andover as a campaign promise and now doesn't have the staff to treat scrapes and scratches; a new crown corporation bureaucracy was created in Saint John in order to "create efficiencies" with no new efficiencies yet created; a consultation board was created in Moncton that so far has consulted nobody; and a hospital board was located in Miramichi where even the CEO they appointed refuses to work. And the new medical school in Saint John is already two years behind schedule. Guess what? The Graham Liberals have only been around for two years.

Education is the next biggest department that is run by the provincial government - how are things going there? Does anyone remember the French immersion fiasco of last summer when Minister Lamrock decided he knew a lot more than his own experts and decided to undo 40 years of programming because he wasn't satisfied with the results. The end of that disaster was that instead of starting French Immersion in Grade 1, now kids start in Grade 3 - wow what an improvement.

Bernard Lord started an ambitious program to give laptop computers to all students in grades 7 and 8 - a program modeled after a very successful program in Maine. It started with a pilot program in six schools and was going to spread across the province before the Liberals were elected. Last month Education Minister Lamrock announced an exciting partnership with Microsoft which is going to be piloted in just two schools - maybe they should call it the incredible shrinking pilot program. And is it just a coincidence that one of these pilot schools is in his Liberal riding and the other in the Liberal riding of the Minister of Post-secondary education?

Speaking of post-secondary education - the Premier was hell bent to reform how the province controls universities and colleges, and he proudly created a special commission to study the issue. And they did. Their recommendations had people around the province out in the streets in protest to the crazy convoluted new system they were proposing. Shortly after Premier Graham asked the university and college presidents to write their own report - which they gladly did. So far not a single recommendation has been implemented.

Social programming is another big responsibility of the provincial government - and this was an early commitment of the Graham Government to tackle the relationship with non-profit organizations. He even hired Claudette Bradshaw - a well known Liberal who travelled on the campaign bus as Shawn's French tutor, but also a person who is highly regarded across Canada as an expert in poverty and NPO issues. She was paid over $100,000 to produce a report that was so excellent that this year the Liberals have started a whole new consultation process. Again, no recommendations have been implemented.

No one will ever forget the fate of Paul Durelle from Kent County, who froze to death after being cut-off from NB Power electricity to heat his home. Before they got elected the Liberals said they were going to do a lot of things to make home heating more affordable and to force NB Power to not cut off their clients. Did Mr. Durelle ask the Premier for assistance - we apparently will never know because the Premier's Office does not seem to have any records of the calls that his family say he made there. Of course, 55,000 people did make use of the $100 in winter heating assistance the Liberals provided their first year in office - but that program must have been a victim of its own success because this year they cut it by 90% and asked the Salvation Army to do the work for them.

Worst government ever? - You be the judge.

Election Fever

There seems to be a growing mood in the capital that the Graham Liberals are considering an early election, to avoid going to the polls in the fall of 2010, when the economy could be feeling very recession-like. Some are predicting as early as this May.


Here are the reasons Graham should go to the people:

1. The feeling is Alward does not have his organization in place, and would be caught flat-footed. Probably correct, but could change quickly.
2. The Tories are effectively broke, the Liberals have cash.
3. Some members in the liberal caucus have evidently indicated they are not interested in re-election. Namely, Eugene McGinley, Roly McIntyre, Stuart Jamieson and TJ Burke. A series of by-election losses could cause the liberal advantage in the house to shrink.
4. The Liberals could very well win Madawaska-la-Vallee, providing some momentum.
5. The budget deficit is spiralling out of control. Once the electorate gets a feeling that there is something like a spending plan being designed but nothing like a repayment plan being considered, they will be furious.


Here are the reasons why Graham will not go early:

1. The public is election-weary, federal elections in 04 / 06 / 08 and provincially in 03 / 06. For the (wo)man on the street, this is seen as too many elections. Throw in the recent municipal elections, and people are downright sick of campaigns. At least those that vote.
2. The election is scheduled to happen in September 2010. Going early could look like opportunism, which it is. Almost worked for Harper, but does Graham want to be compared to Harper?
3. The Liberals raised taxes and the deficit (before the economy softened, I might add), and are too short of time to reverse those terrible decisions with typical Liberal here-is-some-of-your-money-back-aren’t-I-a-great-person crap.
4. The Auditor General has recently stated the obvious, we are going to run enormous deficits. Big numbers scare people, and half to three quarters of a billion dollars (the possible deficit in the next fiscal year) is a big number.
5. Power is better than no power, and he can hang on for another year at least and hope things get better.


Summary:

If Graham rolls the dice and Alward runs on the mantra of Tories lowered your taxes and reduced the debt, Graham could be in trouble. But Alward needs to move quickly and decisively.

And Mr. Premier, Happy Birthday