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The Pacific political report February 10, 2016 Volume 04, Issue 03 and federal Tories flock to Victoria to work for ’s BC Liberals

Last summer, day after day during Daily, a multitude of reporters, photo- management’ director, having the early weeks of the federal-general graphers and television cameramen succeeded Woodcock to the post. election campaign, the trial of Mike gathered outside the courthouse in Duffy – the Conservative-appointed Ottawa to catch the comings-and-go- Why was he attending the Duffy trial? Canadian Senator facing 31 criminal ings of those required to provide testi- And why was he talking to a key charges for, among other things, fraud mony. Nearly all of the witnesses were witness? and breach of trust – consumed con- men, all were dressed in business suits. siderable news-media attention. These and other questions soon were In late August, when Woodcock was posed to the Prime Minister and the Much of the media focus was centered on the witness stand, alert members Conservative campaign. on the politically-connected individu- of the news media took note of a man als summoned to offer sworn wearing casual attire, specifically a “Look, these are matters before the testimony during the trial. hoodie-type sweatshirt and blue-jeans, court and we don’t interfere in them,” loitering in the courthouse. Even Harper told CTV, while a Tory That number included several aides more interesting, he was taking notes campaign worker sent an email who, at one time or another, had and quietly chatting with the witness response that stated “Mr. Koolsbergen worked in the office of Prime Minister during breaks. was there to take notes, just like every- . They included Nigel one else.” Wright, Harper’s ex-Chief of Staff; It soon was learned that the camou- Benjamin Perrin, a former Special flaged note-taker was a Harper staffer. The trial continued with intermittent Advisor for legal affairs and policy in breaks through to December 2015 – the PMO; and Chris Woodcock, Harp- His name was Nick Koolsbergen, and closing arguments by both the prose- er’s ‘issues management’ director. he was the Prime Minister’s ‘issues cution and defence will be made later this year – but Canadian voters went to the polls in October and cast their collective judgement on the Harper government. After nine years in power, the Tories were upset by ’s Lib- eral Party and sent to the opposition benches in the House of Commons. Dozens upon dozens of Conservative staffers, political aides and factotums – along with numerous Tory MPs – suddenly were unemployed, out of a job, looking for work. Nick Koolsbergen – the hoodie- wearing courtroom monitor – was among that number. Nick Koolsbergen Who would hire him? Casually disguised Harper aide now working for Clark Liberals. Continued on p. 2

Phoenix www.pacificpoliticalreport.ca Strategies Inc. Alberta and federal Tories flock to Victoria, continued from p. 1

A philosophy major at ’s Brock University, Koolsbergen had spent a decade working in Ottawa for Harper’s federal Conservatives and in Toronto for ’s provincial Tories. He was close to , the one- time Ontario cabinet minister and later federal Finance minister, as well as with a veteran federal Tory, . But, with neither the federal nor Ontario centre-right parties in power – and thus limited in the amount of taxpayer-provided monies to make available to staffers, consultants and operatives – where could he go? The answer: Victoria, B.C. On January 22, Christy Clark’s BC Jim Flaherty Tim Hudak Liberal cabinet authorized an order- Late Conservative Finance Minister Ex-Leader of the Ontario Tories in-council that named Nicholas Koolsbergen as Executive Director, alongside a woman who has the same Woods had been working as Press Communications Operations in the title as the one he now holds. Secretary to Alberta Jim province’s Government Communica- Prentice – at one time a federal cabinet tions and Public Engagement shop. Emily Woods was appointed by the minister under Stephen Harper – Clark cabinet as Executive Director, whose Progressive Conservative Known by its acronym of GCPE – Communications Operations on July government was reduced to third- before 2012 it was called the PAB (the 15, 2015. party status last spring by Rachel Public Affairs Bureau) – the office Notley and the NDP. has an annual budget in excess of $26 And just as Koolsbergen found million, and employs several hundred employment in B.C. with the Clark Interestingly, Koolsbergen and Woods people whose jobs are to put a positive, Liberals after his Conservative party are just two of more than a dozen Tory pro-government ‘spin’ on communica- lost power in Ottawa, so, too, was political hacks from Ottawa and Alber- tions with the public and news media. Woods obliged to move to Victoria ta who have found new homes in Brit- when she needed a job following ish Columbia since the Prentice and By sheer coincidence, of course, the Alberta Tories’ defeat in Harper governments last year suffered Koolsbergen will be working in GCPE May 2015. election defeats. Like the others, much – if not all – of their work over the next year will be to help the Clark government and the BC Liberals prepare to win re-election in May 2017. *** Nine months ago, Alberta was hit with a political earthquake. On May 5, 2015, for the first time in provincial history, the won election to government as guided her party to a solid majority with 54 of 86 legislative seats. Notley, a lawyer and seven-year Emily Woods veteran of Alberta’s Legislative Defeated Alberta Premier...... and his former Press Secretary. Continued on p. 3

Phoenix www.pacificpoliticalreport.ca Strategies - 2 - Inc. Alberta and federal Tories flock to Victoria, continued from p. 2 Assembly, also is the daughter of a legendary provincial New Democrat, Grant Notley, who died in a plane crash in 1984. In the mid-1990s, she worked in B.C. as a political aide in the New Democratic Party government led by Premier . Later, in 2000, she received a NDP order-in-council appointment to the board of Community College – and surprisingly was re- appointed to the college board in 2001 by the newly-elected BC Liberal gov- ernment of Premier . Notley returned to Edmonton the following year, and won a seat in the Derek Cummings Josh Stewart provincial legislature in 2008. She was Ex-Tory aide now with Left Edmonton to work with sworn in as on May 24, 2015. *** John Reynolds, and , to mention just a few. The shiny-new Notley administration Five months after Alberta voters was badly in need of experienced defeated Premier Jim Prentice’s gov- Below are a few of the ex-Conservative politicos to assist with the demands of ernment and put out of work countless staffers from Alberta and Ottawa who governance, and so as usually happens provincial Conservatives, have found new opportunities with in Canada when New Democrats find across the country similarly ended the Premier Christy Clark’s BC Liberal themselves in power, party operatives nine-year Tory government of Prime government. from across the country descended on Minister Stephen Harper. Edmonton to accept appointments and Derek Cummings – A graduate of contracts. Moving vans from every region headed , Cummings to Ottawa as Liberal operatives took up moved to Ottawa in 2005 to work More than a few British Columbians new positions in Prime Minister Justin as an assistant to a couple of Conserva- were among that number, most notably Trudeau’s new administration. tive MPs, including Vancouver Island John Heaney, who quit his position as Tory John Duncan. Later, he joined the Chief of Staff to , the B.C. Among that number were two former staff of , also a B.C. MP, and NDP Leader, to accept an appointment ministerial Chiefs of Staff in Premier Minister of Natural Resources. as Notley’s Deputy Minister for Policy Christy Clark’s government – Richard Coordination. Maksymetz and Matt Stickney – who In 2008, Cummings left the nation’s now work in a similar capacity for capital to take up a job in Alberta with Yet the historic NDP victory in Alberta Trudeau ministers (see The Pacific the Ministry of Energy. He worked was but one component of the political Political Report, January 13, 2016). there until early 2012, when he moved earthquake that last spring shook into Premier ’s office to Alberta. The other was the shocking Numerous other B.C. Grits have been oversee strategic communications and demise of the long-governing – 43 hired to toil in a political role on behalf issues management. years – Progressive Conservative of the new administration. government. A couple of years later he was At the same time, ex-Conservative promoted to Press Secretary for And just as dozens of New Democrats politicos packed up and moved out of the Minister of International and found new employment in the Notley the nation’s capital, looking for new Intergovernmental Relations, and government, a similar – if not greater employment opportunities. subsequently transferred back to work – number of Alberta Tory operatives for the Minister of Energy. discovered themselves without a Perhaps it is not surprising British paycheque. Columbia has become a preferred Cummings was unemployed only for destination for many newly- a few months after the Alberta NDP’s Many of them promptly scooted across unemployed Tory aides, in light election to government, for on July 6, the Rocky Mountains to find work of the numerous close relationships 2015, Christy Clark’s BC Liberal with Premier Christy Clark’s BC over the years between BC Liberals cabinet signed an order-in-council Liberal government. and federal Conservatives – notably Continued on p. 4

www.pacificpoliticalreport.ca Phoenix Strategies - 3 - Inc. Alberta and federal Tories flock to Victoria, continued from p. 3 naming him as Ministerial Assistant to , the Minister of Transpor- tation and Infrastructure. Six weeks later, after a minor cabinet shuffle, Cummings was promoted to Chief of Staff for Coralee Oakes, the embattled former Community Affairs minister who was shifted to a new – and very, very tiny – Ministry of Small Business and Red Tape Reduction. Josh Stewart – the same order-in- council that named Cummings as an aide to Stone, also appointed Stewart as Ministerial Assistant to Suzanne Anton, the Minister of Justice and Attorney General. Nick Koolsbergen Now working in Victoria, but probably no longer in disguise. More than a decade ago, Stewart worked as ‘media liaison’ for the both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in assistant with the provincial Tories. Alberta Liberals, then the official chemistry. opposition to Premier ’s By the end of 2007 he was back in the Progressive Conservative government. He worked for many years in nation’s capital, working with the laboratories before moving to Ottawa Harper government in a political capa- Not long thereafter, however, he joined to work as a policy advisor to a city at Agriculture Canada, Natural the public service as a communications number of Conservative cabinet Resources Canada and Western Econ- specialist with the province’s Ministry ministers, including omic Diversification, along with a stint of Environment. (Environment), and and in the Prime Minister’s Office during Lisa Raitt (Transport). the 2008 federal-general election. In 2010, a young Progressive Conservative MLA and lawyer, Verge also became active with Ottawa- From 2009 to 2012, Koolsbergen Jonathan Denis, was appointed to area Conservative ridings organiza- again was working at Queen’s Park, cabinet as Minister of Housing. A year tions, and for a time was President assisting the provincial Progressive later, he became Solicitor General and of Ottawa-Vanier constituency Conservatives and their new Leader, Minister of Public Safety, and for the associations. Tim Hudak. next several years Stewart worked as his Press Secretary and Executive He came into frequent contact with The Ontario Tories gained a dozen Assistant. , a Conservative cabinet seats in the 2011 provincial-general minister and MP (Carleton) who man- election, but remained as the official Denis won re-election and was re-ap- aged to retain his seat in the govern- opposition. The governing Liberals pointed to cabinet in 2012 , but he ment’s defeat in October. were reduced to a minority, however, had to resign in early 2015 over legal and Premier Dalton McGuinty soon proceedings with his estranged wife. Interestingly, Poilievre was a business- announced his retirement. Soon thereafter, he along with most of partner with the aforementioned the Tory caucus, suffered defeat at the Alberta cabinet minister, Jonathan By then Koolsbergen was back with polls. Denis, in a company called 3D Contact the Harper government, working Inc., which provided election services mostly in the PMO, but with a Stewart soon moved to B.C. and to centre-right clients. year-long spell assisting Jason Kenney, became Anton’s Ministerial Assistant. the Minister of Employment and Social On February 2, Verge received a Clark Development, with communications. In December, Anton’s department was government order-in-council naming split in half as , the BC him as Chief of Staff to , After his star-turn at the Duffy trial, Liberal MLA for Prince George- the Minister of Jobs, Tourism and Koolsbergen disappeared from pub- Mackenzie, was appointed Minister of Skills Training. lic view. He resurfaced in Victoria in Public Safety and Solicitor General. January, when a Clark government *** order-in-council appointed him as Weeks later, Stewart was promoted to a senior director in the Government Chief of Staff to Anton. Nicholas Koolsbergen – in 2005, Communications and Public Koolsbergen briefly worked in Ottawa Engagement shop. Kent Verge – like Cummings, Verge is for the federal Conservatives, but soon a SFU graduate, having obtained landed a job in Toronto as a legislative To be continued in Volume 04, Issue 04.

www.pacificpoliticalreport.ca Phoenix Strategies - 4 - Inc. Have British Columbians lost interest in provincial politics? Analysis Dismal voter turnout in -Burke Mountain by-election By Will McMartin

Jodie Wickens, the newly-elected (The riding disappeared in the only 8,253 could be bothered to cast a New Democratic Party MLA for electoral redistribution of 2008.) ballot in the February 2 by-election. Coquitlam-Burke Mountain, set a dubious record when the final count Finally, the contest in 1991 was a tight, Lastly, the tilt largely was a two-way for her February 2 by-election victory three-way tilt featuring Pement, the affair between representatives of the was released by Elections BC. NDP-standard bearer; Alice Maitland, governing BC Liberals and the a fixture on Hazelton’s village council opposition New Democrats. With a total of just 3,836 ballots cast running for the BC Liberals; and long- in her favour, Wickens captured a seat time Social Credit MLA Jack Kempf, Green hopeful Joe Keithley, an ageing in the Legislative Assembly with the who was seeking re-election as an punk rocker making his third attempt fewest number of votes in any election Independent. at winning a seat in the legislature, was victory in the last quarter-century. widely seen as finishing third – and he None of those factors was present in did. Way back in 1991, another New the Coquitlam-Burke Mountain Democrat, , won election by-election. *** as the MLA for Bulkley Valley-Stikine with just 3,744 votes. The latter district – which became It is not unusual for voter-turnout in vacant when BC Liberal Douglas Horne a relatively-meaningless provincial Of course, 25 years ago British quit to run in the October 2015 federal by-election to tumble dramatically Columbia was home to not quite 3.6 election – is located in the congested from levels set in a preceding million residents – or more than one Lower Mainland, and has a population province-wide general election. million fewer than the 4.7 million who of more than 54,000. reside in the province today. The results in Coquitlam-Burke That’s nearly twice as many residents as Mountain, however, were especially Bulkley Valley-Stikine, moreover, then were in Bulkley Valley-Stikine in 1991. dismal. was a remote, northern – and newly- drawn – electoral district with a Coquitlam-Burke Mountain has more In the provincial-general elections held population estimated only at 29,600. than 37,000 registered voters, of whom in 2009 and 2013, local residents cast a total of 15,210 and 19,573 valid votes respectively. Votes cast in Coquitlam-Burke Mountain Yet, in the February by-election, however, the total number of accepted 12,000 ballots plunged to just 8,253.

10,000 The key factor in determining the winner – Wickens – was that the New Democratic Party’s vote did not 8,000 collapse to the same degree as did the BC Liberals’. 6,000 In 2009, government MLA Horne won re-election with 9,766 ballots in his 4,000 favour. This month, his putative BC Liberal successor, Joan Isaacs, received 2,000 a miserable 3,146 votes.

0 Simply, Isaacs lost because her 2009 2013 2016 election-campaign managed to en- courage just 32.2 per cent – fewer than BC Liberal NDP Green one-in-three – of Horne’s supporters to trek to the polls and vote for her candidacy.

(Source: Elections BC) Continued on p.6

www.pacificpoliticalreport.ca Phoenix Strategies - 5 - Inc. Analysis, continued from p. 5

The NDP victor, on the other hand, increase of more than four million The challenge now facing Premier prevailed because she convinced more votes, or 146.0 per cent, over their total Christy Clark and her BC Liberal than half of her party’s supporters from under Ignatieff. government as they prepare for a 2013 – 3,836 out of 7,315 (or, 52.4 per provincial-general election in cent) – to make the effort to vote in the Surprisingly, Harper’s Conservatives May 2017, is the exact opposite of by-election. largely kept intact their vote from 2011 that mastered by Trudeau last – when they garnered a total of 5.8 October. Wickens and the New Democrats million votes – to 2015, as they slipped may not have done an especially good slightly to 5.6 million ballots. In a few months, Clark will mark the job in their GOTV – get out the vote 20th anniversary of her inaugural – campaign in the Coquitlam-Burke Viewed in this light, the Tories held on election to the Legislative Assembly Mountain by-election, but it was to 96.0 per cent of their electoral ‘base’ on May 28, 1996. A new and fresh face sufficient for victory because the BC from 2011 to 2015. she is not. Liberals’ efforts were horrendous by comparison. Yet the massive surge in Liberal Her BC Liberals, moreover, first won supporters across the country over- election to government on May 16, So the question to ponder is: are BC whelmed Tory candidates in nearly 2001. The party will be concluding its Liberal voters tired of voting for a every province and region. sixteenth-consecutive year in power – governing party that has been in power as well as asking for another four-year for 15 long years? From electing just 34 Members of mandate – when voters head to the Parliament four years ago with polls in May 2017 for the province’s *** Ignatieff, the Liberals returned 43rd general election. 184 – sufficient for a comfortable Last October, pundits’ forecasts for the parliamentary majority – in 2015 It seems improbable that Clark and the federal-general election were rendered with Trudeau at the helm. BC Liberals will be able to generate useless when voter turnout surged sufficient public enthusiasm to spark a upward by nearly three million over And despite taking a nearly-identical dramatic – and winning – upsurge in the preceding tilt four years earlier. vote-total in 2015 as compared to four voter turnout in the next election, as years earlier, Harper’s Conservatives did Trudeau last October. A total of 14.8 million ballots were collapsed from 166 House of Com- cast in 2011 as Prime Minister Stephen mons’ seats to a mere 99 – and ended But that is not the challenge now Harper and his Conservative Party back on the opposition benches. facing the Premier and her colleagues; – after obtaining only parliamentary it is to prevent a collapse in voter minorities in 2006 and 2008 – finally *** turnout, and especially amongst captured a majority government. ‘free-enterprise’ voters who recoil at An unforeseen upsurge in voter the prospect of Premier John Horgan But in the federal tilt four months ago, turnout, it is evident, can dramatically and a NDP government. the number of valid votes soared to affect an election campaign. 17.7 million as Justin Trudeau and his Yet, Horgan and his New Democrats Liberal Party sent Harper and the So, too, can a collapse in turnout – as appear to be in a similar predicament, Tories packing to the opposition was seen in the Coquitlam-Burke for Jodie Wickens’ unimpressive benches. Mountain by-election. by-election victory in Coquitlam- Burke Mountain clearly showed an Across the country, voter turnout – the In October 2015, Trudeau and the absence of passion amongst the BC proportion of registered voters who federal Grits captured the interest and Liberals’ main opponents. took the trouble to cast an election enthusiasm of millions of Canadians ballot – soared from 61.1 to 68.0 per who previously had not bothered to Somehow, both major parties – as well cent. exercise their electoral franchise. as ’s Greens – need to spark some measure of political That explosion – unforeseen by pun- Out of power for a decade and excitement as British Columbians gear dits – explains how Trudeau replaced under new leadership, the Liberals up for an election campaign set to get Harper in the Prime Minister’s Office. represented ‘change’ – a wide-spread underway in just 14 months. sentiment that clearly became evident In 2011, the Liberals – then led by once the ballots were counted. One thing seems near-certain: the Michael Ignatieff – took an abysmal 2.8 3,836 votes Wickens’ obtained to win million votes. Trudeau and his Liberals were able to her legislative seat will not be sufficient exploit the fatigue – and anger, even to retain it next May. Four years later, under Trudeau’s hostility – many Canadians felt guidance, the Grits skyrocketed to a after a decade of Harper and the Will McMartin is a contributing editor to stunning 6.9 million ballots – an Conservatives in power. The Pacific Political Report.

www.pacificpoliticalreport.ca Phoenix Strategies - 6 - Inc. George Abbott BC Liberal Party MLA, 1996-2013 interview Cabinet Minister, 2001-2012, PART TWO By Jeff Davies

It seems as if a lot of your time at the As you recall, the Premier and I were Ministry of Health was taken up with about to go on a fact-finding tour of the demands of the news media and European jurisdictions to look at that. just doing damage control rather than I think he was doing some prep for the forging new directions. 2010 Olympics at the time, too. I think we were doing both. I would say But just about that time, Mrs. Fanny Albo on a routine, daily basis – particularly died in the Kootenays and all hell broke when the House was sitting, and again loose. And I made, I think, a wise when Question Period was on and with decision that I would stay in B.C. and the media interest in what was going on in try to deal with that situation rather than the Health world – one would also expect go to Europe. questions in Question Period, so there was Question Period prep, there was media But I think there was a view that there responses, there were briefings on issues. were – and maybe it’s a correct view, I don’t know – that we needed to look at I suspect that on a daily basis we would European alternatives to the way things be doing at least two to three hours on that are done in Canada, and that’s not a bad George Abbott part of it, but it wasn’t like that was the thing to do. only thing we were doing. I think the Premier and the Premier’s It’s interesting you call it something of I had the good fortune to work with Office nursed a hope that the Conver- fizzle. It certainly seemed to be a sub- really exceptional public servants in the sation on Heath would become a forum ject very dear to the heart of the former Ministry of Health and so we would take where some of those alternative concep- Premier, Gordon Campbell, How much a good portion of every day – often four, tions of public health-care would be ex- of a disappointment was that to him? five, six hours, when we could do it – to amined and discussed, and perhaps some brief me on where do we go here and different consensus emerge. I’m sure it was a very considerable what’s the best response to that. disappointment to him. Gordon may have I think as it turned out, and I think I faults, but a lack of interest in public So I think we were trying to do both attended every Conversation on Health policy was not one of them. of those things. It wasn’t just damage across the province, the BC Nurses Union control. It was thinking and rethinking the in particular – and again I credit them for He was endlessly fascinated by policy system as well and we did a lot of that. this; I’m not critical at all – were very puzzles and policy solutions from effective in getting out their membership different corners of the world, and One of the initiatives you oversaw was in numbers and in voice. whether across the time when the the ‘Conversation on Health’. It seemed Conversation on Health occurred, at the outset it was going to be a And they made their point in defence of whether he either became persuaded fundamental rethink of the system, the existing system very clearly, over and that this was too hot a stove to touch, or and my impression was the Premier’s over again. whether it just became a question of new Office wanted a much bigger role for interests like climate change coming to the private sector. Whether in the absence of that there might dominate the stage, I’m not sure. have been a broader public discussion In the end it was a modest set of of the alternatives I don’t know. I suspect That’s really more of a question for reforms meant to rein-in health-care not: I think, in fact, most British Gordon Campbell than for me, but I’m spending. It was not the sweeping Columbians really like their health-care sure he would have been disappointed overhaul we perhaps had been led to system. that there wasn’t a more substantive basis believe. for substantive change coming out of the They may be critical of it in very partic- Conversation on Health, but there was I think you’ve offered a pretty reasonable ular and specific aspects, but generally not. assessment, actually of, broadly speaking, people want a very strong public health- how it went. care system and they don’t take a lot Since we’re talking about Gordon of time thinking about how to change a Campbell now, how would you say the When the Conversation on Health was system they have, over all, a pretty strong direction of the BC Liberal Party and announced, I do think at some point, affection for. the government changed when he gave probably around 2005/2006, the Premier up power and Christy Clark moved in [Gordon Campbell] had persuaded So the consequence of that was I think the to the Premier’s Office? himself, or had been persuaded, that Conversation on Health was in the end in particular some of the European something of a fizzle. We did our best to Well, that’s difficult to say. I had the alternatives to our health-care system in come up with some constructive public honour of being the Education minister B.C. and Canada were appropriate and policy pieces out of it, and did, but overall for the first couple of years that Christy promising. I don’t think it met expectations at all. Clark was Premier. Continued on p.8

www.pacificpoliticalreport.ca Phoenix Strategies - 7 - Inc. Interview, continued from p. 7 I did enjoy working with her. She was challenging ministry than I would have And I don’t know what the reason for this very supportive of the initiatives which I liked. I set out as a new Education is – it may relate to the extensive tie-ins and the ministry undertook around reform minister to build a better relationship with we have now, the extensive connections of the BC College of Teachers, reform of the BC Teachers Federation. In fact the we have now, with the internet and elec- the funding formula. very first call I made was to Susan tronic communication. There seems to be Lambert, the President of the BCTF. a heightened volatility in the electorate There was a lot of moving parts in a short that one might not have found 10, 20 or period of time when I was Education And even though I think we had some 30 years ago. minister and she was very supportive of good constructive work together, partic- the work which we did, and I’d have to ularly around the College of Teachers, And I think a lot of the recent provincial say that there was minimal if any interfer- subsequently the B.C. Teachers Council, and federal election campaigns are testa- ence from the Premier’s Office in respect despite that, as soon as labour- relations ment to that: things can move unexpected- of what we were attempting to do in issues ramped up our relationship in- ly in unexpected directions because of the Education. variably ramped down, and that was my content of the campaign, or the circum- biggest regret in that area. stances of the campaign, or just something I’d say in terms of the overall direction of that comes out of the ether and suddenly government – and I haven’t been a part of A lot of those labour relations problems throws into a different perspective a range the caucus since 2013 – my sense is that started in 2002 with the introduction of of issues. there is a less activist agenda on policy legislation that took class-size and com- issues in the Clark administration than at position out of the teachers’ contract. I suppose a recent example of that would any point in the Campbell administration. Looking back, how smart was that? have been the tragic death of the three- year-old Syrian boy, and the photograph I don’t think there was ever a point in Well, first of all I would say that the on the front pages of newspapers across the Campbell administration where there genesis of the BCTF - B.C. government Canada very sharply changed the whole wasn’t some churning around reform relationship-issues lies probably about 40 dynamic around refugees, around terror- in policy areas, whether it was climate years earlier in our history, rather than in ism and so on. Themes that resonated change, aboriginal relations, Health, 2002. If we look at some of the academic before that photograph, failed to resonate Education. There were always multiple work that’s been done, it shows the roots after that photograph. policy exercises underway in the go back to the 1960s, 1970s. Campbell administration. So that was one of the ways in which the There’s been a troubled relationship centre of gravity of that federal campaign Whether that continues to be the case in between the BCTF and the government shifted. Not the only one, but it was an the Clark administration I can’t say now, for a long time. But there’s no question important one. although I was certainly very pleased with that we exacerbated the challenge with the what we were able to achieve around legislation of 2002. So, in the case of the province in 2017, Education in the year-and-a-half or two who knows what might suddenly become years I had the honour to lead there Retrospectively, I think the government an issue that speaks to the voters in ways under Christy Clark. over-reached on what it did with contracts that the parties can’t prepare for and can’t with the BC Nurses Union, with the sometimes adjust quickly enough to? In Education, I would say, among the BCGEU and the HEU. I think the govern- several portfolios I held over a dozen ment over-reached in terms of the unilat- I’d say depth of volatility is one aspect years, Education would be my favourite eral changes to the collective agreement, of it but I’d say another will be [natural] and it would have been an utterly splendid backstopped by the legislation in bills 27, resources politics, which will pretty much experience were it not for our periodic 28 and 29. be front and centre whether the NDP interruptions by labour disputes. wishes it or not. I think the big challenge But the government at the time was for John Horgan is going to be to bring That tended to make it a far more concerned primarily about a couple of his troops together around a vision for things: the escalating costs in both the resource development in the province that Health and Education systems, and resonates with the electorate. concern about re-asserting political- managerial control over those two The BC Liberals already tend to offer that systems that are the largest elements in the up and tend to exploit that as an issue with provincial Budget. the New Democrats, so we’ll see whether they can sustain that. Looking ahead, what do you think are the chances of the BC Liberals being I don’t know whether they can or not. But re-elected next year? I don’t think anyone can, 15 months out from the election at this point. I think the That’s again really difficult to say. I guess script has yet to be written. as a political scientist I try to look at that question analytically. Will you say who you’ll be supporting? Jeff Davies I would say that, first of all, it’s far from I don’t know yet. My MLA is Andrew Jeff was a journalist with the Canadian clear at this point what may occur. I sus- Weaver – whom I very much like person- Broadcasting Corporation for more pect that, as has been the case in several ally – so that may influence me in terms than 35 years. From 1993 to 2012 he was other provinces over the past few years, of whether I vote for party, versus who the CBC’s legislative reporter in Victoria. campaigns have come to mean more than I think is the best candidate. But, no. I I would say they did in the past. haven’t made that decision yet.

www.pacificpoliticalreport.ca Phoenix Strategies - 8 - Inc. Premier Christy Clark has numerous Parliamentary Secretary for Multicultural- Chair, Committee of the Whole, which prerequisites – ‘perks’ – to hand out to the ism, and later for Asia Pacific. provides the recipient with a 20 per cent 48 members of her BC Liberal caucus. hike in pay. The undemanding post was In June 2013, weeks after the BC filled in the summer of 2013 byMarc The best and most lucrative perk, of Liberals’ stunning re-election to govern- Dalton, the two-term BC Liberal MLA for course, is an appointment to the Executive ment, Lee received another order-in- Maple Ridge-Mission. Council. At present, 21 BC Liberal MLAs council appointment, this time as (including Clark) are full-time cabinet Parliamentary Secretary for the School Like Horne, Dalton never made it into ministers, and one more – Naomi of Traditional Chinese Medicine. the Executive Council and instead chose to Yamamoto – is a junior Minister of State. seek more-promising ground in Ottawa. It was a made-up position of little Other lucrative perks allocated by the importance except to fulfill a BC Liberal However, whereas Horne was acclaimed Premier include selection of the Speaker, election promise. as the federal Conservative candidate in now – who nominally was the riding of Coquitlam-Port Coquitlam, ‘elected’ by Members of the Legislative In January 2014, the province issued Dalton suffered defeat in his bid to win Assembly, but actually chosen by Clark – a news release stating that Kwantlen the Tory nomination in Pitt Meadows- as well as the Deputy Speaker. Polytechnic University – with campuses Maple Ridge. in Surrey, Langley and Richmond – would Douglas Horne was Deputy Speaker ‘host’ the traditional school, and a few It was somewhat embarrassing insofar from June 2013 until he resigned as the months later Kwantlen announced it as Dalton on July 21 had risen in the BC Liberal MLA for Coquitlam-Burke had assembled a 16-member advisory Legislative Assembly to say ‘farewell’ Mountain in August 2015 to run – and committee to oversee the project. to colleagues and friends. lose – as a Conservative candidate in the October federal-general election. Alas, the Clark government soon “If I win, this will be my last time that confessed that it would not provide any I have to speak in the legislature as a Tabbed to succeed Horne was Richard new funding for the project’s operations, MLA,” he declared. “It’s been a privilege T. Lee, the veteran BC Liberal MLA for and as of now the Traditional Chinese to work on issues of importance to British North. First elected in 2001 – Medicine school at Kwantlen remains Columbians.” the year that the BC Liberals returned a only in the planning stage. stunning 77 MLAs – Lee is one of just Dalton now is back in the House, but nine members of the ‘class of 01’ The news for the Chinese medicine school Clark has opted to give his old post to remaining in the government caucus. did not get any better five months ago another BC Liberal backbencher, Peace when it was announced that Lee would River North MLA . All of the others – Clark, Reid, Mike de succeed Horne as Deputy Speaker, for Jong, , Shirley Bond, cabinet promptly rescinded the former’s Like Horne and Dalton, Pimm first won , Gordon Hogg and Ralph appointment as Parliamentary Secretary, election to the Legislative Assembly in Sultan – have enjoyed stints of varying therby bringing legislative oversight of 2009, and was re-elected in 2013. length in the Executive Council. the school of Traditional Chinese Medicine to an end. Unlike those two colleagues, however, Lee is the exception, having remained the northern legislator was acknowledged outside cabinet for the past 15 years. He For Lee the move means a significant post-election by Clark and became her has, however, been awarded by Clark a increase in compensation: whereas a Minister of Agriculture. Unfortunately, consolation prize: when she became parliamentary-secretaryship provides the he soon was diagnosed with cancer and Premier in 2011, Lee was named as recipient with a 15 per cent bonus on top resigned from cabinet about 11 months of his or her yearly MLA compensation, Photo Credits: after his appointment. P. 1 - Koolsbergen - CTV News the job of Deputy Speaker offers a boost P. 2 - Flaherty - CPAC; Hudack - Legislative Assembly ON of 35 per cent. Medical treatment apparently has gone P. 2 - Prentice - Ottawa Business Journal; Woods - Twitter (Woods) well, but Pimm will not be seeking re- P. 3 - Cummings - Twitter (Cummings); Stewart - CTV Since B.C. MLAs now are paid $102,878 P. 4 - Koolsbergen - CTV News election in May 2017. Clark’s elevation P. 7 - Abbott - Vancouver Sun annually, it means the veteran Burnaby of the MLA to Deputy North legislator will receive an extra Chair, Committee of the Whole means $36,007 per annum – thereby putting his not only a $20,576 boost in pay over his The Pacific Political Report publishes 24 issues per year. total yearly compensation at $138,885. final year in the House, but also provides Publisher: Kristy Fredericks Phoenix Strategies Inc. a small boost to his post-retirement © The Pacific Political Report. Another perk granted by Clark is Deputy pension.

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