(This
column was published in the North
Shore News on
Sept. 23, 1998)
Sun shines
light on more NDP hypocrisy
By Leo Knight
THE
Vancouver Sun, in a rare display of real journalism, produced a
great piece of work identifying the hypocrisy of the NDP and the
subsequent attempt by our very own boy premier to blame the
media for his own foibles.
Last
week the Sun outed the NDP for the hypocritical gang of liars
they are. Not that there was much doubt, but the Sun put
the boot in.
According
to the Sun stories, the recall campaigns of Paul Ramsay
and Helmut Giesbrecht were apparently inundated with a variety
of NDP insiders, government workers, and union associates,
parachuted in to boost the ranks in an attempt to foil the
democratic recall actions against those two MLAs.
At
the time of the campaigns, Clark categorically denied any such
thing.
His
response to the Sun's report: sue the bastards.
Clark,
who was known to his high school classmates as "Ernie"
after the bespectacled nerd in My Three Sons, stole the
election in 1996 by telling the electorate that he'd balanced
the budget.
He
then doubled up on that little gem by announcing a second
balanced budget. Needless to say that bit of fiction ranked
right up there with Edgar Rice Burroughs' tale of a man-child
being raised by the apes in deepest, darkest Africa.
Since
the election of the NDP, we have been treated to a succession of
decidedly unbalanced budgets with no end in sight. Just this
past week, the finance minister, Joy MacPhail, finally released
the first quarter figures on the state of the provincial economy
which were, to no one's surprise, much worse than the bit of
fantasy delivered in the spring masquerading as a budget.
Interestingly
enough, MacPhail delivered the first quarter bad news late,
barely two weeks before the end of the second quarter. She was
asked, but declined, to project any of the second quarter
results, which promises to be worse than the first. She said, as
though we were supposed to actually believe her, that she had no
way of knowing what the results would be.
Realistically,
if the finance minister hasn't got a clue what those numbers are
with less than two weeks to go before the end of the quarter,
she is totally incompetent for the office she holds. Of course,
the other possibility is that she knows, and was less than
forthcoming in response to the question.
Back
to Clark's problem. He announced he would file a lawsuit against
the Vancouver Sun demanding a retraction and threatening
any other media outlet with the same should they repeat the
allegations.
The
newspaper said there were outsiders brought in. Sam Bridge, a
longtime NDP insider, told all that he did for both campaigns. A
senior organizer of the Canadian Auto Workers union was brought
in from Toronto to fight the recall efforts.
The
paper reported that there were financial irregularities relative
to the reporting of expenditures. On Saturday, B.C. Fed
president Ken Georgetti admitted his organization paid for the
airline tickets of a number of party workers brought in to
augment the locals involved in the campaign. Were the monies
claimed as donations pursuant to the law? Apparently not and
Georgetti admitted as much.
I'll
give the Sun its due. After receiving "Ernie's"
threat, they refused to knuckle under and stood by their story.
A level of courage rarely seen in the Vancouver media, save and
except for the publisher of this paper, Peter Speck, who has
demonstrated more than his fair share of "cajones" in
the face of government threats against free speech.
There
was much union help for the beleaguered MLAs facing recall. But
"Ernie" always ensures he pays back his union buddies.
In
August, the hospital executive of VGH acquiesced, after years of
fighting the issue, to an arbitration before the stacked deck
that is today's Labour Relations Board, to have security
services placed within the framework of the Hospital Employees
Union.
You
remember them, "the Heart of Health Care" so their
propaganda machine gushed during the recent contract negotations.
The
changeover from contract security to "in house" HEU
security will cost VGH an estimated $1 million annually,
according to one industry source.
For
what? Absolutely nothing. The employees will be exactly the same
individuals as the ones currently employed by West Pac Security,
the contracted service provider. The only difference is the cost
to the taxpayer and the shirts the guards wear.
VGH's
VP of darned near everything, Barry Pearce, who is probably the
busiest man in heath care, is very concerned about the
situation. He is currently negotiating with the union to arrive
at an equitable arrangement that will fulfil the terms of the
LRB agreement without taking a substantial hit on his already
bruised and battered budget.
"Any
settlement would have to involve re-structuring," said
Pearce on Monday. "Service levels must change to deal with
this."
He
hopes to have a completed agreement implemented no later than
Jan. 1, 1999.
Now
the HEU has applied to do the same in every hospital in the
province. Cost to you, the taxpayer, assuming no change in
service levels, over $20 million, for nothing except a sop to
the union brethren of "Ernie" and his pals.
How
many beds would that money open? How many nurses would that
money hire? How much could the long lines for elective surgery
be reduced if that money were committed to where it would affect
those most in need?
"Heart
of health care" indeed.
We should all be sick and tired of "Ernie" and the rest of his band of liars and hypocrites. If he had any class, and God knows he hasn't demonstrated any thus far, he would resign under the spectre of yet another investigation by forensic auditor Ron Parks and call an election.
But he won't. The alluring seduction of power is apparently much more important than any sense of morality.