Election day so soon?

When I woke up on Thursday morning I had no idea that this would be the day I travelled forward in time! It seemed like a pretty average day from the start, granted it had snowed a bit overnight and it was a bit colder than I can remember other March 1st's being, but other than that nothing special. Work that day was busy but not unusual, it was the end of my work week so I was excited to see the end of the day so I could begin enjoying the weekend. It really wasn't until I got home later in the evening and opened my mailbox that I realized I was no longer in March 2007...tucked in between the Visa bill, some flyer's and a letter was my first clue that it was actually May 2009 with a provincial election right around the corner!

At least this is the best way that I can describe the feeling I got when I glimpsed Shane Simpson's MLA report for the past 18 months. As I read it the feeling that an election was near only got stronger! His personal report card reads a lot like election material as he proudly extols all of the great things that he's done for our community since the last election, all the while reminding his loyal followers how little the nasty government actually cares about them.

If even half of it were true I'd run up to Shane's constituency office today (thank goodness its closed) and shake his hand, no wait, I'd give him a big hug and thank him for all of his tireless efforts as champion of Vancouver-Hastings and all things swimming, green and down-trodden. The trouble is that there are a few things missing from his report, leaving a couple of holes big enough to drive a hydrogen powered bus or bio-diesel truck through. So I feel that it is my duty to try and patch a couple of those holes here.

Shane Simpson is the NDP Environment Critic and it is in this role that he reminds us about a few "important environmental issues facing our province", including climate change. Of course anyone with a pulse that has been in the same room with a radio, TV or newspaper within the past couple of weeks knows this. Simpson tells us of the urgent need to take action on fossil fuel reduction (I wonder if John Horgan is listening) and the importance of a plan to address climate change, of course as critic it is incumbent upon him to say that the government is not doing enough.

Hmmm.

What Mr Simpson fails to address is the fact that the BC Liberals (before the 2007 budget) have already pledged millions of dollars toward projects that will directly reduce British Columbia's contribution to climate change. This includes $40 million for the Green Cities Project, $10 million toward the Hydrogen Highway, $2 million for cycling infrastructure and $325 000 in incentives and funding to support the development of alternative fuels and energy efficient appliances. This is before the $103 million provided in the 2007 budget for green initiatives. Shane Simpson tells us how committed he and his SUV driving leader (Carole James) are toward freezing greenhouse gas emissions but he doesn't mention the fact that emissions increased by 24% during the time that the NDP ran the province into the ground or that government emissions were actually reduced by 24% during the Liberals first term in office. Not only did the NDP not have a plan in the 90's but, as Corky Evans reminds us they didn't even have an "idea how to deal with climate change and its implications for socialist principles."

Simpson accuses the government of doing nothing to address climate change. He says that they have abdicated their responsibility and that their inaction has only made things worse. He doesn't mention his own personal stand against such green power alternatives as the Ashlu Creek run of the river micro plant, leading me to believe that green power is only acceptable if there is no private interest in it.

The report shifts gears from the environment to affordable housing and alleviating poverty. This is reasonable and, as MLA for the second poorest electoral district in the province I would actually expect that Shane had done more in this area. What he does instead is continue to blame Premier Campbell and the BC Liberals saying that affordable housing and the plight of the homeless is not a priority for this government. Not mentioned is the $2.4 million announced last September for the Pennsylvania Hotel Project, the recent 10% tax cut making British Colombian's the lowest taxed in the country, the $50 per month increase in the housing allowance (the first increase since 1992) or the $50 per month increase in the basic rate for single, employable people.

While it is no surprise that Mr. Simpson falls short on suggestions for the problem of poverty and affordable housing it is important that we understand that there have in fact been important steps taken. The government, in its 2007 budget has committed $27 million toward 300 emergency shelter beds and another $38 million for supportive housing projects. In 2005 the Liberals budget for social housing was 54% higher ($172 million) than that of the previous NDP government and 10 times higher than it was 10 years earlier. Shane calls this "government inaction" but the truth is that it was under the NDP that beds began closing at Riverview Hospital and Shane's own predecessor Joy McPhail herself, acknowledged that many homeless people wouldn't access housing if they could. Of course this doesn't mean that we shouldn't do something about the problem and despite what our own MLA would like us to believe, we are.

To round off the big three, Shane Simpson brings up health care and the BC Liberals "Conversation on Health". Of course he would like us to believe that the conversation is nothing more than the justification of private health care. He fails to touch on a few of the key elements regarding the state of health care in our province like the fact that health care spending has increased by over 50% since 2000/01. Not surprisingly absent from Shane's report card in respect to health care are the facts that under the NDP the average wait for a residential care bed was 360 days and that the NDP government of the time actually reduced the number of long-term care beds by 18%.

The BC Liberals have put aside $13.1 billion for health care in this years budget, but the NDP still clings precariously to the notion that more money will help the problem. Simpson would like us to believe that the Conversation on Health is the governments way of ignoring real solutions and avoiding promises, what he doesn't mention is the $125 million promised by the NDP for a mental health plan that never materialized. In fact, according to Corky Evans (as Minister of Health) the NDP "made announcements about things we weren't even going to do."

The report card goes on to mention a myriad of other things that the government has apparently forgotten or ignored. Things like the supposed sell-off of BC parks, the flooding of the Chilliwack River and the Gateway program. Certainly Simpson brings up some very key issues facing British Columbian's, things that we should all be aware of however residents of Vancouver-Hastings are really only give one side of the story. He's done a pretty good job with the handout too, its colorful, attractive with lots of pictures of our MLA "working hard" for our community. He must be working hard because he says so right in the pamphlet. The truth is however, there is absolutely nothing in the report that provides us with the slightest glimpse of anything measurable that our MLA has done or is doing for Vancouver-Hastings. There are no suggestions for solutions to the important issues that he raises, there is no mention of a plan that he or the opposition have to contribute to the good governance of our province and there is no mention of what we can expect from him over the next 2 years.

The truth is there is nothing in Shane's report that leaves me with any reason to believe that Vancouver-Hastings is any better off today than it was before with almost 75 years of representation by center to extremely left leaning MLA's. Someone tell me where this has put our community?

Finally, while I can understand the importance of the union label on Shane's literature, wouldn't you think that the Environment Critic would make sure that everyone reading his material would be able to clearly see that he uses recycled paper? Just a thought.