Flat session for Liberals, Macdonald says

By GERRY WARNER, Cranbrook Daily Townsman

Politicians left Victoria Friday to spend time with their constituents as the Legislature takes a week-long break before the session resumes Nov. 19.

And as far as Columbia River - Revelstoke MLA Norm Macdonald is concerned the session hasn't gone well to this point for the government while the NDP performed above expectations.

"This has been a very good session for us but not so good for them," Macdonald said in an interview from Calgary Friday. "They went into it ill-prepared and arrogant and they took a real hiding."

In making his assessment, Macdonald pointed to the Vancouver Convention Centre deficit debacle, $500,000 spent on redecorating a Ministry of Children and Families office in Victoria, the government standing idly by while a forest company in the Interior, Pope and Talbot, sells its government-granted Tree Farm license land for quick real estate profit instead of growing timber and some embarassing cases of former government ministers and senior bureaucrats lobbying the government for favours not long after they left government themselves.

Macdonald also mentioned the celebrated baby booster seat scandal, which saw some government Ministers and MLAs giving away the car seats to low income people in their ridings while none of the safety seats were given for opposition members to hand out.

"That was absolutely ridiculous," said the Columbia River - Revelstoke MLA. "Doing a thing like that is indefensible."

The Daily Townsman was unable to reach East Kootenay MLA Bill Bennett, who was in transit and unavailable for an interview. But Bennett is expected to give his assessment of the session later this week.

Meanwhile Macdonald said the session wasn't a triumph for the Liberals that they and many media pundits had expected.

"Even when they ratified the Tsawwassen Agreement there was a huge First Nations demonstration against it outside and the Premier's speech was flat."

In the daily grind of question period, several government Ministers appeared 'ill prepared and out of their depth' during the session Macdonald said.

In some ways, the NDP opposition may have benefited from low expectations place on them, but when a government pet projection like the convention centre spirals out of control it couldn't but help the opposition's cause, Macdonald says.

"All the mistakes they accused the NDP of on the fast ferries fiasco have been duplicated on the convenion centre except they were duplicated on a grander scale," he said. "They lied on the figures when they first said it would only cost $400 million and the whole thing has become a ridiculous waste of the taxpayers' money."