MLAs are off for summer break as the Spring Legislative Session ended Thursday. But the MLAs are stepping away at a time when the BC NDP is struggling in the polls, and with multiple portfolios, including health care, the deficit, and the economy.
In February, one year after the U.S. started a trade war with Canada, the provincial government posted its three-year fiscal plan, which revealed that the deficit would exceed $13 billion this year. It included reductions in the public sector and extended timelines for capital projects, while putting forth resources to attract skilled workers.
Hamish Telford, an associate professor of political science at the University of the Fraser Valley (UFV), tells 1130 NewsRadio Vancouver it doesn’t look like much worked for the New Democrats during this session. He points to major controversies.
“I think the budget was a bit of a flop,” said Telford.
“I think they tried to engineer compromises to appease as many constituencies as possible. That was followed by other problems, particularly around Indigenous issues, and DRIPA. The court cases threw the government a curveball, and quite clearly, David Eby struggled with his own DRIPA law — wanting to make changes with that, but couldn’t get that past his own caucus. And that’s when the public began to wonder if he was really on top of things.
Telford thinks the premier tried to regain some popularity by taking on his Alberta counterpart.
“To some extent, David Eby has welcomed this battle with Danielle Smith. Anytime a premier has the opportunity to present himself as ‘Captain B.C.,’ to be a patriotic Canadian, I think that’s potentially helpful. It shows voters that at least he has a backbone, because people were beginning to wonder if he did, given his flip-flopping on other issues.”
Telford noted that Eby’s government also faced heat for not doing enough to help keep the financially struggling Vancouver Whitecaps FC in town.The B.C. government owns and operates BC Place, where the team plays, and has offered financial concessions but ruled out buying the club.
On Friday, the provincial government will announce how much it will spend to host seven FIFA World Cup matches at BC Place amid financial strain.
“With FIFA, that was entirely predictable,” Telford laughed. “I don’t think we’re going to see a great financial return. And, of course, the costs have spiralled. But again, this was entirely predictable.”
When it comes to transportation infrastructure, the province has also come under fire for big, delayed and over-budget projects like Vancouver’s Broadway Subway line.
“We saw the struggles that previous governments had on the Canada Line construction,” said Telford.
“It’s inevitable when you have this kind of infrastructure at this time in our history. Other local projects seem to be proceeding at pace, although I’m not quite sure what’s happening with the [George] Massey Tunnel Replacement Project. I think people are more frustrated by projects that haven’t happened, like Massey Tunnel, and anyone who has spent any time going through North Vancouver knows we have tremendous bottlenecks on the Iron Workers and the Lions Gate bridges. And there doesn’t seem to be any remedy in the offering.”
Related:
When it comes to education and health care, Telford says every province is struggling, and gives Victoria some credit.
“B.C. has, perhaps, made a little bit more progress than other jurisdictions on getting American doctors and nurses to come here and start to relieve the burden. But it’s not fast enough to provide everyone a family doctor. Not fast enough to… keep all emergency rooms open.”
Telford says when it comes to the BC NDP’s spending habits, the province must dole out some money to keep services running, but eventually “governments are going to have to have some hard conversations with their voters about how to get out of this.”
The fall session begins on Oct. 5.
—With files from The Canadian Press