B.C. KNOWS IT’S A RUSE

As expected, the throne speech delivered Thursday borrowed heavily from the platforms of the New Democrat and Green parties. But it would be naive to think the Liberal caucus has converted through some sort of electoral epiphany and will embrace causes espoused by the opposition.

Maybe it’s the cynic in us, but we see the pledges to invest $1 billion to create 60,000 child-care spaces and to make child care free for families with incomes below $60,000, to raise the welfare rate by $100 a month and index disability payments, to support a ban on corporate and union donations, to drop the requirement for Metro mayors to hold a referendum on transit expansion, and to bring in a poverty-reduction plan — as beneficial as these initiatives are — as pure political gamesmanship.

Premier Christy Clark wants to show voters that the NDP- Green alliance isn’t really about making life better for British Columbians; it’s about taking over the reins of power. If the opposition believed in their own campaign promises, why would they defeat a government that had adopted them?

She also hopes to drive a wedge between the Greens and NDP by playing one off against the other. Cracks in the alliance are already apparent: For instance, NDP Leader John Horgan said during the election campaign that his government would change the B.C. Labour Code to permit a system of union certification called card check, in which a union is certified if a majority of members sign union cards. The Liberals insist they will uphold the secret ballot as currently required under the code. Green party Leader Andrew Weaver said he would vote with the Liberals to defeat any legislation that would eliminate the secret ballot.

Of course, there are matters on which the Liberals are highly unlikely to change course, namely the continuation of the Site C hydroelectric project and the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. But even on these the Greens and NDP aren’t in accord. Although both oppose the pipeline, Weaver wants Site C scrapped, while Horgan would only send it to the B.C. Utilities Commission for review.

Given that government is about politics rather than principle, the NDP- Green alliance will undoubtedly defeat the Liberal government notwithstanding all the measures in the throne speech that address their concerns. But preparing the speech will not be effort wasted — it can serve as the basis for the Liberals’ next election campaign. It should have been the basis for the last one.