Oppal vs Coleman, Round I?

RedMeatHiding?
InTheStewVille

Clearly Gordon Campbell and/or his handlers have decided that the spin must move towards the center, at least for the time being:

"Former CBC chair Carole Taylor is the new finance minister, while the Liberals' other star candidate – former judge Wally Oppal – is B.C.'s new attorney general......

Rich Coleman, who had been solicitor general and minister of public safety, is the new forests and range minister. And John Les takes over Coleman's old job."


But is the RedMeat faction of the BC Liberal Party really ready take a backseat to the so-called Moderatos?

Or, as Rich Coleman did in his last public act as the province's so-called 'Top-Cop' yesterday, will they try to get out and front of things to cut them off at the pass?

How else to explain Mr. Coleman's sudden reversal on his previous 'everything's fine here, move along' position on the Police Complaints issue that led him to appoint retired judge Ben Casson to undertake an 'independent inquiry' into the process.

Now, we have no reason, based on his track record, to question Mr. Casson's impartiality, particularly given that his activities in BC (he was previously a judge in Alberta) began way back in Mike Harcourt's government.

But there are two things worth noting.

First, Mr. Casson himself served as acting Police Complaints Commissioner for a short period after the resignation of the somewhat less-than-uber-independent Don Morrison.

Thus, it would not be unreasonable to suggest that the fact that he ran the thing for awhile might make it more difficult for Mr. Casson to make really tough recommendations if they are required.

Second, and perhaps more importantly, Mr. Casson is to report directly to the director of 'Police Services', which has us wondering if this means that the newly-minted AG, and house Moderato, Wally Oppal, will be cut-out of the process.

Only time will tell.

The important point here?

Well, unlike the bad old days when Mr. Morrison, VPD Chief Mr. Graham, and their friends could sweep unpopular things under the rug whenever the going got tough, this time around there are a lot of people ready to scream from the rooftops if the Redmeaters try to bury things at the bottom of the stew.

And I'm not just talking about the advocates, smalltime bloggers like myself, or even the growing voice of the Tyee for that matter because, based on his truly independent decision last week on the Pivot Legal Society matter, the current Complaints Commissioner Mr. Ryneveld has proven that he can speak truth to power and make it listen.

And that is a very good thing indeed.

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