BowlandWho?The answer, from the polite folks in the communications department, who could easily have ignored a call that was not coming from a major newspaper or TV station, or even from the U.S., was as follows:
“Regarding the number of hard landings that Washington State Ferries have experienced in 2010 and 2011 – the answer is two.”
Early last Wednesday morning - just after 2 a.m. - my home phone rang. That's usually a reason for concern - the first thing that springs to mind is a family emergency somewhere. But this call was about another kind of emergency.
"Keith, it's Dave Hahn. Sorry about the early call, but I thought you should know. One of our vessels has just gone down north of Vancouver Island. I'm trying to get an update on the passengers. I'll keep you informed, but I thought you might want to get going on this."
It was a startling phone call, to say the least. Startling because the ferry had only sunk about an hour before, startling because of the potential magnitude of the ferry disaster, and startling because of the forthrightness of the man who runs BC Ferries.
Mr. Hahn and I talked several more times in the early hours of that morning. He would phone with updates - the most important of which was about the state of the passengers - and try to provide as much information as possible.
As the morning went on, he started appearing seemingly everywhere - one minute on CKNW, the next moment on CBC Radio, the next on Global TV. BC Ferries had hastily chartered a plane to fly Mr. Hahn and Premier Gordon Campbell to Prince Rupert to meet the Queen of the North's passengers. He invited me and a Global cameraman to accompany them.
As this potentially giant crisis was still developing, Mr. Hahn was front and centre with the public. Rather than hiding and adopting a bunker mentality when faced with a disaster for the company, he was out in front of the story, trying to provide information as quickly as possible.
In other words, he was behaving exactly the opposite of how most politicians act when faced with a crisis. The usual experience, from this reporter's perspective, is having to wait for hours outside a cabinet minister's office (or a premier's office) as nervous aides huddle, trying to figure out a damage control plan before saying anything publicly.
Not so with Mr. Hahn.
It's a refreshing approach from the head of a large company, and one that I suspect resonates well with the general public. I ran into Mr. Hahn at a Victoria gas station this past weekend, and attendants there were congratulating him for "being upfront" about everything. The radio phone-in shows have also reflected positive reviews - not scientific research, I admit, but my instincts tell me the approach is working.
All this injects yet another perspective into the ongoing debate over the privatization of BC Ferries. I have a very hard time believing information would have been forthcoming so quickly in the wake of this kind of disaster if BC Ferries were still run by the provincial government.
There are valid concerns about the need for public accountability when it comes to BC Ferries, since the company basically controls the transportation ability for thousands of people who rely on the ferry system for travel, commuting or the shipment of goods.
For example, the company is exempt from B.C.'s freedom of information law, which shields it from a significant level of scrutiny.
There are certainly parts of privatization that trouble many people. But in terms of accountability in the face of a disaster as large as the sinking of the Queen of the North, I'll take Mr. Hahn's approach over his predecessors - as in cabinet ministers - any day.
Keith Baldrey is chief political reporter for Global B.C.
Q. How do you feel about contracting out to private surgery facilities?
A. What I’ve discovered, in the vast majority of cases, is that people have little interest in who owns or operates the facility. What they want to know is that when they require treatment, they can present their Care Card and receive treatment in a timely way.
Q. What about paying for it themselves?
A. Well I am sure there are some who prefer that option. I put that question to the federal minister just a few weeks ago because I wanted to know if the majority federal government is planning any changes to the Canada Health Act and the answer was no. So the Canada Health Act structure will remain unchanged and we are going to manage on that basis.
TheBestEverBesterEverer
"Last week the dedicated team of Crown counsel assigned to the Stanley Cup riot prosecutions advised the court of their intention to apply to have these proceedings publicly broadcast.
This is in keeping with a commitment set out in the government's throne speech, and I want to explain why I have directed these applications to be made.
This government believes that the courts need to be open institutions for the public and when we have opportunities to enhance the transparency of our justice system, we need to pursue those....
{snippety doo-dah}
...I can think of no better way and in no better circumstance than with the Vancouver riots for the public to see justice in action...."
VANCOUVER — There’s been so much graffiti in Vancouver over the years very little sticks in the memory. But I still recall a bizarre message somebody spray-painted on a wall near one of the downtown bridges about 30 years ago: “Tunnel Canary Hates You.”
There may have been an exclamation point, as well. Lord knows what the masses thought about it, because few people in Vancouver knew who, or what, Tunnel Canary was. Let alone why they would hate them.
People in the punk underground understood, however. Tunnel Canary was the most out-there band in Vancouver’s great punk/new wave/art rock explosion of 1978-9. They didn’t play that much, but when they did, they made a point of being in your face.....
AllTheSunshineThatFits
...The ferry itself took damage to the portside door, which means having a replacement part made and flown in from Germany...
{snippety doo-dah}
...It’s really odd that the company finds itself in the position of having to have door parts made abroad.
Crew tell me the new ferries “cost us a lot” in parts and maintenance. They say the deal made for the vessels with the German yard was kind of like buying a Porsche, where you can’t go out later and buy parts of your choice. You have to get them flown in, at whatever price the seller chooses, and you can’t make them yourself, because you haven’t negotiated any patents. So for some other ships in the fleet, engineers can machine new parts. On the Coastals, the bow doors are a different design that lifts the door and then slides it on a roller. When it works, it’s really slick. But when it gets hit, the damage is huge. It’s a heavy door but a fairly light track system, and that and the cylinders that lift the door are what gets ruined when the door gets whacked, the engineers say. That’s when you get stuck with a month-long wait and a big bill for parts.
And that’s where you find yourself when you go for the kind of contract Ferries signed for the German newbuilds. Great on the front end: good price, lots to brag about, on time and on budget. The bills come in later....
Premier Christy Clark's decision to appoint someone from her office to oversee government communications is a further politicization of what's supposed to be a nonpartisan civil service, a longtime political analyst says.
"It's this phenomenon of the politicization of the senior bureaucracy, and that's a pretty established trend," said Norman Ruff, political science professor emeritus at the University of Victoria. "The line is getting blurred between policy orientation and politicization."
Clark's deputy minister of corporate priorities, Athana Mentzelopoulos, was named deputy minister of Labour, Citizens' Services and Open Government on Friday.
She'll oversee the communications and public engagement office, a $26million operation with 197 full-time employees. She'll report to minister Margaret MacDiarmid.
The civil service is supposed to run in a nonpartisan manner, focused on the best interests of the provincial government and its citizens, rather than the political consequences and partisan interests of the governing party and its politicians.
"Your prime focus is effective, efficient public policy," said Ruff. "Where you get people playing on both teams, it undermines the quality of the policy process."....
{snippety doo-dah}
Clark's decision to put a trusted lieutenant in charge of communications shows her focus, Ruff said.
"Policy, especially under Clark, has become very much about communications," he said. "It's about talk rather than action."....
