TheOptimismOf
TheCapoVille
The following is from a post I wrote in the deepest, darkest days of GordCo Inc's destruction of British Columbia's social contract back
in late 2005:
The central tenet of the neandercons' con is that the private sector can run absolutely everything more efficiently than government.
Thus, the mainstream media-driven mantra that 'privatization is good for everyone.'
Unfortunately, even in specific situations where skeptics like me might, in a weak moment, be willing to meet them halfway, things rarely work out as planned.
Witness CN's recent repeated derailments, or Maximus' repeated problems answering phone calls, or BC Ferries' repeated difficulties keeping propellers turning.
But all of these problems pale in comparison to those that have engulfed the Ministry of Children and Family Development since Mr. Campbell and his minions began to wreak their havoc in 2001.
Sound a little over the top?
Sure.
But.....
Remember Doug Walls?
Remember the ditching of community- based small non-profits for the centralized business model?
Remember how inefficient that turned out to be and how much it cost us?
Remember the eight, maybe nine, figure cutbacks?
Remember the bloviating of former BC Liberal cabinet ministers, one of whom later quit and tried to become Mayor of Vancouver?
Remember the death of the little girl at the hands of a clearly unsuitable relative acting as a foster parent?
Heard about the almost total breakdown of the effectiveness of social workers whose caseloads have skyrocketted?
Sure, we all know all about that.
And now we also know about the tragic case of another little girl's death that was never even investigated because of the total emasculation of child protection oversight initiated by the BC Liberals.
This tragedy is not something that can be waved away with rhetoric. It is political dynamite and a former special investigator who worked with the coroner's office named Kathleen Stephany is not pulling any punches as she comes out swinging with her side of the story.
Of course, as a prelude to the stonewall to come, the savaging of Ms. Stephany has already begun because, rumour has it, she is nothing more than a 'disgruntled former employee'.
Trains jumping the tracks repeatedly because a former crown, now private, corporation is cutting costs in narrow, twisting canyons is one thing, but business model-mediated mistreatment of defenseless children is an act malfeasance that must end.
Now.
Unfortunately, nothing really started to change for another eleven years that wasn't driven by the courts. Even the independent child and youth representative, which was first disappeared early in GordCo Inc's 'New Era' but later reinstated in the wake of
a scathing report by Ted Hughes that dealt with, among many other undefensible things, the uninvestigated deaths of hundreds of children in the New Era's so called 'care'.
But here's the thing....
Those of us that were paying attention back in the day could see that all of those things listed above (and more) were bad, intentional and ideological. In addition, we could also see that they were driven by willful tax cuts,
often for the most wealthy among us, that created huge deficits that required massive budget cuts that helped justified privatization.
How do we now know for sure that we were right all along?
Well, it turns out that one of GordCo Inc's longest serving capos, former BC Liberal minister George Abbott has written a political science dissertation telling everyone concerned that this was, indeed the case;
Andrew Macleod has the story in the Tyee.
Here is a bit about how GordCo's New Era approach resulted in the savaging of the Child and Family Services ministry that ultimately made
the Hughes investigation necessary:
...“Although the tax cut was undoubtedly popular among many British Columbians, few fully understood the fiscal repercussions that would follow,” Abbott wrote. “Cautionary advice was dismissed and tax cuts quickly translated into a $4.4-billion deficit and deep expenditure reductions for ministries other than Health, Education, and Advanced Education.”
Since the three protected ministries made up 70 per cent of the province’s budget, deep cuts had to be made in the resource and social ministries that make up the rest of provincial spending.
Abbott goes into detail with chapters on what those cuts meant in three ministries: community, Aboriginal and women’s services; human resources; and children and family development.
In the case of the children and families ministry, where the impact was perhaps most dramatic, the focus became on reducing the caseload. That eventually led to news stories about the deaths of children and the failure to review many of those deaths, and a report by Ted Hughes that traced the issue back to the 2001 budget cuts.
In Abbott’s account, the Liberals’ 2001 campaign promises to maintain and improve services were trumped by tax cuts and fiscal commitments.
“When the generous vision for children and families embraced by the New Era document proved incompatible with the twin imperatives of tax cuts in 2001 and a balanced budget by 2004, the vision succumbed to those political imperatives,” he wrote.
“Unfunded cost pressures proved a recurrent challenge across the New Era and demonstrated one point conclusively: demand for services may rise or fall for any number of economic, demographic or social reasons, but concern for a finance minister’s balanced budget will not be among them.”...
Now.
There is much that is laudable in Mr. Abbott's attempt to set the record straight, after the fact.
But.
Why did he not do something about the problem at the time or, at the very least, why did he not quit and tell British Columbians what was really going on when it was still possible do something about it?
Here is Mr. Abbott's explanation, again from Mr. McLeod's Tyee piece:
...“I think some people will be surprised that I’m as blunt as I am,” Abbott said in an interview, adding that his account is a cautionary tale for politicians everywhere. “I think governments should be extraordinarily cautious before launching any tax cut that in an adverse economic shift will produce drastic cuts to public programs.”
The tax cut, despite its large impact, was never debated in cabinet, Abbott said. “There wasn’t a lot of opportunity to say anything at the time. It was a done deal on day one.”
He acknowledged some people would ask why there wasn’t more public dissent from him or others inside the government. Abbott said despite his misgivings and belief that a more modest tax cut would have been wiser, he chose to remain optimistic, work hard and hope for the best...
Personally, I'm not entirely convinced that Mr. Abbott's approach in that regard was so laudable.
Especially that 'hope for the best' part given that the demonstrable evidence at the time indicated that, in many cases, the worst was in fact occurring.
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Update: Apologies for getting monicker wrong initially.
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