As she begins her tenure as premier, I ask only one thing of Christy Clark—that she will lead this province into a renaissance of open and honest democratic government. That’s all.

British Columbia and its people have been bruised by this government and its secretive, arrogant, centralized leadership.  Now is the perfect time for the new Premier to heed demands for a renewal of democracy in B.C. and a change to the way in which politics is done.

How might things change?  Certainly, government needs to change how it responds to the people.  But for the elected MLAs to actually do their job, and to represent the people as they expect us to do, our political institutions also need to change.

There are three broken elements in B.C. politics.  One is the centralization of power and influence—and the resulting failure to respond to and respect the people. Second is the manner in which the legislature does its business.  And third is the structure of the party system itself. 

We all have sensed the centralization of power, but what we might not have seen is how that influences the decisions of government and sets up the reality that the people—and the opposition—become nothing more than distractions. 

And when that power has an ideology, it naturally listens to those who reflect and can make that ideology a reality. We saw it with the NDP and we are seeing it with the Liberals. We are witnessing the remaking of the institutions of government to serve a corporate citizen.

Power has responded to industry in many ways:  the Forestry Act was gutted; the Clean Energy Act has centred power in the Cabinet; the new Water Act contemplates the sale of water licences, which will mean the eventual control of that resource by industry.  Environmental legislation has been manipulated to favour developers.  Regional land use powers have been stripped.  The Oil and Gas Commission is a captured agency with little legislative control.

And the power to oversee the use of resources is now centred in one super ministry—a secret decision made exclusively by the former premier.

We are losing trust in our institutions. Which means we are losing faith in government. So how might we stop the unrestricted centralization and abuse of power? 

First, the elected Caucus should choose its leader. That doesn’t mean favour won’t be curried and the leader won’t exercise power; but it does mean Caucus will have influence and provide a check and balance to the unrestrained exercise of power. It does mean there is an internal mechanism that can resist the centralization of decision-making.

A Caucus should be able to vote secretly during internal debates and the decision of a Caucus must influence Cabinet policy.  Secret votes are the only way to ensure caucus members can’t be influenced by fear or favour as they express the will of their constituents. 

The second issue is how the Legislature does its business.  Our system is supposedly one where the government is held to account during question period.  Where legislation is tabled and debated.  Where the Throne Speech is deliberated and where the Budget is reviewed. It is the forum, supposedly, in which the people are represented.

But in reality, no one is listening, because no one has to listen. 

Except for the occasional problem a minister takes under consideration not one word spoken in the legislature has any impact on government.  The only impact is through the media, which means the Fourth Estate – the media – is the actual repository of opposition power.

In this modern world, with everyone watching and capable of being involved, the Members of the Legislative Assembly must have influence if representation is to mean anything.  And that means a substantial change to the legislative committee structure is critical.

Committees are creatures of the Legislature.  Even so, they only meet when empowered by a government motion and in fact, most never meet.  Environment, Health, Crown Corporations, Education – none has met since I took my seat in the House.

Rules must require regular meetings. Committees must be independent of Ministers and able to set their own agendas.  While the Committee Chairs are ostensibly elected, it is a leader’s decision and that must change. Committee membership should be an even-number-plus-one of government members, although I would argue that the very real need for checks and balances within the parliamentary system make it reasonable to suggest that the committee majority should lie with the Opposition.

To ensure MLAs are actually able to act as the people’s representatives, the government should be obliged to accept and action the recommendations of committee reports.  And finally, committees must have the authority to review legislation—and the government should have to debate in the Assembly why it is not accepting committee amendments.

These procedural reforms would change the entire dynamic of the Legislature.  It would be a fundamental reform to representative democracy in B.C. It would create checks and balances within the system.  And to get there, the Speaker must strike a special committee to recommend the reform of parliament.

Lastly is the manner in which parties choose their candidates, whether at the riding or leadership level. 

Good people require access to the opportunity to run and that requires both reasonable spending and contribution levels, which the system imposes during elections, but which don’t necessarily exist at the party level.  This needs to change.

But the other horror of the system is the membership drive. It is shady and demeaning. The parties must impose a membership cut-off at the time a vote is set.  I have seen people walk into a party headquarters and deliver hundreds (or thousands) of membership applications and tens of thousands of dollars – all in one lump drop. Corruption is inherent and the privilege of a vote is meaningless.

The parties won’t stop it because it’s money and future fundraising lists.  So the individuals who understand the party’s values, who organize and contribute and who should be determining our candidates, have to stand and watch an odious process they cannot control.

And the only way to bring reason to the system is to threaten legislation and oversight by the Chief Electoral Officer.

Power is a component of leadership, and change ultimately depends on the responsiveness of the leader.  The people won’t and shouldn’t tolerate the kind of government we’ve been getting.  We need change. And I hope I can support Premier Clark as she leads us into a democratic renewal of politics in B.C.