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If one didn't realize an election was approaching in the "Best Place on Earth," the sudden onslaught of feel good stories designed to reflect handsomely on the Campbell Cabal should be enough to make the non-comatose suspect as much. No wonder the BC liaRs think Bill 42, commonly referred to as the "Gag Law" was a good idea. When you have free third party advertising disguised as news, a taxpayer funded "Public Affairs Bureau" of hundreds and the ability to use tax dollars to create and place advertising extolling the "Bestest Place on Earth," who needs the help of third parties, even if Phillip Hochstein and his ilk are willing to spend bags of money to attack unions and the NDP?

Of course when in opposition the Gordo gang thought a similar
limit on "third party advertising" proposed by the NDP was an assault on free speech. In other words he was agin' it until he decided he was fer it. Poor old StoneWally, I'm surprised that he is even running again, one would think he would be tired of being the point man defending the Cabal for a measly public servant income - as a criminal defense lawyer his income could be more (especially with elite clients like Gordon Campbell)and his loyalties (as AG he is supposed to represent us) would be clear. According to the Globe and Mail:

The Attorney-General was responsible last year for introducing the new law, which came into effect last month. Groups other than political parties face spending limits on any advertising message that promotes or opposes a political party or candidate - or even "an issue with which a registered political party or candidate is associated."

Mr. Oppal said at the time the law was needed to prevent well-financed third parties from hijacking the electoral process. The big spenders in past election campaigns have been business groups attacking the New Democratic Party and trade unions attacking the Liberals.

Because the law is being challenged in the B.C. Supreme Court, Mr. Oppal won't comment now on whether the spending limits are having the impact he had hoped. (bolding - kc)

Last night on Global BC at Six, Deb's Insight piece misleadingly seemed to imply that the Gord and the execs of the Health Authorities who get bonuses for reducing services had solved waiting times and that even non-essential surgeries were being performed on an almost drop-in basis. What was left out of her glowing happy story was more fascinating, but of course totally unsurprising. Since in my part of paradise all I see on the ground is continuing reductions in services and less accessibility I had to slap myself to make sure I wasn't watching some TeeVee drama. So I tried to find her piece on the Glow Ball website, but with no success - I wanted to double check some of the figures she quoted and determine just what they meant.

I did find and article in the Province (Canned Waste again) from a few days ago that apparently was kind of, sort of, the basis for her promo spot. The first thing that I found interesting was that the article itself (Patients to need less patience) was in the TRAVEL section of the esteemed bird cage liner. Even less surprising was that the changes referred to were implemented in January, too far in advance of the election to be publicized at the time, I guess.

Over the course of five days in January, a series of small changes -- which promise to have big implications for patient waiting times and patient safety -- were quietly made in a few of Vancouver's biggest health care facilities.

The changes are a positive step, and hopefully will be implemented in more facilities in our health system. But they are far from widespread and far from being the result of any government policy or even very much the execs of the Health Authorities. They came from mostly the input of the front line health care workers who brainstormed in Toyota inspired group settings to improve the delivery of health care.

Changes in waiting times and safety have been implemented in a few of the biggest health care facilities in Vancouver.

.......snip

So far, the Provincial Health Services Authority -- which includes BC Women's and Children's hospitals, the BC Cancer Agency and the BC Centre for Disease Control -- has completed 45 Toyota-inspired projects.

All levels of staff have been included, from front-desk clerks to doctors to vice-presidents to the CEO. Groups of eight or 10 people are thrown into a room together, presented with the details of the problem, instructed on how to map it out, and then they brainstorm solutions, implementing one of them by week's end.

Several other B.C. health authorities, including Vancouver Coastal and Providence, have also been using Toyota-based methods to tighten up workflow and eliminate waste. The philosophy is commonly referred to as "lean management," and was first applied in earnest to the health care system at the beginning of the decade.

As an inhabitant on the Vast Hurtland, I can't resist paraphrasing a John Prine song:

"There's a place down by the coast where all the money goes"

I repeat, I think this approach and its results are a good thing and hope it is just a start. But it is somewhat disingenous for anyone to credit the Campbell government with any progress achieved. This could as easily be portrayed as a success achieved by those responsible for the front line delivery of health care, IN SPITE of government policies that seem designed to make the broken and expensive American private/for profit model seem desirable.

Unlike say the BC Rail Trial, or various investigations of insider deals involving cabinet ministers, no story likely to make BC residents feel good about Gordo fails to rise to the level of being newsworthy (as decided by CanWest/Global deciders of what's important like Lucinda Chodan or Sun Managing Editor Kirk LaPointe). Of course when reporting on an issue that may cast the current regime in a less than heroic light mention must always be made that the nasty NDP are either trying to "exploit" the issue or even more commonly did it themselves or worse when they had the chance.

I can't help but recommend "Gullible Gord," Rafe Mair's most recent contribution to the Mild One Online. He concisely lists plenty of reasons to hope that Gordo is free to spend all the time he wants in Maui, after May 12. I especially enjoyed the comment by doggone2 in which he relates a moose hunting story.