Gordon Campbell's 2010 reorganization of the province's natural resource ministries has been called, according to The Vancouver Sun's Vaughn Palmer, the premier's "last bad decision."
But senior bureaucrats staunchly defended that decision in a backgrounder prepared for his successor Christy Clark, stating that complaints about it are coming from those who lost personal power as a result of the reorganization.
The overhaul created a one-stop-shop super ministry for the regulation, authorization and permitting of natural resource development - a responsibility that was formerly shared by several disparate departments.
But natural resource policy making remained the purview of those other ministries.
The wisdom of that separation - and the confusion the reorganization created - was criticized by everyone from then energy minister Blll Bennett to members of the environmental community.
Nevertheless, a backgrounder submitted to Clark's transition team by the head of the public service lobbied for the Ministry of Natural Resource Operations' continued existence.
The backgrounder acknowledged the "transition to the new model has been predictably challenging."
But it has been viewed "very positively by staff and most stakeholders."
As for those who haven't viewed it positively, the backgrounder stated "a correlation exists between those resistant to the restructuring and a perceived loss of traditional stature."
In addition, "concerns by some industry players that the restructuring would increase delays in permitting have not borne out."
As a result, the backgrounder urged Clark not to reverse Campbell's decision, pointing out the necessity of having "one decision maker" who can "assign and move government resources to address the highest priorities; standardize processes; and make decisions on the land while understanding cumulative effects."
Moreover, the backgrounder argued, "a reversal will create a significant morale issue in a workforce of less than 5,000 staff. The hard-to-quantify cost to government in terms of lost productivity would be high."
Since then, Clark has appeared to back away from some aspects of Campbell's reorganization - combining the Ministry of Natural Resource Operations with the Ministry of Forests and Land.
But the future of that structure is uncertain, with MLA Randy Hawes being appointed by the premier to review it.
Companies to continue funding political meetings
Last week, Canada's premiers were criticized for letting corporations sponsor their recent summer meeting in Vancouver. But if the past is any predictor of the future, it's unlikely the Council of the Federation will put a stop to that practice.
After all, such sponsorships have been under fire since at least 1996.
Back then, the Edmonton Journal columnist Linda Goyette wrote that letting corporations pick up the tab for such meetings "not only creates an impression of conflict of interest, and undue influence, it is a de facto conflict.
"It suggests the premiers, and their legislatures, endorse Canadian Airlines over Air Canada, CNR over CPR, Nova Corp. over every other energy company, and Telus over every other communications company."
But such criticism didn't stop that practice back then and it certainly won't now.
Sean Holman is editor of the online provincial political news journal Public Eye (publiceyeonline.com). He can be reached at [email protected].
