The provincial civil service has warned the premier there might be problems if she keeps her controversial Liberal leadership campaign commitment to consult on creating a new holiday in February.
Christy Clark initially described her proposed Family Day as a "great chance for families to renew themselves and a reward for all the hard work that is done by B.C. workers."
But in a news release distributed in January, Clark acknowledged the business community has some "legitimate concerns" about that proposal.
As a result, she promised to talk with members of that community and families to see "if all agree the concept of a holiday in the middle of the winter makes sense."
But a confidential briefing document submitted to the premier just four days after she won the Liberal leadership race advised that "creating meaningful dialogue about the Family Day proposal will be a challenge."
According to the document, which was prepared by the Ministry of Citizens' Services, "On the one hand will be employers who will balk at the expense of another statutory holiday.
"On the other hand will be employees, who will be at best happy or at worst indifferent about an extra day."
So what should Clark do about that problem?
Well, the civil service appears to have provided the premier with some suggestions, but they were redacted by government before the release of the document in response to our freedom of information request.
Clark's promise might be a waste maker
When Clark was running for the provincial Liberal leadership, she took a page out of her predecessor's playbook and promised to get the public involved in the elimination of government red tape.
But the civil service has warned her that effort, which took the form of the Waste Buster Website under Gordon Campbell's leadership, didn't meet with much success in the past.
Waste Buster - which was launched during the first 90 days of the Liberals' term in 2001 - promised to "allow taxpayers to take an active part in reducing unnecessary spending and improving services."
Ten years later, Clark echoed that promise by committing to create an online forum where the public can help improve government policy and service delivery. Among its suggested uses: letting taxpayers nominate "regulations that should be downsized or eliminated, to cut through red tape for business and citizens."
But a confidential briefing document prepared for the incoming premier advised that Waste Buster "has been unsuccessful in achieving its goal of identifying wasteful practices in government," despite having received more than 16,200 submission to date.
The reasons, according to the document, are twofold. No. 1: "Citizens are well positioned to talk about their experiences, but they are seldom knowledgeable about the ins and outs of government regulations and policy (indeed, why should they be?)."
And No. 2: "Wastbuster (sic) reports have been managed as correspondence, which has left little room for public servants to explain the reasons why certain policies or regulations are in place."
"Without two-way dialogue, the exercise is unproductive, because it is hard for the public service to understand the real need expressed in the report, and it has hard for the citizen to understand the rationale for their experience."
So it remains to be seen whether Clark's own version of that site - if it ends up being launched - is more successful.
Sean Holman is editor of the online provincial political news journal Public Eye (publiceyeonline.com). He can be reached at [email protected].
