THE first week of the spring legislative sitting was a week from hell for the B.C. Liberals, and if this continues the rumours bubbling beneath the surface will soon boil over publicly.
Some of the whispers seem wild, others quite plausible. When a government is in as much trouble as this one, anything is possible.
To recap, the first week began with the premier opting to read a 10-minute address on CKNW's Bill Good Show and then take questions from the host and listeners for almost 90 minutes.
Her communications strategy was sharply criticized by competing media, but even though her speech was pretty well empty of news it did attract a ton of media coverage.
Her radio stint was quickly forgotten in any event, as other issues rose to the fore. First among them was the puzzling increase in stays of proceedings in our justice system. Even though the crime rate is down and the number of cases going to court is also dropping, the number of stays has increased dramatically.
This gave the NDP the perfect hammer in question period, and it used it to beat the government over the head over two cases. One involved a suspected sexual predator who went free after a 27-month delay, and the other was a suspected drunk driver who had his charge stayed after more than 48 months - 48 months! - of delays.
Now, it's not entirely clear what's behind these cases. In the first one, an RCMP investigation of the suspect's home computer took 14 months to complete, which is hardly the government's fault. In the other, there was a lengthy series of adjournments for no obvious reason.
Nothing has surfaced in either case that suggests a lack of government funding or a shortage of judges as the main reasons for the delays. But in the current political climate, reason doesn't really matter. After being in government for more than 10 years, the B.C. Liberals are on the defensive on pretty well every issue and simply don't get the benefit of the doubt these days.
Next up was a mammoth 400-page report by the provincial ombudsman that dumped a world of criticism on the government over its handling of seniors care in pretty well every aspect of their lives.
The government responded to the 400-page report with a 10-page brochure of its own, filled with vague generalities and a promise to create a seniors' advocate with as-yet undefined powers and duties.
Then the provincial auditor general waded in with a report of his own, this one harshly critical of the government's lack of planning and foresight when it comes to the state of our extremely important tracts of forested land.
The next day, the B.C. Utilities Commission slapped the government again, ruling its phony "deferral" accounting at BC Hydro had to be covered in part by even higher rates.
All this preceded the spring budget. I'm filing this column one day before its introduction, but I'm betting it's not going to be very popular.
All of which brings us to the whispered scenarios, rumours and intrigue. It seems only a matter of time before someone organizes a betting pool on who will be the first sitting B.C. Liberal to bolt the party and sit as an independent. B.C. Conservative leader John Cummins insists any MLA wanting to come to his party must quit his seat first and seek election under the party banner, although we'll see how long that stipulation lasts.
If one goes, how many will follow? Keep an eye on Liberal-held ridings that used to be fertile turf for the old federal Reform party. The MLAs from those areas - most are from the Interior - are the most vulnerable to a serious surge in support for the B.C. Conservatives, since much of that surge will be felt in their backyards. They are the most likely to bolt the party as the next election draws nearer.
My favourite story making the rounds sees a rump group of B.C. Liberals - which would include at least one cabinet minister - bolting to the B.C. Conservatives and turning that party into the socalled free-enterprise coalition, abandoning the sinking B.C. Liberal ship in the process.
As I said, some of this is plausible (an MLA or two bolting the party) while some seems wild (the wholesale departure of a bunch of them).
But we saw governments in this province completely fall apart twice before after a lengthy time in government: the Socreds in 1991 and the NDP in 2001.
It could certainly happen again - especially if the week from hell becomes commonplace.
