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gary mason

Hell hath no fury like a government short of cash. Especially one that trades on its economic bona fides come election time.

When B.C. Liberal Premier Gordon Campbell came to office in 2001 he unleashed a top-to-bottom review of all government agencies in an effort to bring finances in order. The result wasn't pretty. It led to protests of all kinds from any number of public-sector groups affected by the restructuring and cost-slashing that occurred.

Eventually the good times began to roll and the province found itself awash in cash. The economy was booming and Victoria was raking in hundreds of millions in royalties from the oil-and-gas sector alone. It had money for just about everything. And then the global economic meltdown of 2009 had to come along and ruin everything.

Now Mr. Campbell finds himself in much the same position he was in when first elected eight years ago. The implosion of the world economy smashed his government's fiscal plans to smithereens. In February, his Finance Minister announced the government would be forced to run a nearly $500-million deficit for the coming year. This, after Mr. Campbell vowed not to run a deficit of any kind.

But by the spring, you couldn't find an economist in the province who thought the Liberals would be able to keep the deficit at $500-million. Most were predicting a shortfall of $2- to $3-billion. But throughout the April-May election campaign, Mr. Campbell continued to insist the budget would not be more than forecast.

After the Liberals had secured their third successive term in office, the truth came out. The deficit will now likely be $3-billion and the province will be in a deficit position for at least the next four years.

And politicians wonder why fewer and fewer people bother to vote.

Anyway, Mr. Campbell is now on a cost-cutting mission, the extent of which was hinted at in a dull Speech from the Throne yesterday in the B.C. Legislature, highlighted by some truly cringe-inducing imagery. ("The fiscal cupboard is bare and currently hangs on a wall of deficit spending.")

The government had earlier announced head-to-toe, operational reviews of B.C. Ferries and TransLink, a public transit agency, with an eye to trimming costs. But the Throne Speech indicated that may be just the beginning. "Health authorities, Boards of Education and Crown corporations will all be subject to similar reviews in the year ahead. Where service-delivery mechanisms can be improved at a lower administrative cost, they should be."

Which, translated, means: Duck, now.

History has shown that reviews designed to extract cost savings rarely occur without a fight. How nasty it gets this time around will depend on how desperate Mr. Campbell and his government are for money. The deeper the cuts, of course, the louder the protests on the lawns of the B.C. Legislature will become.

None of this is to say the government should not be initiating these reviews. This is what happens, or at least should, when governments inevitably find themselves in this position. Economies go up and economies go down. Resource-based economies are always more vulnerable to these cycles than ones that are more diverse.

Still, I think people working directly in government should gird themselves for certain upheaval.

Mr. Campbell is not a popular man in B.C. right now. His decision to introduce a harmonized sales tax has not gone over well. He's been accused of lying about the size of the deficit to win an election. And there have been other flip-flops that people aren't thrilled about.

But facing reporters yesterday he appeared every bit the veteran pol who's been through the wars. And not insignificantly, one who doesn't have to face the electorate again for four more years - if he decides to run.

Asked about his credibility among voters at the moment, the Premier said: "I run to do what's right, not what's popular. It's a challenging time, an unpredictable time."

And what happens over the next few months is really anyone's guess.

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