August 17, 2004
Kamloops Daily News



Premier Campbell is a clever politician.  I know because
Premier Ralph Klein of Alberta said so.

"A stroke of brilliance," said Klein, referring to
Campbell's proposed national pharmacare program.  In fact,
the premiers liked it so much that they gave it unanimous
approval at a recent meeting.

The brilliance is in the politics.  For the past decade, 
the premiers have had their backs against the wall as then
finance minister Paul Martin slashed money to the provinces.

Back then, it was Martin's turn at clever politics.  He was
able to cut spending for health care without getting blamed
for the mess he created.  Martin cut billions and the
premiers took the flack.  He got away with it because health
care is a provincial responsibility.

Martin was hailed as a hero for slashing the federal
deficit.  He could depend on the blindness of Canadians in
failing to see the connection between spending cuts and
dwindling health care.

Now he is prime minister and Martin's next clever political
move is televising the upcoming meetings with the premiers
on health care.  He was counting on the usual wrangling 
among the 13 leaders as they disagree on just about
everything from provincial jurisdiction to accountability
for health care spending.

So, unanimous agreement by the premiers is an unexpected
surprise and not according to Martin's plan.   Public
release of the premiers' proposal is clever too, because it
requires a public response from Martin.

The premiers proposal hands jurisdiction for parts of health
care over to the feds - - an area that is the constitutional
right of the provinces.   But with that handover of
jurisdiction comes financial responsibility.

Now it is the premiers who will take delight in the prospect
of the feds trying to balance growing health care
expectations with dwindling resources.

The medical merits of the pharmacare proposal has many
backers.  Linda Silas, president of the Canadian Federation
of Nurses Unions was surprised at the political support.  In
her report to the premiers,  she said "after a decade of
downloading, the federal government should upload some of
the health costs and delivery and it should start with a
public drug program."

In addition, support for the pharmacare plan is coming from
the left and right.  NDP leader Jack Layton says "What we
proposed was similar to what the premiers are proposing, so
we welcome it."

Stephen Fletcher, Conservative health critic, says "It's
encouraging that the premiers are following Stephen Harper's
lead in this regard."

Premier Campbell hopes that his popularity on the federal
scene will help boost his fortunes at home, where he isn't
doing as well.  Polls place his party tied with the
provincial NDP and Campbell's personal rating is at an
all-time low.

Campbell, the perennial optimist, figures that if he could
just get British Columbians to cheer up it would help
improve his image.

But Campbell doesn't trust the media to get his good-news
message out - - they are always reminding people of his
government's dismal record.

Hence Campbell's other clever plan.  The first part is the
TV ads paid for by the government of B.C.   On the surface,
they seem innocent enough.  With breathtaking pictures of
B.C. as a backdrop, people tell us over and over that this
is "the best place on earth"   The ad invites viewers to
vacation in B.C.   It makes you feel warm and wonderful to
live in our province.  If you missed the ads, they are on
the government web site.

The second part of the plan is the full-page newspaper ads
like the one in The Daily News that proclaim B.C. as "The
best place on earth to live, work, play (July 31)" and that
we are leading the country in economic growth and job
creation.  This is not a travel ad.  It's a political ad.  
It makes a clever linkage between warm and wonderful
feelings for B.C. and how well the Liberals are doing.

The advertising campaign has Campbell's style written all
over it.  The slogan is his.  Over four years ago in an
article about technology Campbell said he wanted B.C. to be
"the best place on earth to live, learn, work and prosper."

Will British Columbians see these too-clever ads as a
manipulative attempt to improve the fortunes of Campbell? 
We will know the day after the next election on May 17,
2005.

go back to my Columns in the