In my last article for the Libertas Post I talked about this story from independent journalist Sean Holman in Public Eye Online:
"The ministries of forests and range and environment are currently advertising for candidates to "fill positions within their executive ranks." And, according to a "role profile" attached to that advertisement, those hired are expected to demonstrate a number of behaviours including being able to "create a crisis to force change" so they can "capitalize on the best opportunity." The profile, which appears to apply to senior civil servants across government, goes onto state such decisions involve a "high level of risk," requiring executives to "acknowledge the ultimate consequences if they do not succeed.""
Now, this is all bad enough. But, as I noted in my article, it's also enough to make one wonder about whether or not the next 'crisis' that happens to come about is real or manufactured.
BC's populace already distrusts its government thanks to a variety of scandals and the like over the past few years - the introduction of a new tax this year was really the tipping point for a lot of unrest.
And so, to throw in just one more reason to distrust the government, to add in just one more little reason for paranoia - well, that can't be a good thing.
This isn't to say that the paranoia might not be for a good reason, as - again - Sean Holman at Public Eye Online also reports:
""We inherited a railway that was bankrupt and in disarray." That's how Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Shirley Bond recently rationalized her government's decision to privatize British Columbia Railway Co.'s operations in 2003. Similarly, her cabinet colleague Kevin Falcon told The Globe and Mail it's necessary to push down healthcare spending because "if we don't do this, our system will implode under the weight of its own excess and inefficiency." But political analysts and commentators have persuasively pointed out BC Rail was profitable and healthcare spending isn't as out of control as Mr. Falcon would have us believe. So is the government just wrong or is it manufacturing crises so it can make decisions that would otherwise be unpalatable to the public?"
Thanks to this latest scandal, that has become an important question. We always seem to be in the midst of some disaster, or some crisis or other. And thanks to someone in the BC government - be they civil servants or otherwise - these disasters and problems are now going to be plagued by doubt: Is it real, or fake?
That can't be a good thing either.
