A government’s first and foremost responsibility should be to the people it is elected to serve – not just party members, but all the people.
The recent provincial election may have served as a reminder of this to the BC Liberal government, whose majority in legislature slipped from 77 seats to 46, with the B.C. New Democrats taking the remaining 33.
As a result, the B.C. Liberals may be taking a less aggressive, more inclusive, approach to governing. One example of this was their decision to fold its Crown corporation Land and Water BC, Inc. (LWBC).
Initially charged with the mandate of selling small amounts of surplus land in the province, LWBC received new responsibilities under the Liberals, and was charged with “providing timely and continued access to land and water resources through tenures, licences and land sales.”
As LWBC grew to a corporation of over 300 employees, with its own president, vice-presidents and senior executives, it became more aggressive in its practices of “managing” the province’s Crown lands.
Eventually B.C. residents began to notice areas, known for their natural beauty, were being targeted by LWBC. From the Jumbo Valley in the Kooteneys, to the Lost Trails Wetlands on Vancouver Island, to the Metchosin Wilderness Park, to areas around Lac des Roches and Birch Lake, grassroots organizations rose up against LWBC’s attempts to sell off public lands.
Whether the efforts of those organizations played a part in the outcome of the provincial election or the following government cabinet shuffle that saw to the end of LWBC, who could say?
Maybe this smaller Liberal government will heed its citizens more and be more benevolent with the power it wields.