What would it be like if we lived in an NDP world, you ask?
It would be awesome -- if you were a whistleblower, a locavore confined to hospital or a ferry rider who prefers sailing on Canadian-made, preferably B.C.-made, vessels.
It would be less awesome if you like driving around with your dog in the back of the truck, or prefer voting in May, as we do now, rather than October.
As well as criticizing government bills, the Opposition always has the option of proposing its own legislation, in the form of private members' bills. They rarely go anywhere, but are often introduced just to draw attention to causes or issues.
So while the government introduced 28 bills -- nearly all of which passed -- the NDP introduced two dozen bills, just to stake out positions. Many of them have been around for years and get re-introduced routinely.
Here are some highlights from the parallel universe:
One bill outlined new protection for whistleblowers. All bosses of public-sector bodies would have to set up procedures to investigate whistleblowers' claims of wrongdoing and protect the whistleblowers from blowback. They would file annual reports on the number of whistles blown and what happened to the claims. No reprisals would be allowed against employees who disclose or threaten to disclose information.
Another would create a legislative committee on food, and order an increase in the percentage of local food that public organizations purchase. It would start with hospitals and residential-care facilities. The concept has been kicked around for years, but not much has emerged in the way of policy.
All ferries, police boats and all other boats used in public service would have to be built in Canada, under the NDP's proposed Provincial Shipbuilding Act. Added weight in procurement would be given to B.C. shipyards. The same restriction would apply to repair and refit of ships.
Contractors who pay "a fair wage" would be given preference.
"Technology developed in B.C. must be used when building or using the vessels, insofar as possible," says the proposed bill.
The bill started appearing after B.C. Ferries began contracting with offshore shipyards to build the larger ferries, because of the limitations in B.C. shipyards, and the cost savings. But most smaller vessels are already built here.
Another bill creates an offence out of transporting an animal on the "running board, fender, hood or other exterior part of a vehicle" unless it's caged or there are guard rails. It also specifically outlaws keeping an animal in a vehicle without proper ventilation, something that's generally covered in existing law. It's in response to periodic cases of pets found suffocating in vehicles.
There's unequal bargaining power between franchisees and the corporations that offer the franchises, so a private bill was introduced to even the relationship. It would require full disclosure and allow disputes to be litigated in B.C. courts, or through a resolution process.
General elections were fixed for the second Tuesday in May 15 years ago, but there has been occasional debate since then about moving the fixed date to October. The provincial budget is introduced in February but is not yet fully audited by May. Changing elections to October would "remove the perceived possibility of distorting budget numbers in advance of a general election," says an NDP bill that would order just that.
Also on the subject of elections, the NDP is making a push for various democratic reforms and one of them is on campaign financing. A private bill would ban all political donations from corporations, businesses, unions, interest groups and law firms in municipal and provincial elections. It would also require a review of all the rules on campaign financing and focus on alternative financing systems, including public financing.
That would involve taxpayers funding political parties, something that occurred federally for 11 years before it was eliminated this year.
There's also a bill to allow for electronic petitions. Huge stacks of signatures on petitions are routinely tabled in the legislature. The bill would allow online petitions to suffice. But the petitions are just as routinely ignored. E-filing them would make that even easier.
