It has been said: "Those that do not learn from history are destined to repeat it."
I wonder sometimes if even those that do learn the lessons of history are destined to repeat the mistakes. This certainly seems to be the case with the B.C. Liberals.
Consider their performance over the past ten years in comparison to the performance of the NDP in the 1990s. They are almost carbon copies of one another.
In each case, there was an initial period of jubilation after their first election.
In 1991, the NDP crushed the Social Credit and essentially eliminated them from the provincial political spectrum. Yes, the Social Credit was re-born as the B.C. Liberals but fundamental changes were required before the party could again participate in provincial politics.
In 2001, the B.C. Liberals stomped into power with an overwhelming majority. Many pundits predicted the demise of the NDP but that didn't happen. The reason is that the NDP is more than just a party of convenience for its members. It is a grass roots party with a robust ideological structure dedicated to social justice.
In each case, though, the ensuing few years was a time of prosperity. British Columbia's economy took off. The fact that the B.C. Liberals presented budgets with massive deficits and ramped up the provincial debt was quickly overlooked because we all got tax cuts. Everyone was happy for a few years.
Then things started to get sticky. The economy wasn't performing as well as it should. Revenue projections were off. In the mid-1990s, this led to deficit budgets. Ditto recently for the B.C. Liberals as our provincial debt has risen dramatically.
In both cases, outside factors - factors beyond the control and influence of the provincial government - came to bear.
In the 1990s, a perfect storm of the off-loading of Federal costs for Health, Education, and Social programs played havoc with provincial budgets across the countries. Absorbing increased costs without increased revenues is guaranteed to give any Minister of Finance a headache.
On top of this, the Asian tiger ran out of steam. The Japanese economy collapsed into a recession from which it is yet to emerge. Remember how everyone was worried about Japan taking control of our businesses and economy for much of the 1990s?
Still, by 2000, budgets were once again balanced and the province was headed towards prosperity.
In the late 2000s - 2008 to be precise - it wasn't the Asian tiger that ran out of steam but the entire American financial system that was exposed as a house of cards. Or a confidence game run by the big investment houses that threatened to bring down the entire edifice and, in turn, drag the rest of the world into a depression.
On top of this, the B.C. Liberals staked their economic strategy on "lower taxes". We need to rush to the bottom, they kept saying. Indeed, they are still saying this in their latest set of commercial designed to bolster their government.
Ironically, economists around the world are now telling us that the "low tax" strategy doesn't work. It doesn't create jobs. It doesn't create innovation. It doesn't create a robust economy.
All it does is create a bunch of very rich people. Income disparity gaps have increased many-fold over the past ten year. And a low tax regime severely hampers a government's ability to stimulate the economy and respond to financial crises.
So, of course, the B.C. Liberals have yet to get their budget balanced again and it is unlikely that they will succeed any time soon.
That aside, the final pieces of this historical picture are the mega-projects. For the NDP it was the fast ferries. This was an attempt to improve the transportation infra-structure and allow for a more rapid movement of people and goods to Vancouver Island.
The ferries had problems but they did work; just not the way that they were supposed to. And there were the cost overruns to the tune of some $200 million dollars.
Of course, that amount is dwarfed by the cost overruns on the mega-projects that the B.C. Liberals initiated. Replacing the roof on B.C. Place Stadium had a larger cost overrun. And the Vancouver Convention Centre remains a very expensive white elephant.
But the granddaddy of mega-projects must be the Port Mann Bridge. In 2005, we were told that the bridge would cost $1.7 billion and not a penny more. That number moved to $2.46 billion by 2009.
Of course, the final budget is something closer to $3.3 billion - almost $1.6 billion over the original budget. It absolutely dwarfs the cost overruns on any other project by either government.
And what's more, the bridge has been riddled with problems to the point that one could say it doesn't work.
Oh, well, maybe the next government will learn from history.
