Christy Clark鈥檚 aversion to doing business in the capital is more pronounced than it has been in the last half-dozen premiers.
But a lot of other things have contributed to the steady erosion over the years of the legislature鈥檚 importance as a political hub.
There was a time in the distant past when the premier and cabinet lived in Victoria and worked in the legislature, period. Those days are gone.
Information technology, demographics, travel patterns and personal preferences have pretty much erased the old model. Clark鈥檚 distaste for leading B.C. from the capital just formalizes that fact. Command and control of the provincial government is wherever the cabinet is. And it鈥檚 no longer based solely in the legislature.
If announcing her new cabinet at a 91原创 waterfront ceremony 鈥� rather than at Government House 鈥� didn鈥檛 make it perfectly clear, Clark drove the point home again this week. She cancelled the fall session of the legislature and expressed distaste at the idea of closing herself off in Victoria, rather than being out and about consulting with people.
That followed comments last year 鈥� the first time she cancelled a fall sitting 鈥� that illustrated her active dislike for the legislature.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e never going to find me in Victoria,鈥� she told a reporter. 鈥淚 try never to go over there. Because it鈥檚 sick. It鈥檚 a sick culture ... You get captured by this inside-the-beltway debate, and it鈥檚 really unhealthy.鈥�
She鈥檚 doing a good job of avoiding the plague. At the last year-end interview I did with Clark, I was struck by how vacant the premier鈥檚 office looked. The desk was clear, the personal pictures are mostly on the anteroom wall rather than inside and there was no sign it was regularly inhabited.
There are still a lot of staff in the premier鈥檚 office, but the premier mostly shows up there during legislative sittings, and there aren鈥檛 many of those these days.
Partly it鈥檚 because a single mother wants to be home with her son most nights. But it鈥檚 clear she simply doesn鈥檛 like the place, either.
The bulk of the civil service continues to toil in Victoria and always will. But the day-to-day political leadership has dispersed over the years. You鈥檙e just as likely to find a cabinet minister in 91原创 most days as in Victoria.
Old hands say the shift started in the 1980s. There used to be a cabinet and executive office in Robson Square, where former premier Bill Bennett would hold a cabinet meeting every month or so. After Expo 86, that office moved into the swanky new Canada Place on the waterfront. It features a cabinet room, a premier鈥檚 office, some boardrooms and a complement of staff.
Bennett鈥檚 successor, Bill Vander Zalm, frequented the office, and every premier since then 鈥� most of them from Metro 91原创 鈥� has continued the practice.
Communication technology, reliable air commuter lines and the Internet seem to have a net effect of easing the requirement for political leaders to work out of the legislature on a routine basis. It鈥檚 much more likely for a bureaucrat to fly to 91原创 for a meeting with a minister than vice versa. And if a minister trips over to Victoria from 91原创 鈥� half of them live in the Lower Mainland, which is about average 鈥� it鈥檚 often just a one- or half-day stint.
There鈥檚 also a very sophisticated video-conferencing system that gets used heavily. Anybody can be almost anywhere and plug into decision-making meetings.
Metro 91原创鈥檚 growth also contributed. Until the 1980s, 91原创 was a big city and Victoria was a smaller city. But today, 91原创 is a comparative mega-city, while Victoria has been left far behind. There are 46 ridings in the Lower Mainland, more than half the population of B.C. lives there and it鈥檚 simply where the action is.
All capitals in secondary cities have the same problem. Victoria is a hive of government activity, but the Queen Bee and the decision-makers govern from afar.
Just So You Know: Thursday鈥檚 column pegged the dividend B.C. Hydro will pay to government as a half-billion dollars.
It鈥檚 actually $193 million this year. I stand corrected.
