This is fun. When Vicki Huntington was first elected as an MLA to the BC Legislature, she asked me to help her with the first budget lockup. Neither of us had a clue how it would work, but she informed me I should come over on the first ferry, and meet at her office. Remember at that time, Vicki was the only member without a party.
Vicki was fortunate to be placed in a lovely location, just off to the right of the doors to the legislature. Beautiful old furniture, big windows looking east, beautiful old wood, and room for her staff.
I was a little puzzled because I was sure that the budget lockup was very early in the morning.
About 11 a.m. I and her assistant were called upon to follow someone out of the building. We crossed the street to a building behind the Parliament building, and were ushered into an office, and then into an unused, dusty boardroom, filled with old boxes, which were shoved out of the way, and we were given chairs and a desk to sit at. On the way in to that office, we noticed that there were representatives of the NDP being ushered into a boardroom just down and across the hall.
We were handed a copy of the budget documents, and informed, if we wanted to ask questions, we'd have an hour. During this time, a person would be stationed out in the hallway outside the offices were in were, with a phone. This person would be able to call over to the Finance department staff who could answer any questions we had.
The budget documents were in a series of blue bound books. We spent about a half hour reviewing the documents, and I found myself circling a number of items, and making notes. At that point, I thought what the heck, let's test this system out, to see what happens, so I opened the door, and proceeded out to the hall where I found a clerk sitting on a chair, holding a cell phone. She handed me the cell phone, after dialing a number for me. A person answered, introduced themselves as an accountant in the Finance office and asked which page I had a question about. I said I had a number of questions on a number of pages, and they informed me I would have to ask different people those questions as each person had their own section. So if I could provide the numbers, he would gather together the people that could answer me. I listed off about 8 pages, and he went off to round up 8 people. At the other end I could hear people chatting as I asked the questions, and each person took their turn explaining their perspective on my questions. They were kind, and had good answers for me.
Then, we were ushered back over to Vicki's office and by this time she had gone to sit in the house for the reading of the budget, so we had no chance to communicate with her about what we learned, or about our experience.
Needless to say, when Vicki came backand found out what had happened, she was not a happy camper – at all. Regardless, we met with her staff to review the budget in detail, and to discuss the financial statements for the province. It was a very interesting day.
Later, when Vicki and I went for dinner, we discussed what we had both been expecting: we both thought Shawn, her Research Assistant, and I would be in the regular lock-up. I thought I would meet with other accountants from CGA BC who were in the lockup, along with the media and various representatives who were all briefed about the budget before it was made public. Moreover, both Vicki and I were shocked at the condition of the room we were placed in; that we weren't part of the general process; and that neither was the NDP. I remember having a conversation with a man who was the head of this process, no idea what his role was now, but it was very official, and he informed me that it had always been this way. He was very kind and bemused that I found this unacceptable.
I didn't hear anything after that, until today, when Vicki happened to mention that apparently our queries brought about a change in the way the budget lockup works. She had objected to Finance Minister Hansen about how things were done, claiming it was not right or respectful.
Here's how Vicki described what happened afterwards.
"I objected strenuously to the Finance Minister (Mr. Hanson) and it was changed! He said it had always been that way: I said it didn’t make it right or respectful. We discussed various considerations. Colin said he would think about it and later called me back with hisdecision: staff or the MLA could nowgo to the lock-up, but could not ask questions. And I think he said there would also be a lock-up for MLAs if they wanted to ask questions, but I would have to check before confirming that. It was a good compromise that moved the issue significantly, and the Minister deserves credit for reviewing the situation positively: we could listen to everything going on and all the questions and answers that the agencies/media had, but just couldn’t speak. Politics, you know.
I have never had an opportunity to get that significant change out to the public: it was a big deal, you know. When I asked Bruce Ralston (the NDP Finance critic) whether he had ever objected to the dusty room treatment, he said no – it had always been that way.
So, Eileen, you are part of history!"
Vicki Huntington, Independent MLA, Delta South
