• We’ve added 65 public bodies to the Freedom of Information Act, including the Forest Practices Board & the Agricultural Land Commission. The Act now covers over 2,000 bodies.
• The Finance committee has increased the budget for the Information and Privacy Commissioner by 63 per cent (from $2.344 million in 2001/02 to $3.822 million in 2009/10) 2001.
• The Finance committee has more than doubled the net budget for the Auditor General to review government spending and programs since 2000/01 (from $6.645 million to $15.536 million in 2009/10).
• We created a Merit Commissioner to ensure merit and transparency in public service hiring. We de-politicized the appointment process through the Board Resourcing and Development Office, ensuring appointments are made on merit, skills and performance.
• We made ICBC and BC Hydro decisions subject to public review and approval by the independent B.C. Utilities Commission, free from any interference.
• For the first time, BC Ferries operations, decisions and fare increases are now subject to public scrutiny, review and approval through the independent Ferries Commissioner.
• We created the first ever Lobbyist Registry in B.C. that makes public who is lobbying decision-makers and on what.
• We established the Citizens’ Assembly, and committed to a 2nd referendum on STV in 2009 following review from the Electoral Boundaries Commission.
• The Citizens’ Assembly was a world first in direct democracy and performed totally free of politic interference.
• We expanded Question Period to 30 minutes, doubling the time available for the Opposition to ask the government questions.
• We enabled the public to submit written questions to Ministers to be asked in the Legislature.
• We set legislative calendars giving predictability to sittings, budgets and Throne Speeches.
• We are the first government in Canada to set election dates, with strict limitations on pre-election advertising by government.
• We activated dormant Select Standing Committees and struck Government Caucus Committees ensuring all MLAs have a voice in decision-making.
• We fulfilled our promise to allow free votes for all MLAs on all matters not designated as confidence votes.
• We are the first government in Canada to implement Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP).
• We created the toughest Financial Administration Act in Canada and introduced three-year rolling Service Planning and reporting for ministries.
• Facing the global economic crisis, we passed new legislation this spring allowing short-term deficits and a balanced budget in 2011/12. Government is further required to use any year-end surpluses starting in that year to pay down direct operating debt.
• We introduced Quarterly Budget Updates so the public can have confidence in the province’s fiscal management.
• We also have a Ministerial Accountability Act which holds each minister individually accountable for coming in on budget by holding back 10 per cent of their salary until it’s confirmed that they have not overspent.
• We enhanced provisions for auditing ministries through the Comptroller’s Office.
  

Affirmative Action
We believe local communities have the right and are in the best position to determine who should represent them and that artificial quotas for MLA representation undermine basic democratic principles.

• Rather than enforce largely discredited, anti-democratic, affirmative action policies, governments should instead focus on developing inclusive, supportive, environments that attract a diverse array of individuals.
• A few of the steps we’ve taken to make the legislature a more attractive working environment for British Columbians of all backgrounds include:
• A set legislative calendar.
• Elimination of night sittings.
• Improved accessibility for persons with disabilities.
• Our record speaks for itself - in the 2005 election the BC Liberal Party fielded more female candidates than the NDP and more than the NDP’s quota system required.

Women have held, and continue to hold, key roles in the BC Liberal government including the Deputy Premier and Minister of Education, Minister of Finance, Deputy Minister to the Premier, and Minister of Health. We believe in democracy and a community’s right to choose who represents them. Women and minorities will continue to play key roles in our government without the crutch of anti-democratic affirmative action policies.

Electoral Boundaries Re-Distribution
We believe in protecting rural and northern representation while at the same time ensuring fair representation for growing regions of the province because all British Columbians, regardless of where they live, deserve fair representation.

• Our Electoral Districts Act 2008 preserves rural representation in the 2009 election.
• The Act adopts most of the recommendations made in the final report of the Electoral Boundaries Commission, along with the alternate scenario for the North and Cariboo-Thompson regions also contained in that report in order to protect rural and northern representation.
• The report recommended 83 electoral districts, removing two from rural BC, while increasing the number of urban districts, but our legislation protects MLA representation in rural districts while still adding six urban seats to address population growth in those areas, for a total of 85 seats.
• The Electoral Boundaries Commission Act requires that a new commission be appointed after every second provincial election (every eight years).

The Commission reviews electoral boundaries, and take into account population, geography, history and community interests, as well as to ensure each MLA represents approximately the same number of people.

Freedom of Information Act (FOI)
We believe in being the most open and accountable government in Canada in part by strengthening FOI, expanding access to government records while also ensuring that frivolous requests do not consume taxpayer resources and detract from providing core government services.

• We have created the strongest Freedom of Information Act in the country.
• We’ve added 61 public bodies to the Freedom of Information Act, including the Forest Practices Board & the Agricultural Land Commission – the Act now covers over 2,000 bodies, more than any other act in the country.
• The Finance committee has increased the budget by 63 per cent for the Information and Privacy Commissioner (from $2.344 million in 2001/02 to $3.822 million in 2009/10) 2001.
• We have frozen fees for FOI requests since 2001 and there is no charge for people seeking access to their own personal information.
• We have eliminated the use of “sensitivity ratings” in request processing.
• Since 2001, we have dramatically improved response times, cutting the wait by more than 50 per cent from an average of 71 business days in 2001 to just 34 business days today.
• To further speed up our response times, in January 2009 we initiated a new process to centralize our FOI operations to improve efficiency, and have committed to tabling annual reports on progress beginning in 2010.
• We are the first government in Canada to protect citizens from the US Patriot Act by limiting storage of personal information outside of Canada and requiring all public bodies to report foreign requests for access to information.
• We introduced protections for ‘whistle blowers’ who report violations of disclosure rules.
• We’ve made all of these improvements despite the fact that government is dealing with more requests - and more complex requests - than ever before:
  Government now responds to almost 6,000 requests a year.
• Today the average general request is 500 pages long and the average cost to government to process each request is $2,200.

Government Advertising
Government advertising should be non-partisan, fact-based, and transparent through Public Accounts reporting so that taxpayer dollars are not wasted on partisan ads.

• We’ve cut the government advertising budget by 76 per cent, saving $23 million.
• All government advertising is non-partisan and fact-based.
• Recent ad campaign examples include healthy living, B.C.’s 150th anniversary, visiting BC Parks, and Climate Action.
• All government advertising is fully accounted for each year and released in Public Accounts, and for the first time under any government we are releasing the cost of individual ad campaigns with Public Accounts.
• We voluntarily stop non-essential government advertising four months before the provincial election (January 12, 2009).
  
  

• We brought in the Lobbyists Registration Act in 2001 and established the B.C. Lobbyist Registry in 2002.
• When established in 2002, the Lobbyist Registry put B.C. at the front of the pack in Canada. Prior to 2001, British Columbia didn’t even have a registry despite calls in the 1990s for the NDP to put one in place.
• Our model was based on that of Ontario and the federal government at the time, and when introduced was a landmark bill.
• The legislation passed unanimously at the time; in fact the most recent amendments in 2003 brought no comment from the Opposition whatsoever.
• The Registry has a clear set of rules and conditions under which an individual must register. Failing to file or supplying false or misleading information are offences under the Act and can bring a fine up to $25,000.
• Concerns about the registry or anyone’s role in it are handled by the registrar, who as the information and privacy commissioner is an independent officer of the Legislature.