British Columbia Civil Liberties Association | 27 November 2003
November
27, 2003
Brenda Locke, MLA,
Chair & Members
Select Standing
Committee on Finance and Government Services
Room 224
Parliament
Buildings
Victoria,
B.C.
V8V 1X4
Dear Ms. Locke and
Members:
RE: Funding
for Statutory Officers of British Columbia
I am writing to
express deep concerns regarding proposed funding for Statutory Officers
of the B.C. Legislature for 2004-05 and to urge you to recommend a reduced
level of cutbacks.
Introduction
The BCCLA rarely,
if ever, speaks out on matters involving financing of government services.
Traditionally, we understand and respect that the government must make
financing allocations based on the fiscal realities of its own accounts.
However, in the
case of Statutory Officers of the Legislature, the BCCLA believes that
cutbacks previously recommended by the Select Standing Committee on
Finance and Government Services (the "Committee") will, if implemented,
significantly incapacitate B.C.'s Statutory Officers' ability to achieve
their respective mandates.
Let me explain.
As you know, in
December 2001, your Committee recommended deep cuts to the operating
budgets of Statutory Officers of the B.C. Legislature. These recommendations
included cuts to the following offices over a three year period:
Office of the Information
and Privacy Commissioner of B.C. 35%
Office of
the Ombudsman: 35%
Office of
the Police Complaint Commissioner 30%
Chief Electoral
Office 45%
Auditor General
15%
It is our understanding
that all Statutory Officers have endured cutbacks during the last two
years as recommended by this Committee and that the Committee is now
reviewing cutbacks for operating budgets for the third year of this
restraint plan.
It is arguable that
some Statutory Officers have been able to cope with the first two years
of cutbacks without impacting their capacity to fulfill their core mandates
through enhancing administrative efficiencies.
However, the BCCLA
believes that a third successive cut to Statutory Officers' budgets
will dramatically impact their ability to provide core services to the
extent that Statutory Officers will be not be able to effectively fulfill
their legislative mandates.
Statutory Officers
of B.C. -- Good Value for Good Government
Before examining
in greater detail the impact of past and proposed future cuts to specific
Statutory Officers, let me explain why this issue is so important to
British Columbians and the BCCLA.
The Statutory Officers
of British Columbia play a crucial, independent role in our democracy
by promoting central democratic values such as accountability, fairness,
the rule of law, privacy, and transparency in government decision-making.
As such, they are important institutions that uphold the principles
of good government. Dollar for dollar, they represent a vital and very
valuable investment in democracy and good government.
There is a temptation
for the political party in power to see these "watchdog" agencies as
a superfluous -- and hence expensive -- nags. But from the perspective
of the Government of British Columbia, as distinct from the Liberal
Party of B.C., the Statutory Officers are properly seen as important
guarantors of its integrity. And this is, we believe, the most powerful
argument against chasing relatively tiny economies at the expense of
the continued, effective operation of these offices. Effective governance
requires public confidence in the integrity of government, and Statutory
Officers play an important role as guarantors of integrity which can
never be supplied by either partisan opposition or the media.
We must also profess
an organizational interest in some of these Statutory Officers functions.
Before the existence of offices like the Ombudsman, Information and
Privacy Commissioner and Police Complaint Commissioner, the BCCLA received
many complaints from British Columbians regarding matters that now fall
within the mandate of these offices. Aside from attempting to assist
complainants as best we could given our limited resources and jurisdiction,
the BCCLA advocated the creation of these offices to more effectively
deal with legitimate concerns that are raised about good government.
With their creation, we have been able to refer complainants for assistance
to these offices.
We now fear, if
the proposed cutbacks are implemented, that British Columbians will
be no longer be able to obtain an adequate remedy from Statutory Officers
when concerns are raised. While the BCCLA will always continue to field
complaints that have civil liberties implications, due to our own resource
constraints and jurisdictional limitations, we are simply ill-equipped
to properly address complaints that fall within the mandate of Statutory
Officers.
It is important
to consider the real impact of future cutbacks on the various mandates
of Statutory Officers.
The Police Complaint
Commissioner
Out of all the recommended
cutbacks to Statutory Officers, we are most concerned about a further
cutback to this Statutory Officer's office.
The Police Complaint
Commissioner of B.C. (PCC) is the newest of the Statutory Officers.
The PCC's mandate is to promote accountability of municipal police officers
and departments in British Columbia by overseeing the police complaint
process and to ensure fairness and impartiality in the process of assessing
complaints.
The PCC has endured
cuts of 15% over the prior two years and is faced with a further reduction
of 20% for fiscal year 2004/05. We fear that the reality of such a further
cutback will mean the reduction of investigative staff and the closure
of the Vancouver office. Given our long experience in the field of police
complaints, this will spell disaster for police accountability in B.C.
Given prior cuts, the PCC is already unable to fulfill some of his legislative
mandate including education, training and alternative dispute resolution.
At a time when the
PCC is working hard to establish the credibility of his office through
concrete action, a task even more important given the circumstances
revolving around the resignation of the previous Commissioner Mr. Morrison,
he is faced with budget cuts that will
significantly undermine his capacity to ensure police accountability.
Over the last two years, there have been various public calls for greater
accountability for the police in the wake of well-publicized allegations
of police misconduct. More than ever, British Columbia needs an effective
and influential Police Complaint Commissioner. Implementing further
proposed cuts will result in more illusions of police accountability
than reality.
The Ombudsman
The Ombudsman of
B.C. seeks to ensure that the administrative practices and services
of public agencies are fair, reasonable, appropriate and equitable.
The Office of the Ombudsman has existed for over twenty years. The Ombudsman
has endured budget cutbacks of 15% over the last two years and is now
faced with a further cut of 20% for fiscal year 2004/05.
Prior to the first
year of cutbacks, the Office of the Ombudsman had 28 investigators on
staff. Due to cutbacks over the last two years, there are now 14.6 full-time
equivalent investigators in the office. Except in exceptional circumstances,
the Ombudsman no longer investigates complaints against local government
and self-regulated professions which historically have comprised 10%
of all complaints. For 2004/05, he is creating a "holding queue" for
complaints regarding hospitals, health authorities, schools and school
districts, colleges and universities. Anyone making a complaint against
a public body that falls within this category will wait until an investigator
has free time to consider the complaint. Given the reality of investigative
capabilities, the BCCLA believes that the "holding queue" will simply
become an indefinite waiting line for complainants in this category.
Given the reduction
in staff, the BCCLA is very concerned that the Ombudsman will not have
the resources to undertake special reports or self-initiated complaints
that fall within his mandate. The Ombudsman will be closing his Vancouver
office to manage cutbacks in 2004.
In sum, financial
cutbacks have significantly reduced the capacity for the Ombudsman to
deliver his mandate to ensure fairness in the conduct of public agencies'
services to British Columbians.
The Information
and Privacy Commissioner
As of January 1, 2004, the Information and Privacy Commissioner of B.C. (IPC) will be responsible for enforcing three pieces of legislation: the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (public sector), the Personal Information Protection Act (private sector) and the Lobbyists Registration Act. The office has been in existence since 1994 when the public sector law first took effect.
The
IPC has previously informed this Committee how the Office of the IPC
is considerably underfunded as compared to equivalent offices in Alberta
and Ontario, despite a considerably heavier caseload. (1) Compared to
two years ago, at the beginning of the cutbacks, this office will have
shrunk from 23 to 13 full time equivalent positions. The IPC has now
informed the Committee last week that he has prepared to implement the
final 15% cutback originally recommended by the Committee.
But at what cost?
While the IPC's
staff may be able to continue to administer the basic nuts and bolts
responsibilities under the three laws that fall within his jurisdiction,
we are very concerned that the timelines under the legislation for processing
inquiries will not be met. In addition, we are concerned that the IPC
is not able to respond to complaints or undertake pro-active measures
such as research, creating guidelines or conducting audits that are
critically important to truly fulfilling his responsibilities under
the legislation.
Conclusions
At a time of such
monumental cutbacks to the public service in British Columbia in areas
like health and education, it may be tempting to argue that the services
provided by Statutory Officers like the Ombudsman, Information and Privacy
Commissioner and the Police Complaint Commissioner are ones that must
be sacrificed.
Instead, the BCCLA
submits that the services of Statutory Officers are a invaluable investment
in good government by helping to ensure transparency, fairness and accountability
in government, all values the current government has promised to British
Columbians.
Moreover, it is
precisely at the time when there are such drastic cuts in public services
that these Statutory Officers may play an even more important role in
a democratic society. Principles of good government and non-partisan
institutions that assist in securing good government are just as important
to a democratic society as health and education and the many other services
provided by government.
Upon a review of
the websites from these offices, it is evident that all Statutory Officers
have spent
a considerable amount of their valuable time managing cutbacks rather
than fulfilling their
mandate for British Columbians. While we expect all managers to make
sure their shop is run efficiently, the magnitude of these cuts means
that considerable time and resources are being diverted away from actually
doing their jobs. This is regrettable.
Moreover, while
finding efficiencies that were not previously exploited is always a
valuable exercise, future cutbacks create baseline operating budgets
that will become the norm rather than an exceptional budget in a time
of restraint. This fact is confirmed when one reviews the Statutory
Officers' plans for the next three years: all of them are budgeting
no further cuts beyond 20040-05 and modest increases in 2006-07. But
this increase, even if granted, will do no more than cover inflation.
In other words, the impact of these cutbacks in terms of lost services
to British Columbians will not be restored creating a permanent deficit
in Statutory Officers' ability to deliver on their mandate to assist
British Columbians in ensuring good government.
Unfortunately, this
Committee declined our request to present our submissions in person
to you.
We now urge you
to reconsider your prior recommendations and reduce the level of further
cutbacks to Statutory Officers of the Legislature.
Yours sincerely,
John Russell,
President
cc: The Honourable Gordon Campbell, Premier of British Columbia
The Honourable
Geoff Plant, Attorney General of British Columbia
The Honourable,
Gary Collins, Minister of Finance
Dirk Ryneveld,
Police Complaint Commissioner of B.C.
Howard Kushner,
Ombudsman of B.C.
David Loukidelis,
Information and Privacy Commissioner of B.C.
1. See the IPC's Service Plan for 2003-2006: http://www.oipcbc.org/publications/serviceplans/2003-06serviceplan032803.pdf
British
Columbia Civil Liberties Association
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V6C 1B4
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