A silent revolution is at work in the sa国际传媒 government. It began in health care, it has spread to education and there are signs the court system is next.
What underlies this revolution is fear and exasperation: fear that a tepid economy and lagging revenues will impose endless retrenchment. As it is, the government鈥檚 fiscal plan underfunds critical services for each of the next three years.
And exasperation that arm鈥檚-length agencies like universities either cannot or will not economize. This complaint has been heard before, of course. In the past nothing came of it, because previous economic downturns were short-lived.
But this time is different. It appears Premier Christy Clark has decided the nettle needs grasping. She has set out to bring the extended public sector under much closer supervision.
The reasons are clear enough. Through longstanding funding and governance arrangements, most of the provincial budget lies beyond cabinet control.
Annual expenditures are $44 billion, but two-thirds of that money flows directly to quasi-autonomous agencies such as health authorities, courts, schools and universities. How they spend it has been their affair.
Yet budget management is difficult enough when you own just a third of the action. It becomes almost impossible if recipients of the remainder don鈥檛 play ball.
Of course, managers in these agencies have a case of their own to make. As 鈥渓ast-dollar insurers,鈥� they must take whoever comes to their door.
Hospitals cannot turn away patients when the money runs out. The K-12 system is required by law to accept any school-age student.
But viewed through the prism of efficiency, there are questions to be faced. Why have court backlogs lengthened while the crime rate has halved? Why are surgical wait times barely improved when billions have been spent to reduce them? Why do university fees outpace inflation?
Hence the decision to give the extended public sector much less discretion.
In health care, regional authorities such as Island Health are being asked to meet detailed volume and price targets. Gone forever is the block grant with no conditions attached.
The Ministry of Advanced Education has told the postsecondary sector that $270 million from its annual grant (25 per cent of the total) must be shifted to training fields chosen by government. The objective is to focus on areas with high job opportunities. The ministry has also demanded administrative savings by universities.
In K-12 education, the government has said that if a new contract is not signed by September, parents of kids under 13 will receive $40 a day to make other arrangements. While this was widely seen as an attempt to weaken the union鈥檚 position, it has wider implications.
The Education Ministry has tried several times to reclaim control over operational matters like class size. This latest manoeuvre is more of the same.
In effect, the government is declaring that it will only support public education on its own terms. Failing that, other options might be contemplated.
Last, there are the courts. Numerous reports have exposed waste and inefficiency in the justice system. Little has come of them so far.
However, the Justice Ministry is increasingly showing signs of impatience. Management tools are being created to run things more effectively. The message is cautious but unmistakable: Unless the courts reform voluntarily, they might find economies forced on them.
Taken as a whole, this revolution represents a major expansion of central government scope and authority. Where it will end is uncertain.
But one thing seems clear. This is not a temporary expedient, to be rolled back at a later date. This is the way of the future, at least as the premier and her colleagues see it.
