Liberals delay approval for mental health research

More Promises, but will they ever happen?

The Campbell Liberals are in a rush to get out of the Legislature. The three opposition NDP MLA's seem to have a knack at discovering the "Devil in the details" like the 5000 care beds for seniors and that just makes things too accountable for the Premier.

The Premier recently announced $10 million for mental health research, matching a private donation to UBC for the same amount. The money is contingent on the Legislature approving the spending.

The BC Liberals have decided that won't be needed until the fall. In fact the Liberals are in the process of writing themselves a big blank cheque, the largest in BC history. A bill before the house is asking for enough money to operate the government until October 2005.

The normal practice is for Government to pass an interim spending bill until the budget is passed. The BC Budget spending estimates can not be passed until the Legislature approves them. So to avoid any "Devils" being exposed in the details of the budget, the Liberals are making their interim spending bill for up to six months.

Will UBC get the money Campbell promised? Like everything else he is promising now, we won't really know until the budget is passed some five months after the election, maybe Campbell will change his mind between now and then. Just in case, UBC should encourage students and faculty to avoid being too hard on the Campbell Liberal Government.