Cabinet shuffle praised

By Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star - June 24, 2008

It shouldn't be a complete a surprise but there are few tears being shed over Ida Chong. On Monday, Premier Gordon Campbell shuffled Chong from the ministry of community services to technology, trade and economic development. "I am very pleased," said a gleeful Barry Beardsell, a Vernon councillor, of Blair Lekstrom being named the new minister responsible for B.C.'s municipalities and regional districts. "I hope he is more decisive than she was and will add more strength to the portfolio." All of this comes just two weeks after Beardsell pushed council to demand that Campbell fire Chong over her handling of the Okanagan governance review. Beardsell's bid failed, but council did write a letter to the premier indicating disappointment in Chong not making changes to how the valley operates. This wasn't the first time that Beardsell had set his sights on Chong. He believes she bestowed too much power on the Union of B.C. Municipalities and that she mishandled a previous review of governance at Silver Star. "I'm still trying under Freedom of Information to get that full report," said Beardsell of the ski resort.

Beardsell isn't the only local politician glad that Chong is gone. "She was not acting in the best interest of the City of Vernon," said Coun. Pat Cochrane referring to the valley-wide governance review that Chong launched last fall. "It took up a lot of time and money and she went nowhere with it." But before you think this is sour grapes just on the part of Vernon, think again. There was virtually widespread concern about Chong. "No one ever told us why were going ahead with this review. Nobody seemed to know what this was about," said Herman Halvorson, director for rural Enderby and an advocate of keeping regional districts as they are. Even when Chong was asked directly about what was wrong with the current system of governance, a direct answer was never provided. “With all of the work that has been done, there should be an expectation that things could be done differently,” she said during a recent interview. But what did that mean? What was it about the current system of regional districts that led to scrutiny within a short period of time? Nobody still knows. When asked to comment on Chong's tenure as minister, North Okanagan Regional District chairman Jerry Oglow stated, "She didn't do a bad job." Where I come from, that's not a ringing endorsement.

And perhaps the reason for that is Oglow was among the group of 12 elected officials who spent months responding to Chong's edict for a governance review. In the end, they met her designated deadline and presented two possible options to her for consideration. Instead of sanctioning one of them, we all know that Chong opted to do nothing. "I wasn't happy with her decision to delay the valley-wide process until after the provincial election," said Oglow. Oglow isn't sure if a new face in the minister's chair will reignite the process, but he is hopeful. "The issues have not gone away. Valley growth will continue," he said of the need to address issues like transportation, water and air quality. Lekstrom is a former mayor and councillor of Dawson Creek, and that has local elected officials optimistic about how he will perform as minister. "It sounds like he has good municipal background," said Cochrane. And that may be true, but keep in mind that Chong is a former councillor in Saanich.