A sampling of what's been said and heard around Victoria this week:

"After all, Campbell said, that's the way things are done in the real world: "There is no one in the private sector who could possibly maintain their job when one of their projects has doubled in price. They should be fired." All of which begs the question: Will Campbell now fire himself?"
- Mike Smyth, the Province, Oct. 28, 2007

“We’d love to talk to the Premier about [Convention Centre cost overruns], but he hasn’t been around for the past week – because it’s only the Legislature and you know, he doesn’t actually like to be here during session. He’s the guy that has to be answering these questions. His right hand man, senior advisor Ken Dobell, was the chair of the board. Another guy that was chairing the audit committee was Paul Taylor, another friend of the Liberals who’s now president of ICBC. Now very quietly over the past few months both Mr. Dobell and Mr. Taylor have been removed from the convention centre expansion project but those guys were speaking right to the Premier, right to Stan Hagen all along...”
- Sean Leslie, CKNW World Today, Oct. 29, 2007

“The only guy that’s been in charge of all this, who’s really had this file for the entire time has been Premier Gordon Campbell. And we don’t know what his thoughts are on this because he hasn’t been available since last week.”
- Sean Leslie, CKNW World Today, Oct. 29, 2007

“…For Gordon Campbell, a lot of messes are gathering in a little corner, and they’re all getting swept in together … These things are all coming into play at once, and I have a feeling the next couple of years Mr. Campbell is not going to have the nice free ride he thought he was going to.”
- Rafe Mair, CBC Early Edition, Oct. 29, 2007

[Convention Centre] Clearly not the greatest example of public sector management.
[Premier Gordon] Campbell’s problem is that he flits from issue to issue like a butterfly, based on whatever book he’s last picked up going through an airport. One year he’s on to health, and then it’s onto first nations, now he’s onto the environment, he goes from issue to issue to issue.
This province needs management. We’re in a tremendous growth phase, which means that you have to manage the growth. It means attention to detail … somebody’s got to roll up their sleeves and do the tough work of management. And that requires a Premier who cares about management, as opposed to flying off to Portugal and signing an agreement on climate change.
- Norman Spector, CFAX NewsLine, Oct. 30, 2007

It's been a rough opening at the legislature for the B.C. Liberals - yet another sign that they are not immune to scandal and accusations of mismanagement.
All in all, it's been a bruising beginning for the Liberals at the legislature … clearly more than a few cracks are starting to appear in the Liberals' armor.
- Keith Baldrey, Surrey Now, Oct. 30, 2007

The Liberals used to talk about how they brought scandal-free government to British Columbia. But I don’t think they’re saying that anymore…
- Vaughn Palmer, Palmer's Pulpit, Oct. 31

“A botched megaproject. Cheap tricks with needy families. A failed lobbyist registration act. Multiple investigations. Many questions, a dearth of answers. That paints a far less flattering portrait of the B.C. Liberals than the self-satisfied image they have been promoting in their speeches and publicly funded advertising.
Two weeks into the session, the New Democrats have already raised doubts about the B.C. Liberals' ability to cruise, unmolested, to a third term of government.”
- Vaughn Palmer, Vancouver Sun, Oct. 31, 2007

"All his [Campbell's] colleagues are getting hammered in there by the NDP. It’s like a carnival game of whack-a-mole in there."
- Mike Smyth, CNKW, Nov. 1, 2007

“The lowest point of the day occurred when Christensen tried to turn the tables on the NDP during a raucous question period: "It's unfortunate the Opposition is trying to politicize this," he said. Say what, minister? You guys whitewash a report on sexually abused children to save your own hides, but it's the Opposition that's playing politics? Give him the prize for the most insulting spin-job of a brutal session for the Liberals.”
- Mike Smyth, the Province, Nov. 1, 2007

“The minister in charge, Tom Christensen, explained to us yesterday that it was not an overrun because the original number -- $200,000 -- was not a budget; it was merely a “suggestion.” The “suggestion” came from the chief financial officer. You know, in the private sector, if a chief financial officer “suggests” that the project can be brought in for $200,000 and it doesn’t come in at that, he might “suggest” you seek employment elsewhere. But not in government! I was listening to the Minister explaining this whole thing to us yesterday. It gets better. Not only was the original $200,000 figure a “suggestion,” but the budget was actually $600,000. So when they brought it in for $560,000 it was under budget. I’m listening to Tom Christensen on this, and I’m thinking this guy’s talent is wasted on a little old office renovation. Put him in front of the convention centre and he’d be explaining to us why it’s not over budget either, in fact it’s under budget.”
- Vaughn Palmer, Palmer's Pulpit, Nov. 2, 2007

“… Since the house resumed, they’ve been in the glue basically every day. You’re seeing arrogance, incompetence, dumb things like this. Yeah, they’ve got a bit of a political problem all of a sudden.”
- Vaughn Palmer, Cutting Edge of the Ledge, Nov. 2 2007

“It’s been three weeks of trouble for the government. One embarrassment after another. And we’re seeing an Opposition that’s on its toes, doing its job.”
- Vaughn Palmer, Cutting Edge of the Ledge, Nov. 2 2007

“I think it’s this rarified air of arrogance they’ve had since they came into government. That only they really knew how things were to be done. And only they had the competence to do it.”
- Keith Baldrey, Cutting Edge of the Ledge, Nov. 2, 2007

“We have hundreds of sexually abused children in this province languishing on waiting lists for psychological counseling. There’s a backlog of child-death reviews the government has promised, and failed, to complete. There are hundreds of developmentally disabled children all around B.C. who can’t get the help they need because of government budget constraints. And what is the ministry’s priority? Over half-a-million dollars to turn a government office into a private art gallery. Unbelievable.”
- Mike Smyth, The Province, Nov. 2, 2007

“There’s a silence at all levels of government about the whole tree-farm licence fiasco, right up to the premier’s office. It’s as if Gordon Campbell et al are hoping that sooner or later the issue will blow over, the public will forget and the Liberals can get right back to thinking up new Olympic lottery scratch-and-win games.”
“The NDP knows it has Coleman on a big hook and is trying to reel him in every chance they get.”
- Cam Purdy, Times-Colonist, Nov. 2, 2007

Liberals 'claim' responsibility - but not the consequences

Linda Reid October 24, 2007 Question Period

Hon. L. Reid: I understand the public perception around this issue, and in retrospect we probably would do the distribution differently.

Hon. L. Reid: I'm happy to state again that I understand the perception around this issue. Certainly, we would do distribution differently in the future. I am happy to put that on the record.

Linda Reid October 25, 2007 Question Period

Hon. L. Reid: I'm more than happy to say that clearly, it wasn't the best way to proceed. Certainly, in terms of the distribution, it's ongoing. We are in a work-in-progress with our partners — with the British Columbia Automobile Association…

Stan Hagen: As I've said before, we are not happy with the cost escalations on this project. The decision about how this project was to proceed was ours, and we take responsibility for that. Certainly, in hindsight, if we had a chance to do it over again, we would proceed differently.