Bob Hunter I SEE the provincial elec- tion is over. It wasn’t really a foregone conclusion, as many pcople think, when Blissed Billy Vander Zalm floated away from Whistler. Some people were firmly of the opinion that the contest ended when the BCGEU didn’t go on strike, thanks to the new premier using his frontal lobes instead of his sphincter to cope with labor negotiations. It wasn’t even definitely over when Bob Skelly brooded aloud that he couldn’t beat Vander Zalm’s media muscle. Nope. The provincial election wasn’t decided until the NDP announced its job security scheme, imported from Sweden. 1 wish the native socialists would quit borrowing all these ideas from hither and yon. A year ago, all was going to be sav- ed in B.C. by the adoption of an Australian-style industrial accord. f Since then,’ the bottom has dropped out of the Aussie economy, forcing the leftist gov- ermment to take draconian monetarist measures. Nobody talks about the Australia Accord any longer, ex- cept to giggle. As for Sweden, well, the coun- try is a fiscal basket case. The last election almost saw the victory of a conservative par- ty, after decades of socialist rule, for the simple reason that the country is one of the most deeply | in debt of any industralized na- tion. On a per capita basis the Swed- ish deficit is many times higher than even Canada’s. It would take the Swedes for- ever to pay off their accumulated bills, as I recall! from a visit there last summer. The majority of the working population toils — although that’s not quite the right word — for one gov- ernment department to another. British Columbia, of course, is moving in the Swedish direction, with a point looming down the road where more than half the workers will have become swivel servants, The lesson of Sweden seems to be that once such a point is pass- ed, there is no looking back. The Swedes, faced with a choice between Jetting their ® strictly personal © awesome deficit, continue to balloon or actually accepting a few cutbacks in their benefits — including absolute job security -— opted to stay with the bubble un- til it bursts. This was a bit like all those CBC people who used to vote for “the company,”’ as they referred to the Liberal government. [ happen to agree with Bot Skelly, by the way, that raising the minimum wage would be a good move all around. It may be a coincidence that provinces with higher minimum wages also have lower unemployment rates, but I rather doubt it. In any event, it is a sad commentary that SuperNatural B.C. has the lowest minimum wage and the highest unemploy- ment outside The Rock. It's a shame that a good idea like boosting the minimum wage, unless it is co-opted by the Socreds, doesn’t look to be in the cards since Skelly, in virtually the same breath, announced his plans to take a Swedish fiscal bath by legislating job security. Over the years, I have hired — and let go — just enough people myself to know what the effect of job guarantees would be. I mean, I don’t have any guarantees of a profit. How can I guarantee anybody a job? And if I had to, why bother setting up shop? As it is now, one of the ongo- ing reasons for B.C.’s_ sickly economic performance and our continued dependence, like a Third World country, on the ex- port of ever-dwindling natural resources, has much to do with our reputation abroad as a labor jungle. B.C. strikes me as being like a beautiful woman who can’t get a decent job so she resorts to sell- ing herself a bit at a time. The name of the game, for corporations, countries and pro- vinces alike is diversify or die. This is where outside investment bucks come in. Nationalists may not like it, but Canada's high standard of living owes a lot to the very Yankee ownership that Mel Hurtig is always complaining about. For the NDP to yap about providing job security when the issue is whether there will be jobs or not — never mind about guarantees, sweetheart! — is a triumph of ideology over com- mon sense. It reminds me of Dave Bar- rett's famous gaffe when he blew the last election by musing loudly about ending the program to restrain wage tnereases in the public sector, totally ignoring the depth of fecling apainst bureaucrits ina land that is becoming more bureauceatic all the time. Anyway, as [oo say. it's: over. The NOP lost. ~ « 2 JACK ADAMS Jack would like to see all his old friends and customers. 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