Chad Pederson is offering Facebook users a lesson in British Columbia politics. The provincial Liberal communications director has put together an online quiz on the subject. But, not suprisingly, all the right answers praise the Campbell administration or put a pox on past New Democrat governments. The following is a complete copy of that quiz.

BC Politics Quiz

What is the seat count, by party, in the current 79-seat BC Legislature?

77 BC Liberals, 2 NDP
55 BC Liberals, 24 NDP
CORRECT: 46 BC Liberals, 33 NDP
43 BC Liberals, 36 NDP

On May 17, 2005, British Columbians re-elected a BC Premier, Gordon Campbell, for the first time in almost 20-years. The vote resulted in 46 BC Liberals and 33 NDP MLAs being elected.

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In 1996, what was the name given to the NDP's phantom budget surplus that became a deficit?

Glen Clark Boondoogle
NDP-onomics
CORRECT: Fudge-it Budget
Budget-Gate

Before the 1996 election, NDP Premier Glen Clark predicted that the budget was balanced when in fact they were millions short. This fraud of the public became known as the “fudge-it budget scandal”.

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Comparatively speaking, how much money is the BC Liberal government investing in shelters and affordable housing compared to the NDP’s last year in office?

Less than half
About the same
Double
CORRECT: Nearly Three Times

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In 2007, the BC Liberal government invested $328 million in shelters and affordable housing, nearly three times as much as the NDP did in 2001.

While defending the NDP’s ill-fated ‘fast ferries project’ Former Premier Glen Clark stated he had crunched the numbers ''right down to the ______________.”

Ship's Whistle
Kitchen Sink
Paint on the passenger deck
CORRECT: Toilet Paper

Despite Glen Clark’s bathroom stall accounting, the fast ferry project wasted $463-million on ships that were not sea-worthy and could never be used.

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How many new medical training spaces were created under the NDP in the 1990s?

CORRECT: 0
17
55
112

While the NDP didn’t create one new medical training space, the BC Liberals have doubled the number of doctor training spaces from 128 to 256.

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How many new post secondary spaces are being created under the BC Liberal government by 2010?

500
3,500
CORRECT: 25,000
27,500

The BC Liberals are adding 25,000 new student spaces at colleges, university-colleges, universities and institutes across the province, the largest expansion of post-secondary education in B.C. in 40 years.

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The NDP discussed turning Burns Bog in Delta, the largest raised peat bog on the west coast of North America and a significant contributor to improving air quality in the Lower Mainland, into a _______________.

Environmentally Protected Area
Provincial Park
Bird Sanctuary
CORRECT: Theme Park

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Believe it or not, the NDP actually gave a $25 million loan to a private company for the development of a theme park in Burns Bog. In comparison, the BC Liberal government acquired the bog through a $73-million agreement in 2004 to preserve it for all times.

To address the issue of Climate Change, the BC Liberal government set a target of reducing current greenhouse gas emissions by _____% by 2020.

5 %
10 %
CORRECT: 33 %
35 %

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The Province will aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 33 per cent below current levels by 2020. That target will place emissions 10 per cent under 1990 levels.

How many different leaders did the NDP have during their term in government in the 1990s?

2
3
CORRECT: 4
5

The instability of the NDP government was exemplified by their instability in the Premier’s Office. From 1991 to 2001, no less than four people served as NDP Premiers. (Michael Harcourt, Glen Clark, Dan Miller, and Ujjal Dosanjh).

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The BC Liberal government increased the Rental Assistance Program threshold in 2007 so more families can qualify for financial assistance. Based on that change, how many families now qualify for rental assistance?

5,000 Families
10,000 Families
15,000 Families
CORRECT: More than 20,000 Families

By increasing the income threshold for the Rental Assistance Program to $28,000 in 2007, the number of potentially eligible families expanded by 5,800 to more than 20,000 families.

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In 1996, the NDP introduced a “Jobs & Timber Accord” projected to create 21,000 direct forest jobs. How many new jobs did it create between 1996 and 1999?

CORRECT: None
2,750 Jobs
12,200 Jobs
All 21,000 jobs were created

In 1996, the NDP implemented the Jobs & Timber Accord to much fanfare, but the results were nothing but hardship for forestry communities with 8,500 lost jobs between 1996 and 1999

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To support literacy programs, the BC Liberal government has been matching funds raised through CanWest’s ________________ campaign since 2004.

CORRECT: Raise -a- Reader
ReadNow BC
Take a Break, Read a Book
Make Reading Fun

The BC Liberal government has been matching funds raised through CanWest’s Raise-a-Reader campaign since 2004, and to date has contributed over $2.4 million. The government has also taken further action by introducing ReadNow BC, a literacy action plan to improve reading skills among British Columbians.

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In the year 2000, which NDP Health Minister said the following with respect to their never funded $125-million mental health program? “While it was announced, it was never in a budget. There wasn’t budget approval.”

Andrew Petter
Corky Evans
Paul Ramsey
CORRECT: Penny Priddy

NDP Health Minister Penny Priddy (Source: Vancouver Sun, 1 Apr 2000)

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What is the date of the next provincial election?

May 17th, 2008
April 16th, 2009
CORRECT: May 12th, 2009
INCORRECT: May 17th, 2009

The BC Liberal government was the first in Canadian history to implement a set election date. Since that time, a number of other provinces have followed suit. The date of the last election was May 17, 2005, and the next election date is set for May 12, 2009.