Canadian elections are more ritualized than the Greek Orthodox Church. Signs go up and signs go down. Stump speeches are delivered, but never listened to - just like sermons. But what if Canadian elections were run like an episode of Trading Spaces, the popular home decorating competition on TLC? In Saanich-Gulf Islands the clear loser in that competition would be federal Liberal candidate and Victoria lawyer David Mulroney.

His campaign office is secreted away on the second floor of an office building - not the best place to attract walk-in volunteers. But bad location isn't Mr. Mulroney's only problem. The candidate selection process in Saanich-Gulf Islands was extremely divisive.

Party rules were changed so Mr. Mulroney, provincial campaign manager Mark Marissen's favoured candidate, could enter that race three days before the nomination meeting - defeating rival Bob Russell, who had been campaigning for the position since August. That's meant some longtime Liberals in Saanich-Gulf Islands won't volunteer for Mr. Mulroney, 55, something the candidate denies.

And constituency association sources say that resentment has even caused fundraising problems, although those seem to have been worked out since the election was called.

The Liberals' campaign bank account now sits at between $25,000 and $30,000. The man managing that bank account, and Mulroney's campaign, is Jamie Elmhirst, the smoothest and most competent political operator to graduate from the University of Victoria's Young Liberal campus club.

Mr. Elmhirst, who has worked as an aide to both Premier Gordon Campbell and Victoria MP David Anderson, doesn't plan on spending much of that money on broadcast advertising to convert undecided voters.

Instead, he'll be running a nuts and bolts campaign to identify existing supporters and get them out to the polls. After all, the Liberals won 32.3 percent of the vote in the last election. And that's just as well because, when I asked Mr. Mulroney how he was going to beat incumbent Conservative Gary Lunn, he told me he would "run on (his) record." That's a fine answer if you're a second- or third-term MP with a long history of community service.

But Mulroney's resume, which includes worthy pursuits such as volunteering for the Royal British Columbia Museum and being a devoted father of four, isn't a guaranteed vote-winner - although the Liberals' provincial campaign headquarters has identified him as one of the candidates it wants to see more of in the media.

But that's risky because Mr. Mulroney already has a political mark against him. Back in 1995, the Reform party made allegations Mr. Mulroney was being awarded federal legal work because of his Liberal connections, a charge he has always denied. Since fiscal 1996/97, Mr. Mulroney's law firm has received $5.3 million in contracts from Ottawa.

Mr. Mulroney is competing with New Democrat candidate Jennifer Burgis, 58, to unseat Lunn. Ms. Burgis, a former ministerial assistant to provincial cabinet minister Paul Ramsey and West Kootenay municipal councillor, is the hands-down winner when it comes to campaign office location and overall decor. She has taken over an abandoned corner grocery store on Quadra Street between McKenzie and the Pat Bay Highway.

That store came equipped with an illuminated sign (which now advertises Burgis' candidacy) and kitschy but comfortable furniture from the '60s - exactly where you'd expect to find someone who drives around in a pickup she calls the "toothpaste truck" because it has a squiggly blue racing line. But Ms. Burgis, who is always wearing a button that reads "I am woman, see me vote," will need more than girl power and a cool crib to win Saanich-Gulf Islands.

That riding has consistently voted conservative, especially in the north. New Democrat campaigners hope the recent election of a more moderate local council in Central Saanich may mean the constituency is moving leftward. And if Ms. Burgis can attract enough of that support, she might be able to sneak between the Liberals and Conservatives and win - much like New Democrat MP Lynn Hunter did back in 1988.

Ms. Burgis' communications adviser and former legislative co-worker Dwaine Martin, armed with a $40,000 campaign war chest, will also be softening up Lunn's support with a series of radio advertisements next week attacking the incumbent for allegedly supporting private health-care solutions, tax cuts, the American "Star Wars" anti-missile defence system and the war against Iraq.

But since many of Mr. Lunn's voters tend to agree with at least some of those policies, I'm not sure how effective those advertisements will be. A better strategy might be to attack Mr. Mulroney, hoping Liberals in that riding will support the New Democrats, who grabbed just eight per cent of the vote during the last election -- largely because of an unpopular provincial NDP government.

That unpopularity could explain why, in 2001, Green party candidate Andrew Lewis received 25.4 per cent of the vote in the provincial riding of Saanich North and the Islands, which shares some of the same boundaries as Saanich-Gulf Islands. But there's always a chance those results were something more than a protest vote.

And that means Mr. Lewis, a 41-year-old social justice activist and landscaper who is now trying his hand at federal politics, could spoil the New Democrat's election chances.

Still, has Mr. Lunn done anything that would make Saanich-Gulf Islands residents actually want to kick him out in favour of Ms. Burgis, Mr. Mulroney or Mr. Lewis? And thanks to a national Conservative campaign that has yet to make a serious snafu, I've got to think the chances of an upset in that riding aren't great - even if Mr. Lunn only has the second-best campaign headquarters in Saanich-Gulf Islands (an antiseptic corner office in the middle of the Save-On-Foods strip mall near Wal-Mart).

Federal Liberal Saanich Gulf-Island's candidate David Mulroney doesn't just share a last name with Canada's most infamous prime minister. While Brian Mulroney was in office, the longtime Liberal told Public Eye he was a Progressive Conservative supporter - although he couldn't remember whether he had taken out a party membership. In unrelated news, former American president Ronald Reagan can't remember whether he sold arms to Iran.

Has Victoria lawyer David Mulroney, the federal Liberal's candidate in Saanich-Gulf Islands, had been the beneficiary of party patronage? That's what Reform Party Kootenay-Columbia MP Jim Abbott wanted to know back in 1995. Speaking in the House of Commons, he accused the Grits of awarding Mr. Mulroney federal government drug prosecution work because he was vice-president of federal cabinet minister David Anderson's constituency association - a charge the Mr. Mulroney has always denied.

Previously, Macdonald & McNeely partner Gordon Macdonald, a lawyer with 20-years of drug prosecution experience, had been doing most of that work. But two years after taking office, the Liberals handed his cases over to Mr. Mulroney's firm, David S. Mulroney & Company, and two other companies which, at the time, had Liberal connections: Crease, Harman & Co. and McConnan, Bion, O'Connor & Peterson.

Speaking to Lawyers Weekly Ottawa bureau chief Cristin Schmitz, Mr. Macdonald, who isn't a card-carrying anything but donated $2,000 to Minister Anderson's 1993 election campaign, said the federal government gave no official reason why his firm's services as a Crown agent were terminated. But he added, "the new guys told me," it was for political reasons. "One of the new lawyers said it was a political matter and that we were going to be cut off and they were going to be put on."

Under questioning from Mr. Abbott, Justice Minister Allan Rock, who had promised in 1993 to reform his department's patronage-plagued Crown agent system, refused to say whether political matters had anything to do with the awarding of the federal legal work. But he did state the "fundamental criterion" used was "competence."

Before 1995, Mr. Mulroney had little previous experience handling drug prosecution cases. However, he told Ms. Schmitz "serious cases" would be handled by his partner Brian Jones, a certified criminal law specialist.

Since then, those cases, serious and otherwise, have earned Mr. Mulroney's company more than $5.3 million, making it one of the top billing Crown agents in the country. Over the same period, Mr. Mulroney and his firm have donated almost $25,000 to the federal Liberals and Minister Anderson's election campaigns. Between 1993 and 1994, Elections Canada has no record of Mr. Mulroney donating money to the federal Liberals.

David Mulroney's Donations & Billings

1995 - donates $468 to the federal Liberals; billed $228,151 in fiscal 1996/97
1996 - donates $2,248 to the federal Liberals; billed $548,622 in fiscal 1997/98
1997 - donates $1,000 to the federal Liberals and $1,000 to Minister Anderson's election campaign; billed $508,396 in fiscal 1998/99
1998 - donates $1,718 to the federal Liberals; billed $585,338 in fiscal 1999/00
1999 - donates $1,922 to the federal Liberals; billed $427,455 in fiscal 2000/01
2000 - donates $2,202 to the federal Liberals and $1,000 to Minister Anderson's election campaign; billed $973,601.09 in fiscal 2001/02
2001 - donates $10,253.87 to the federal Liberals; billed $1,033,942 in fiscal 2002/01
2002 - donates $3,993.02 to the federal Liberals; billed $956,872.15 in fiscal 2003/04

Public Eye doesn't understand what this means but maybe you will. It seems Burnaby-Douglas federal Liberal candidate Billy Cunningham, a bank manager and member of Prime Minister Paul Martin's dream team, is going to be "advocating for...the B.C. Table Tennis Association" during the election campaign. Evidently, "for them, our campaign represents a New Voice for Burnaby." And that voice will, evidently, be lobbying for table tennis - one of the great repressed sports in British Columbia.

A senior Conservative campaigner tells us the Tory strategy sessions in Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca have, in some cases, resulted in yelling matches between candidate John Koury, incumbent MP Keith Martin's volcanic former executive assistant, and his affable fedora-wearing manager Gary Del Villano, a retired armoured corp. major. The problem: Mr. Koury's need to micromanage almost every aspect of the campaign - except, it seems, ordering signs. That order was made too late to get them printed before Prime Minister Paul Martin dropped the writ. As a result, Mr. Martin and New Democrat candidate Randall Garrison are the only ones who currently have outdoor advertising in the riding.

If patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel, then federal Liberal campaign headquarters must be a den of thieves. Prime Minister Paul Martin's advisors seem to think wrapping him in a Canadian flag will win them the election. And what could be more Canadian then paying homage to the military veterans who fought and died in...er...Norway.

That's why the prime minister will be interrupting his domestic campaign schedule to do even more campaigning abroad, attending ceremonies commemorating D-Day on June 6. It's also why his father-in-law, a Second World War tank commander who was captured in action, will be coming along for the flight. And it explains his visit to Broadmead Lodge, a Victoria veteran care facility, earlier today.

But electioneering in front of a military backdrop is a risky strategy. According to the Royal Canadian Legion, our country continues to have some of the best veteran services in the Commonwealth. But when it comes to taking care of the current crop of military personnel, the federal Liberal government's record isn't spotless.

Two years ago, the Grits increased armed forces pay by four percent for the rank and file and 4.5 percent for officers up to the rank of lieutenant colonel. But under their administration, the military has also became dangerously undermanned and under-equipped. As Conservative leader Stephen Harper pointed out today, the federal Liberal government's decision to cancel a 1992 deal to replace the aging Sikorsky CH-124 Sea King helicopters, which were first purchased back in 1963, has endangered Canadian Armed Forces lives. So, in trying to score political points by surrounding himself with veterans, the prime minister may be opening himself up to charges of hypocrisy.

Federal Liberals weren't the only partisans who attended Prime Minister Paul Martin's hour long visit to Broadmead Lodge, a Victoria veteran's care centre. Incumbent Saanich-Gulf Islands Conservative candidate Gary Lunn and his communications director Paul Arnold went behind enemy lines to counter Paul Martin's commitment to improve healthcare. According to Mr. Lunn, that commitment isn't credible because, "His record is $20 billion cuts to health. He's had ten years of being part of this government...and why should you trust him now 22 days before an election. You've got to be cynical."

The Conservative sabotage campaign continues this afternoon at Victoria airport where Mr. Lunn arranged to have local JDS Uniphase Corp. employees harass the Liberal leader at his send-off rally. Those employees are upset Prime Minister Martin hasn't reviewed the government's income tax policy on stock options. Those options are currently taxed according to their value when they were first issued. That means, when JDS Uniphase's stock tanked, the employees were still on the hook for thousands of dollars in income taxes - even though their shares are now worthless.

Public Eye has been hearing persistent rumours from provincial Liberals outside government that the business community has become increasingly disgruntled with the party's on-the-job performance. And on June 3, we may find out if there's any substance to those claims. On that date, the Liberals will host their annual Dinner Under The Sails fundraiser at the Vancouver Convention Centre. Last year, the party sold more than 2,122 tickets to that event, with 1,838 being purchased by organizations. Those sales ended up earning the Liberals a whopping $633,998. But if those numbers are dramatically lower this year, it could be an indication there's been a serious accident at the intersection between Government and Howe Street. For reference sake, the Liberals sold 1,827 tickets the year before the last election, taking in $456,750.

The provincial New Democrats may want to leave the past behind. But their past doesn't seem to want to leave them alone. Former New Democrats MLAs, including Helmut Giesbrecht, Evelyn Gillespie, Harry Lali and Steve Orcherton are seeking or considering seeking a nomination for the next election. And, if they win those nominations, the Liberals will find it much easier to ask British Columbians this ballot box question: "Do you want to re-elect the same politicians who gave you ten years of mismanagement."

But, according to provincial executive and constituency association sources, New Democrat leader Carole James remains reluctant to discourage those former MLAs from getting back into elected politics.

Reason number one: Ms. James doesn't confront, she conciliates. And telling a party member where to stick their nomination papers is very confrontational. Number two: Prime Minister Paul Martin's decision to interfere with the federal Liberal's candidate selection process has made it difficult for other party leaders to do the same without attracting unwanted media attention. And number three: there's no guarantee Messrs. Giesbrecht, Gillespie, Lali or Orcherton will win their nominations bids, making it unnecessary for Ms. James to get involved. But, then again, there's no guarantee they won't.

That means, if Ms. James won't convince those would-be candidates to stand aside, the provincial New Democrats will need to recruit someone who can. The shortlist includes Canadian Labour Congress president Ken Georgetti, the former president of the B.C. Federation of Labour, his successor Jim Sinclair and former provincial New Democrat president Bruce Ralston. Current party president Jeff Fox would also be a good choice, as would former senior staffers John Horgan and John Heaney. Both Messrs. Horgan and Heaney work for IdeaWorks Consulting Inc., the collectivist commune where the New Democrat's policy shop went when their bosses got tossed out of government.

In 133 years of recorded provincial legislative history, no one had uttered the words "energy bar" in the House until Delta South MLA Val Roddick did. In a member statement, delivered on April 19, Ms. Roddick rose from her seat to tell fellow legislators and the assembled press about, "Perfect 10, a superb energy bar composed of ten natural ingredients, including locally-grown Delta cranberries." Evidently, "the bars are gluten- and dairy-free. They come in five flavours, with chocolate on the way, and they are simply delicious."

Ms. Roddick went on for another couple minutes, but we won't. Nor will we comment on the value of running infomercials such as this on Hansard TV. But Public Eye did do a taste test to see whether Perfect 10 energy bars lived up to Ms. Roddick's hype.

And this was the result: as a rule, energy bars aren't attractive. But this one was less attractive then most, resembling a machine-pressed piece of organic waste. But the smell was considerably better: earthy but sweet at the same time - a bit like mouthwash.

And now for the first bite: very nutty but surprisingly moist (a good sign since most energy bars are dry and bland). There was some lemon flavouring, as promised on the packaging. And it's pretty filling too, although not enough to make a meal of it.

Since Public Eye isn't a nutritionist, we can't say whether Perfect 10 is a healthy food choice. But, if you want to buy a decent tasting energy bar, you could do worse than this one.

For those of you looking for evidence that the provincial press gallery (which includes Public Eye) is lazy, we've found some. At the gallery's annual general meeting on Friday, those who could make it re-elected by acclamation the sitting executive, which includes Broadcast News Victoria correspondent, BMW sportscar driver and president Scott Sutherland, Province columnist and vice-president Mike Smyth and Shaw TV Victoria bureau chief and treasurer John Richardson.

Professional radical feminist Donna Cameron, provincial New Democrat leader Carole James' assistant and travelling companion, may be sidelined before the next election say party bosses and advisors. Ms. Cameron, who ran Ms. James' leadership campaign, gained a reputation while the New Democrats were in government for alienating fellow ministerial assistants with her blunt-instrument management style. And now she's succeeded in doing the same to some Opposition caucus and party staff members. Another more minor irritant: Ms. Cameron records Ms. James's interviews with a pen rather than a microphone. Of course, there's no guarantee all that will be enough to move Ms. Cameron aside. After all, Ms. James has shown an enormous amount of attachment to her assistant.

This may very well provide the basis for a new reality series. As we reported earlier, federal Liberal advance men have been scouring Victoria and the surrounding regions, scouting out locations for Prime Minister Paul Martin's upcoming Thursday visit. But a senior Conservative says those advance men - which evidently included Saanich-Gulf Islands campaign manager Jamie Elmhirst, who previously worked as a special assistant to federal cabinet minister David Anderson - weren't alone. The Tories have had their own operatives following the Grits every movement.

It looks like amateur hour has officially started at the federal Liberal's national campaign headquarters. According to a party spokesman, the full-page advertisements that appeared in yesterday's national and major local newspapers, are meant (among other things) to show "parity" between the Conservatives and the Liberals - making this one of the rare moments in Canadian history where a governing party has actually wanted to make an opposing party look equal.

Those ads feature two black and white photographs above the fold: one with Prime Minister Paul Martin facing left, the other with Conservative leader Stephen Harper facing right. Below the fold is the following statement, written in 72-point red letters: "It's not which Canadian you choose. It's which Canada."

But you won't find out what the difference between those two countries is until you read the 12-point paragraph that explains the Liberals want to build Canada's social institutions rather than cut taxes like the Conservatives. Up until that point, this could easily have been an advertisement for Mr. Harper.

After all, the Liberal logo is buried in the left-hand corner. And the party's ad wizards haven't used a particularly attractive picture of Prime Minister Martin either (it looks like there's an extra tooth growing out of one side of his mouth). Nor have they gone out of their way to make Mr. Harper look like the movie character he most resembles: the demon-child Damien from The Omen.

Grit spokesman Peter Graham says, "The pictures were chosen to show a parity (between the Conservatives and the Liberals). That there are two legitimate choices (in the next election)...So there was no desire to make one picture look very different from the other."

And who, you may ask, is responsible for this brilliant idea? Red Leaf Communications, a consortium of Liberal-friendly advertising firms whose members include: Bensimon Byrne in Toronto, Venture Communications in Calgary, BBDO in Montreal.

The federal Liberals in Saanich-Gulf Islands (whose constituency association has become the Canadian equivalent of a rotten borough) are continuing the time-honored tradition of hiding the Grit's campaign headquarters in that riding. During the 1997 election, that headquarters was located a dusty shack (we kid you not) smack dab in the middle of an isolated industrial park. And now we have learned the party's 2004 election candidate David Mulroney, a Victoria lawyer, has put his base of operations on the second floor of an office building - not the best place to attract attention or off-the-street volunteers (although we're told it has a very nice boardroom). By comparison, incumbent Conservative candidate Gary Lunn has his wholesome, almost too clean headquarters in a well-used strip mall. And New Democrat candidate Jennifer Burgis, a former provincial ministerial assistant, trumps them all, occupying an abandoned corner store (complete with an illuminated sign) near a major thoroughfare.

A senior provincial Liberal and a number of mid-level bureaucrats tell us the Campbell administration will be serving up a light legislative meal during the upcoming fall session (which begins Oct. 4), cooking up more substantial bills for the spring sitting. Of course, the only ones who know for sure are the premier, his office and the finance minister. But if those sources are correct, Gordon Campbell and Gary Collins may want to rethink that plan.

After all, the Liberals were already looking like they had put their agenda on a diet during the last legislative session, introducing almost no newsworthy bills (resulting in much hissing and pissing in the press gallery). And if the administration doesn't deliver something beefier in the fall, commentators will be saying Premier Gordon Campbell doesn't actually have an agenda - not something the sounds good eight months before an election. Moreover, if there are more scandals in the fall, the Liberals will have nothing they can use to divert the public's attention.

A senior Liberal campaigner has confirmed rumours that Prime Minister Paul Martin will be visiting Victoria this coming Thursday. No word yet on where he's going to be appearing. But we know he won't be at the University of Victoria's Centre on Aging, which local advance men decided was too claustrophobic. But the very fact they were visiting that location suggests Prime Minister Martin could be making a healthcare-related announcement during his visit.

More news from the bi-partisan end of session party. Attendees tell us the celebrations, which started at the Opposition's caucus office, wrapped up at The Clubhouse, a Victoria night club formerly known as the Cuckoo's Nest. A New Democrat source also informs us Sustainable Resource Management Minister George Abbott, who is well-known among provincial Liberals for his sense of humour, did an excellent impersonation of Bubbles, a popular character from the Canadian-made Trailer Park Boys television series.

In the category of wishful thinking: bureaucrats and provincial Liberals outside government have been telling us the premier's chief of staff (executioner) Martyn Brown will be leaving his post sometime next month for destinations unknown. Those sources also say Mr. Brown's replacement will be Andrew Wilkinson, the current deputy minister at Small Business and Economic Development and former president of the provincial Liberal Party. Mr. Wilkinson, a Rhodes scholar, also has a doctorate in medicine from the University of Alberta and a law degree from Dalhousie University. As you may know, Mr. Brown is a popular answer for those questioning why the provincial Liberals have mismanaged their 77 seat majority.

CTV's Website has posted the Ipsos-Reid Corp. poll we leaked earlier today. That posting confirms rumours the federal Liberals at 35 percent, down four percentage points since Wednesday - which means this is either a sampling problem or there's substantial volatility within the electorate. For their part, the Conservatives are unchanged at 26 percent and the New Democrats up three percentage points to 18 percent.

You can find out at federal Liberal candidate Billy Cunningham's Blog for Burnaby. Mr. Cunningham, a bank manager and party apparatchik, was appointed to his post by Prime Minister Paul Martin as part of the Grit's B.C. dream team (for reference and comparison purposes the other members of that team include a high-level bureaucrat, a former premier and a forest company CEO). In his most recent posting, the would-be Burnaby-Douglas MP tells readers "I found myself starting to feel a little emotional...at the end of (his last bank staff) meeting. However, perhaps partly because of recent more public events in Burnaby, I made sure that I sucked it up, swallowed hard, and nary a tear was shed." Good for him! We applaud Mr. Cunningham's attempt at emotional restraint.

A senior federal Conservative tells us CTV will be releasing an exclusive Ipsos-Reid Corp. poll on its national broadcast tonight showing the Liberals at 35 percent. That release follows a Compas Inc. poll commissioned by CanWest-Global and published earlier today that had the Liberals at 39 percent, the Conservatives at 31 percent and the New Democrats at 17 percent.

Apparently, being a star candidate doesn't guarantee you a star campaign manager if you're a federal Liberal. Colin Topham, who until recently was a full-time student at University of Victoria (surely graduating with a bachelor degree in election-fighting) will be running Shirley Chan's campaign in Vancouver East. As you may remember, Ms. Chan, a member of Prime Minister Paul Martin's B.C. dream team and the former chief of staff to Vancouver mayor and future premier Mike Harcourt, was appointed to run in that riding earlier this month. In addition to being a former student, Mr. Topham was also a Young Liberal campus club president and briefly served as the party's provincial youth director. A Liberal source says Mr. Topham, who has also worked with professional party schmoozer Keyvan Shojania at the Windsor Law Group, was looking for a summer job when he was asked to help Ms. Chan out.

Evidently, there was some serious bi-partisanship going on at the provincial New Democrat caucus offices last night (which legislative denizens know is smaller than many one bedroom apartments). Opposition staffers and supporters gathered with MLAs Jenny Kwan and Joy MacPhail to celebrate the end of session (and, for the New Democrats, there was an awful lot to celebrate). But they weren't the only ones partying it up. A source in attendance tells us government cabinet ministers Sandy Santori and George Abbott put aside their political differences to join the festivities.

Will Province columnist Mike Smyth be trading his pen in for a microphone? Sources inside and outside the legislature have been asking that question for weeks/months, saying that CityTV and/or Vancouver radio station CKNW are looking to hire him. But, in an interview, Mr. Smyth assures us that's not the case, with neither broadcaster having put an offer on the table. However, next week, he will be hosting The Agenda on CKNW, where he also does a morning commentary with host Frosty Forst.

It has come to our attention that federal Liberal candidate Billy Cunningham's campaign in Burnaby-Douglas will be managed by none other than Roy Bornman. Mr. Bornman, the party's former regional director in B.C., is Erik "Spiderman" Bornman's younger brother. Readers may remember the elder Bornman, a well-known Paul Martin operative, for his rat-fucking shenanigans, which have become the stuff of legend within the party. But his amicable and beefier younger brother is best known for telling an off-colour joke about former Prime Minister Jean Chretien (in the presence of many, many, many constituency association presidents).

Looks like the New VI, a Victoria television station, may soon be looking a whole lot newer. A source connected with that station tells us manager Richard Gray will be making some personnel changes sometime next week. Mr. Gray, the former director of information and human resources at the New RO in Ottawa, took over from chain-smoking news director Clint Nickerson last month. Soon after arriving, a source at the station says Mr. Gray held a no questions, no answers staff meeting where he announced his intention to drag the New VI kicking and screaming from the low-ratings gutter.

The language police have landed! In a confidential email addressed to senior bureaucrats and leaked to Public Eye, Children and Family Development Minister Christy Clark assistant Kim Haakstad identifies several words that are "no longer to be used in letters, press releases, issues notes or any other communication outside the Ministry." They include service redesign, service transformation, core service, strategic shift, budget target, voluntary initiatives, budget reference group, framework and governance (as a stand alone word).

Ms. Haakstad also instructs bureaucrats to avoid "any references to us not already having met the budget." And just to make sure there isn't anything missing, she tells them to "feel free to add to the list" of banned words.

So why is Ms. Haakstad and her minister so anxious to strike down many of the catchphrases which have become closely associated with the provincial Liberal's attempt to hive-off community living and regionalize children and family services?

Well, it might have something to do with the fact that all those initiatives have went disastrously wrong in one way or another. But just to make sure, we talked to a senior staffer and asked why the government was ripping out this particular page from the provincial bureaucratic lexicon. The response: "To make sure our communication is something people can understand publicly. It's that simple. Those words are not words regular people use in everyday life. So why put them in a press release? No one knows what we mean." After all, British Columbians just don't get it when the minister says she hasn't met her budget targets.

-----Original Message-----
From: Haakstad, Kim MCF:EX
Sent: Tuesday May 4, 2004 1:20 PM
To: Kislock, Lindsay MCF:EX; MacPhail, Alison J MCF:EX
Cc: Bowman, Deborah PAB:EX; Thompson, Kate J PAB:EX; Erickson, Jennifer C MCF:EX
Subject: list of banned words

Some feedback from my night of going through correspondence and comm materials.

The following words or phrases are no longer to be used in letters, press releases, issues notes, or any other communication outside the Ministry.

Service Redesign
Service Transformation (transform)
Core service
Strategic Shift
budget target
voluntary initiatives
Budget reference group
Framework
Governance as a stand alone word

any references to us not already having met the budget

Please feel free to add to the list, I know I am missing some.

Kim Haakstad
Ministerial Assistant
Office of the Honourable Christy Clark
Minister of Children and Family Development and Deputy Premier

-----Original Message-----
From: Kislock, Lindsay MCF:EX
Sent: Wednesday May 12, 2004 2:34 PM
To: Gorman, James MCF:EX; Markwart, Alan MCF:EX; Henderson, Kim N MCF:EX; Syme, Robin MCF:EX; Berland, Jeremy MCF:EX
Subject: FW: list of banned words

FYI - below is a list of banned words. The Client Relations Branch is working on alternatives. We will circulate the alternate words once they are approved.

-----Original Message-----
From: Syme, Robin MCF:EX
Sent: Thursday May 13, 2004 3:01 PM
To: MacMillan, Karen MCF:EX
Subject: FW: list of banned words

please let directors know

-----Original Message-----
From: MacMillan, Karen MCF:EX
Sent: Thursday May 13, 2004 3:19 PM
To: Cameron Keller; Loreen O'Byrne; Paula Grant; Randi Mjolsness; Susan Perkin
Subject: FW: list of banned words from Minister's office

Please see the list of banned words from the Minister's office not to be used in any correspondence, BN etc. Please let appropriate staff know.

Thank you.
Karen