A lie emits an unmistakeable stench when finally exposed, as all lies ultimately are. The bigger the lie, the fouler the smell. It's no wonder, then, that the foulest of odours now clings to the provincial New Democrats. Indeed, the pandemic of prevarication that has accompanied the NDP's eight years in office has produced a fetor so monumentally malodorous as to destroy the party itself.

Mike Harcourt's land-policy concoction about "not one lost job" was such an immense perversion of the truth that, when finally laid bare, it created a stink to rival that of a dungheap on a mid-summer's day. And Glen Clark's balanced-budget fabrication was a deception on such an appalling scale that its stench might be compared even to that of Hell's sulphurous atmosphere.

The stink permeates the Premier's Office, the NDP caucus and the party's executive council. It contaminates the leadership race. It infects the party membership. And it can and will get worse.

In fact, a new memo shows that the NDP has recently told another whopper of globe-girdling proportions. News of this is only now just beginning to spread, but as surely as warm milk turns sour, this latest duplicity will inevitably emit an odour that will further poison this already wretched party.

The story (or should we say lie?) starts in mid-July, when then-public service minister Moe Sihota announced the pending creation of a new office of "employment equity" to help put more members of visible minorities into the public service. Also to be boosted by this office were Indians and the physically disabled. Mr. Sihota justified the move by explaining that the government's old employment-equity policy had resulted in only a modest increase in the number of visible minorities working in government. Whereas "vizmins" account for 18% of B.C.'s population, they now comprise just 6% of the civil service. The minister indicated he would not be satisfied until the percentages matched.

The natural question arising from all this was whether Victoria was, therefore, set to embark upon a program of quota hiring, whereby the vizmins would receive preferential treatment and "majority" applicants (that is, able-bodied Caucasians) would be discriminated against. Mr. Sihota's short answer was No. As reported in the Vancouver Sun, "Sihota said details of the initiative are still being worked out, but all hiring will still be done on merit and there will be no quota system."

So it seemed that Mr. Sihota's new equity office would merely widen the search for minority applicants and perhaps even sponsor training programs to ensure that "underrepresented" applicants could qualify for government jobs.

Despite Mr. Sihota's assurances, however, a newly revealed government document proves the NDP has actually decided to directly discriminate against non-minority job applicants. In effect, the quota policy makes a liar of Mr. Sihota and shows that the NDP has once again attempted to deceive voters.

The document was drafted by Charles Ungerleider, the University of B.C. education professor who recently became deputy minister of education. In it, Mr. Ungerleider informs his "colleagues" that the Ministry of Education has been given approval by the B.C. Human Rights Commission "to give preference, when hiring auxiliary staff, to qualified Aboriginal people, visible minorities, people with disabilities and women, particularly in occupations in which they are underrepresented in the Ministry or across government." Mr. Ungerleider says this "preference" means "all first offers of employment must go to members of these designated groups."

In other words, it's "Get to the back of the bus, white boy." It's a further erosion of standards in the public service. And it's yet another New Democrat lie.

But don't bet on it being their last. There's still time left in their mandate for them to insult and abuse British Columbians plenty more. BCR

After 10 years and a bit, BC Report has reached the end of the line, and my time as a columnist and editor-in-chief has likewise concluded. As we announced two weeks ago, BC Report is joining its two Prairie sister publications to produce a new national newsmagazine, The Report, for which I will work as associate editor and B.C. bureau chief. I will be responsible for generating news about B.C. for all editions of the new magazine and also for compiling B.C.-only pages for readers in this province. All current BC Report subscribers will receive the new B.C. edition. We think you'll like it a lot.

So it's farewell today, but it will be hello in two weeks. See you then.

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