Confidential advice to the B.C. Liberal cabinet, which was recently released in B.C. Supreme Court, discloses a plan to define the NDP Opposition as “Negative, Destructive and Divisive”, with “no ideas, no solutions”.

The B.C. government was forced to reveal the documents in response to a freedom-of-information request from Vancouver lawyer Michael Bolton, who represents former B.C. Liberal government political aide David Basi.

The NDP posted these and other  documents on its Web site on March 6.

One document reveals that the B.C. cabinet has been advised to define NDP Leader Carole James as being  “not up to the job of Premier”.

Other documents suggest that the “Best Place on Earth” advertising campaign was part of a plan to present the government’s leadership as “bold, open, accountable, proficient, and trustworthy”.

One of the “global strategic objectives” of the Best Place on Earth campaign was: “To foster public trust, respect and confidence in our government, its leaders and decisions.”

The “Best Place on Earth” campaign was broken out into four different components: the best place to live, learn, invest, and play. The campaign documents also pose the question of what the Olympic broadcasters, NBC and CTV, might need in 2010.

This suggests that some of the publicly financed images from the campaign might be made available to the Olympic broadcasters during the 2010 Games, which will be held in Vancouver and Whistler.

The Gordon Campbell government did not place Vanoc under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, the Financial Information Act, and  the Document Disposal Act.

Nor has the Campbell government given the provincial auditor general  authority  to review  Vanoc's expenditures on goods and services, even though the premier  claimed in 2003 that the Games belong to the people of B.C.  

Despite this, another global strategic objective of the Best Place on Earth campaign, according to the  documents,  was: “To profoundly enhance transparency and accountability in government.”