Terry Lake can’t be faulted for lack of effort

KAMLOOPS — When someone dies, we look for good things to say about them. We talk about their talents, their skills, the people and dogs they loved, their hobbies, and their volunteer work.

When politicians end their careers, they don’t get the same break. Every wart is polished up and put on display for final viewing.

We don’t, after all, trust or think well of politicians, so aiming a kick or two or three at them as they’re on the way out is just something we like to do.

Quite a few incumbent B.C. MLAs are in the last throes of their political careers as we count down the days until the provincial election.

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One of them is Terry Lake. No B.C. politician has taken more heat from the public than he has — aside from Premier Christy Clark — during the term in office just ending.

There’s no tougher portfolio in cabinet to stick handle than Health, no service more crucial, and no stakeholders harder to please.

As Lake turns out the lights on politics, he carries some heavy baggage: seniors are mad as hatters, anyone without a family doctor blames him, ERs are over-crowded, his political opponents rail against what they call hallway medicine, and there’s never enough money.

But let’s think, for just a moment, what it might be like if Lake hadn’t been at the healthcare helm. What if he hadn’t appointed a seniors advocate and funded more assisted living facilities, built more hospitals, clinics and patient-care units. If he hadn’t set up primary care centres in an effort to soften the walk-in clinic problem. If he hadn’t grabbed the fentanyl crisis by the horns with lightning speed as political and bureaucratic responses go?

Could have been a lot worse. And by the way, his previous gig as Minister of Environment was no piece of cake either.

So let’s give Mr. Lake points for what he did do, set aside for a moment what we think he should have done, and wish him well.