Tuesday’s speech from the throne in Victoria indicates the provincial government may become a much bigger player in local matters.

The province is instituting comprehensive reviews of virtually all agencies it funds but does not control – including Fraser Health Authority, local boards of education, and, as announced earlier, TransLink.

While these reviews may do nothing but confirm these bodies are doing the best they can in fiscal management, given the dollars they are given by Victoria, one line in the speech indicated the province will likely go further than just review them.

“Where Crown agencies or functions delivered by them can be more cost-effectively administered directly by line ministries, they will be,” Lieutenant-Governor Steven Point read, from the speech written by the government’s speech writers.

What appears most likely to revert to direct government control are the health authorities. These were initially set up by the province under the NDP government to bring various health functions under one administrative structure.

Surrey and Delta used to be part of the South Fraser Health region, which was then brought together with several other regions to become the Fraser Health Authority when the B.C. Liberals were elected in 2001.

FHA has had a lot of difficulty in its eight years of existence. It inherited a system of hospitals and other health services that was woefully inadequate to serve the population in what is by far the fastest-growing region of the province.

While the province has spent a lot of money in improving facilities and adding services, FHA has never been able to catch up with the health needs of the population it serves. The region has continued to grow rapidly, and it was badly underserved to begin with.

Nowhere is this more true than in Surrey, where Surrey Memorial Hospital (which has the busiest emergency department in the province) has undergone a series of expansions, yet can’t come close to keeping up with demands placed on it by the public.

FHA’s revolving leadership door has not helped matters, nor has its vast bureaucracy of administrators and communications staff.

While the whole idea behind health authorities was to improve administrative efficiencies and avoid duplication, there is little evidence FHA has done so.

The province funds health care, yet the appointed boards of health authorities have acted as a shield for the province to duck behind. They serve no purpose, and they hinder accountability to the public, who both fund and use health services.

Boards of education are far more established than the health authorities and trustees are actually elected by the public, which means they are accountable for their decisions.

Surrey school district has a fairly lean administrative operation, considering it is the province’s largest district, but some others have bloated administrative structures – particularly since most school districts (Surrey is an exception) are losing students each year.

The province could get rid of school boards, as New Brunswick has done. However, it is doubtful this will save much money and it won’t improve accountability.

The best bet might be to demand leaner administrative structures in districts where enrolment has declined significantly.

Frank Bucholtz writes Fridays for the Peace Arch News. He is the editor of the Langley Times.