What a difference a year makes
20 May '10
What a difference a year makes. On May 12, 2009, Gordon Campbell’s Liberal party was re-elected with 45.7% of the popular vote. A year later, Premier Campbell is facing a crisis of confidence of his own making. Voters expect leaders to keep the promises they make when running for election. The Campbell Liberals have so far failed miserably on this front by any objective measure. Consider the following examples that impact BCGEU members:
Let’s start with last September’s budget. Before and during the 2009 election, the Liberals proclaimed the deficit would be less than $500 million. Six months later, Finance Minister Colin Hansen “corrected” the prediction. He multiplied it by five, announcing a record-breaking deficit of $2.8 billion. It’s a little much to swallow that the Premier didn’t really know the state of the books during the election. And the deficit would’ve been far bigger had the BC Government not received a $1.6 billion cheque from Ottawa – the HST transition payment.
The HST itself is another prime example. The Liberals infamously reversed themselves on the HST, announcing shortly after the election that they were going to introduce the tax after all. The anti-HST petition’s success shows the extent of the electorate’s anger on this point of principle. But the HST is also an ideological tax: it shifts $1.8 billion in tax revenue from businesses to consumers. It’s a grab for the hard-earned cash in our wallet, hitting working families where it hurts most. But 400 BCGEU members who administered the provincial taxation system will now have to change employer. The Canada Revenue Agency will administer the HST, and our members are being transferred to the federal government.
Then there's the March 2010 budget, which foresaw the elimination of 3,500 public service jobs from the leanest public service in the country. A year earlier, just before the election, the government downplayed the potential for any significant cuts. That’s why the union insisted that the new master contract had to include strengthened employment security language, to better protect our members.
The broken promises are adding up. Our members – and the general public – deserve better.
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Hard earned money
As the sole provider for a family of six, I have to say I am sick of being taken to the cleaners. I have been watching the Liberals take hard earned money out of the system and the pockets of the working class for sometime. I have seen a drop in my overall income over the years since they have been in power due to their cuts to basic services. As services are cutback, the cost of getting these service has put a out in the wallets of the taxpayers of Britsh Columbia.I work in the healthcare system and the cuts have been deep for everyone that works in this profession and other service professions in the province. I have seen cutbacks in hours due to the under funding of patient beds and employers trying to contract jobs out to cheaper workers.These types of tactics are what the the Liberals and some of their big business buddies are famous for in the past. They contracted laundry services when they first came into power, we all should remember what happened. The contracted companies were returning the laundry back to some hospitals damp or worse.As a resident and taxpayer of B.C, we should all be standing shoulder to shoulder and fighting back. We all need to have one voice and we should all be saying " no more taxes and no more special tax breaks for Big businesses"
Further Cuts ?
Has there been any confirmed cuts coming down the pipe ?
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