BC Fed President Hammers Falcon Budget
Tuesday, February 21, 2012 @ 3:29 PM
Vancouver, BC – The B.C. Federation of Labour called today’s budget a wrong-headed continuation of the policies that have put more money in the pockets of the richest British Columbians and BC Liberal insiders at the expense of working and middle class families.
“Working people in British Columbia are having a tougher and tougher time making ends meet because of the policies of this government,” said Jim Sinclair, head of the Fed. “The 2012 budget, again, puts more money in the pockets of BC’s corporate elite while asking average working people to suck up wage cuts and fee increases. This budget reflects BC Liberal policy to reward the one percent at the expense of the 99 percent.”
Sinclair said the budget was a clear illustration of the government’s misplaced priorities. “If a CEO buys a vacation home in Whistler, this budget puts up to $10,000 in his pocket, while average families are paying more in Medical Services Plan (MSP) and Hydro rates and childcare workers, teachers and hospital workers are being told to take real wage cuts,” said Sinclair.
Sinclair said that the BC Liberals will continue the underfunding of healthcare, education, justice and social services, while reckless tax cuts to the extremely well off and corporations starve the province of funds. He noted that despite huge increases in Hydro rates, MSP premiums, tuition fees, and bridge tolls paid by average families, government revenue in 2012 was down $7.7 billion annually from 2001 numbers as a percentage of BC’s GDP.
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Jim is great.
Cheers
MSP premiums are going up again, promised small business tax cut that was to go in effect April 1st/2012 canceled..
” Tuesday, announcing plans to privatize the liquor distribution branch, increase MSP premiums and some business taxes, and to sell off hundreds of millions of dollars in surplus government properties.
” Falcon said his government will cancel a drop in the small business corporate income tax rate, keeping it at 2.5 per cent instead of dropping it to zero as had been planned for this coming April.
Kevin Falcon has chosen to tax small business, not corporations, notice the word IF in the below statement
He added that if the fiscal situation worsens, the government will increase the general corporate income tax rate to 11 per cent from 10 per cent on April 1, 2014″
No money for education, education budget frozen for 4 years, nothing for inflation, education funding will fall again as inflation takes its toll..
Money for healthcare being scaled back,
“Jim Sinclair of the B.C. Federation of Labour called the budget tailor made for the top one per cent of wage earners in B.C.
“If you’re an ordinary person, you’re going to pay more for everything, including MSP premiums and at the end of the day you’re worse off,” he said.
” British Columbia Teachers’ Federation president gave the budget a failing grade.
“This is a fiscal failure of gargantuan proportions,” she said.
“We calculated, looking at the operating budget this year, that it would cost about $137 million just to keep up with inflation alone,” she added.
“If you take the $30 million the finance minister has allowed for public education, that means $100 million cut to public education next year,” she said, predicting “deep cuts” to class size and the prospect of more school closures”
” Mary Ellen Turpel-Lanfond, B.C.’s Representative for Children and Youth, was also highly critical, calling Tuesday’s budget “callous” and a “U-Turn from [Premier Christy Clark’s] families first agenda”.
“On the sale of government assets, Falcon said government plans to generate $706 million by selling select assets in the 2013-14 and 2014-15 fiscal years.Falcon said one of the key assets it hopes to sell is the liquor distribution branch, a move he said is fashioned to allow government to “get out of a business we don’t need to be in.”
“Falcon’s budget also said the government will proceed with the next increase to the Carbon Tax planned for this July – a lift that will bring that tax to 7.67 cents per litre from 6.39 cents”
http://www.vancouversun.com/plans+balance+2013+selling+assets+raising+corporate+taxes/6186544/story.html
Families will pay more for healthcare, more for fuel, small business get their chained yanked while corporations get left alone, Christy Clark and Kevin Falcon with this budget have clearly chosen the rich over the rest, for shame, more to come, I`m still in shock…And everyone who works for a decent buck in the liquor business will now be laid off and replaced with a private sector Mc flip pay job..And The BC Liberals are selling assets that belong to the people to shore up budget numbers, again for shame, the worst budget in BC Liberal history..
The Straight Goods
I take anything that Jim Sinclair or any other union head says with a BIG grain of salt. Therefore, I do believe our government is doing the budget justice.
Well done, Falcon.
As I previously said:
“Sinclair said the budget was a clear illustration of the governmentâs misplaced priorities.  âIf a CEO buys a vacation home in Whistler, this budget puts up to $10,000 in his pocket,”
So Jim Sinclair, please tell me how many CEOs will be first time home buyers when they buy a vacation home in Whistler?
Whether you are for or against the budget does anybody still listen to the alarmist rhetoric that Sinclair spews?
Seems to me that Sinclair was on BC Hydro’s board of directors at one time.
Also if you are the President of the BC Fed,with 500,000 members I suggest that you would get a great salary. Something pretty close to what CEO’s get.
He lives in Port Moody, and probably has some pretty nice digs.
BC has been good to him.
What company do you own Slim?
Can’t stand the thought of losing out on Liberal handouts on the backs of families in BC hey.
I am always amused by Jim Sinclair’s union-centred view of the world.
Why even quote Sinclair. You know what this clown will say before his lips move. Kinda like dragon.
Jim Sinclair is in the 1%, on the backs of his union membership.
Hope you get run into the poor house dopey dow!
You’re sure one to talk dow.
poor house is where we are all headed if the ndp get back in dipper dragon.
Hard to believe that the gold plated pensions politicians get when they retire from doing nothing is just peanuts!!!
Hey Dragon, no handouts for this kid. The ONLY time I sat a picket line the NDP put us there. Sick of Clark and his ferry fiasco and so much more. You should keep in mind every political party caters to a particular voter group, just can’t believe the union workers who still support them, when they get tromped on all the time, it’s funny to watch and listen too. These folks seem to be doing okay. Jim can pound sand again, maybe he’s losing membership, ergo, wages for him.
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