Clark Government Writing Plenty of Cheques
Monday, April 30, 2012 @ 4:21 AM
Prince George, B.C. – The provincial government has been going on a bit of a spending spree recently while, at the same time, telling teachers and other public sector workers that it’s zero mandate policy remains in place.
The mantra of Liberal Premier Christy Clark has been “net zero”, saying it cannot afford increases in the cost of providing services. And that has led to the contract battle with the BC Teachers Federation, which now has gone to third party mediation under Dr. Charles Jago. Other unions with contracts up for re-negotiation, including the BCGEU and HEU, will also face a government sticking to the “net zero” philosophy.
Meantime the government has been making spending announcements at a rapid pace recently. These come directly from the Government of British Columbia website:
– $600 million hospital Vancouver Island
– $2 million women’s World Cup soccer
– $13.8 million supportive housing Vancouver
– $14.3 million Gibsons school
– $1.3 million Bamfield roads
– $40 million victims of crime
– $25 million northwest highways
– $54 million South Peace highways
– $19.5 million Oliver school
– $10 million skills training
– $30 million two New Westminster schools
– $12.6 million bridge Port Renfrew
– $10 million medical training UHNBC
– $4 million Quesnel rec centre
– $11.12 million 2015 Games
– $200 million Phase 2 Cariboo Connector
– $50 million hospital Haida Gwaii
– $50-55 million hospital Burns Lake
– $1.1 million Maple Ridge recovery bed
– $1 million fruit & veggie program
– $48 million mental health VGH
– $1 million for parks Maple Ridge
– $20 million Pacific Autism Centre.
These spending announcements, totaling approximately 1.219 billion dollars, have appeared on the government website since April 9th, 2012, roughly in the past three weeks.
Comments
Clark and the B.C.Liberals are spending hot air.
Considering their date with the voters in 2013,none of this will come to pass,
Christy Clark knows that very well.
All these announcements acually do is make them look phoney and desparate.
Nobody is impressed.
Call the damn election…it’s over.
Kind of strange, I thought they were broke. Election coming up, they’ll go in the hole big time to try get re elected. After all it isn’t their money they are spending.
Great. spend more ,fix this place up-and then the naxt govenment will hopefully spend some as well.
But if this is pre-election desperation spending, why are they so willing to p!$$ off so many potential voters?
i.e. the BC teachers fed.
metalman.
Most of it is in the budget! Probably not the soccer bid though! I would suggest you go through the budget and see how the money is spent. Over 80% is spent on Health Care,Education, S.A. and Interest on Debt. Not going to get any better without raising corporate and personal income taxes. Both will happen after the next election regardless of who wins.
Isn’t their a cost to putting the PST back in place? How about the free nicorette gum to all the smokers that want it out there!
This government doesn’t have a clue what it is doing. Perhaps a few of you BC Liberal right wingers could explain it to us lefties?
So you guys don’t want the govt wasting money on schools & hospitals?
Let’s not forget $40 million for a wood innovation design centre that no one can figure out what we’re going to use it for.
weaksauce: “So you guys don’t want the govt wasting money on schools & hospitals?”
That was my thought. This is what government spends money on, despite what this article is trying to imply.
How much do they spend on the legal system? Everyone complains about schools and hospitals, what about money being spent giving losers over 150 convictions? Police costs, jails, sherrifs, legal aid, judges, court rooms, interpreters…and the list goes on and on! Millions on mr big stings, Vancouver rioter investigations, screening pig farms, Wally opal…
I want my taxes to fund schools, hospitals, and senior care!!! The cutting needs to happen in our overly expensive legal system! Imho
Looks like the right wing agenda is weak.
Seems the right wing does not stand for anything! On the one hand they talk of their great fiscal ability, the next they are out spending like drunken sailors.
Healthcare and education already take up 2/3 of the Provincial Budget. If they shouldn’t be spending it on healthcare and education, maybe someone can enlighten us on what it should be spent on?
I think people (especially NDP supporters) are more offended that the government is promoting itself, rather than the expenditures themselves. With an election coming up, any government in power would do the same, NDP included.
“I think people (especially NDP supporters) are more offended that the government is promoting itself, rather than the expeditures themselves.”
Do you not read your posts JohnnyBelt, before you hit “Post Comment”?
I would think all people would be offended that ANY government would spend our money to buy votes. This is not a plank in a political platform, you cannot “Google” a political party’s website and find that it says in the last term of our tenure we will try to buy votes. To have voters come on here and defend vote buying cause they think they all do it, is why governments can and continue to be corrupt.
As long as we have people like you JohnnyBelt, that continue to turn a blind eye to corruption, there will be no end to it, no matter what political stripe you favour.
Voters like you JohnnyBelt are why no change is needed by our leaders cause voters like you just smile and say “cause that’s the way it is.” All voters should be outraged that this practice takes place, so governments in the future take notice.
As long as voters like you JohnnyBelt, just shrug your shoulders cause they all do it, and not question no matter who you support, why would they change?
Your smarter than that, JohnnyBelt….
Thanks for proving my point, Taxed.
“Do you not read your posts JohnnyBelt, before you hit “Post Comment”?”
I do. Just reacting to the usual comments from people like yourself. Are you saying I’m not entitled to my opinion?
“I would think all people would be offended that ANY government would spend our money to buy votes.”
Tell me, whose votes are being bought? I thought the NDP was a slam dunk for the next election. Are you telling me that might not be the case?
“Your smarter than that, JohnnyBelt….”
Also, please take some time learn the difference between you’re and your.
Johnny Belt is the one that said in a previous comment that politicians shouldn’t have a conscience of their own, they should just follow the rules. It says a lot about his partisan positioning. I can think of a few totalitarians that would like to have a guy like that in their ranks.
For a good laugh one should try and find the comments by an Australian politician they had on the CBC the other day. He said he supported his prime ministers new position on climate change policy, but admitted he didn’t know what that policy was, but because it came from the Prime Minister while she was on a trip to Europe it must be good policy lol… I busted a gut laughing at that one, and immediately thought of Johnny.
Refresh my memory JohnnyBelt, what was your point?
Was your point that no matter what your political leaders that you support say and do that you JohnnyBelt will fall in line and obey?
If that was your point, you have made that point loud and clear many times.
JohnnyBelt: I think Taxed Out is saying that the party in government should not spent any money in the last year of their term, even if it is in the budget! This can be taken as vote buying by the supporters of any opposition party!
Could it be that a lot of this money is coming from the HST that about 700,000 BC residents didn’t want and is still being collected?
cougs: “JohnnyBelt: I think Taxed Out is saying that the party in government should not spent any money in the last year of their term, even if it is in the budget! This can be taken as vote buying by the supporters of any opposition party!”
cougs, I hope that’s not the point he’s making. If so, we have heard it many times.
cougs78, don’t put words in my mouth, you know what I mean. I have said it clear enough, this is not a partisan issue.
Do you stick your head in the same hole in the sand as JohnnyBelt?
It is the same for every party, provincial or federal! I do highly recommend going through the budget document though! As I said in a previous post, corporate and personal taxes will rise dramatically regardless of which party wins!We have to spend a pile on infastructure going forward, and it doesn’t have anything to do with vote buying. If we had more people on the paddles and less passengers we would be fine!
Well JonnyBelt and any other so called right wingers out there, pull up a stool pull your sox off and start counting your toes for the days that you have left before the NDP arrive on the scene. Then hold your heads up so you can hear the sigh of relief from the majority and watch the HST sink in the sunset and end up where all bad taxes go. Then you can look around and see that life is good because all BCers pay the same tax. There won’t be a government that sells usefull things that BCers can use to prosper like BC Rail. The government may make the odd mistake like they did with the Fast Cats Ferries but their interest was in trying to speed up the ferry system. At any rate what the lieberals did was most unforgivable, they sold the Fast Cats for far less than the cost of building them. Yes they sure gave the NDP a black eye on that one, but to be sure they definately didn’t do themselves any good on that one. I would say BC went down from there with all of the antics the lieberalsdid to the constituents from there on. I could say more….
I dont think anyone would be pissed off if they hadent given themselves a 43% raise in a “net zero” enviroment
Vote for the Libs or the cheques won’t clear.
BC — Best Place on Earth
Worst government ever.
There is no doubt cougs78, taxes are going up, only a fool cannot see Victoria has a revenue problem. No matter what party rules this province in the next election corporate taxes will go up. In fact the BC Liberals even said so themselves. Of course we will see business jumping up and down and complaining just as they did in Alberta under the Ed Stelmach leadership. Only I hope whoever leads us after the next election leads us as Danny Williams did in NFLD and sticks to his guns. Within a short amount of time business came back to NFLD and pays the tax.
Why don’t you tell us what you really think Sunfire! I don’t really care which party gets in at this point. Neither of them have the gonads to do the right thing anyway! Danny Williams would be a nice change!
It never fails that in these kinds of discussions that someone feels the need to inform me that the NDP is going to win the next election. Is that supposed to be a warning or a threat?
The HST will be gone before the Liberals leave office, no need to worry about that. Then we can go back to paying GST/PST. Woopee!
Cougs78 you know where I stand I always knew the NDP would get their chance to kick the can around for a full term with a majority. Now is their time to shine and shine they will. with the lieberals following C.C. they will shine even more.
Some, correction, one person doesn’t see the advantage of having the people with the money sharing the tax burden with us well Johnny Belt I still find your posts interesting. You know I to love Danny Williams and yes I would like to see him in BC wearing an orange tee shirt.
I think it was a promise, JohnnyBelt!!!
a buying votes they go
A buying votes they go
Hi ho the lying liberals
A buying votes they go
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