The following article was posted today on "The Province" newspaper's web site. The title of the article is "Anger grows over B.C.'s great salary divide".

Our newspaper's revelation that retiring B.C. Supreme Court judge Patrick Dohm will receive a yearly pension of $195,000 has clearly left some readers shaking their heads.

The story even drew a rebuke from Vancouver Crown prosecutor Ralph Keefer, who said in a letter to the editor in Sunday's paper that it was "very unfair of you to focus on the value of his pension."

But there is an issue here, as Delta reader Ron Yorston points out. And it has to do with the overall fairness of our province's wage structure.

"The question to me is . . . why is there such a huge canyon separating people like him [Dohm] from hundreds of thousands of British Columbians trying to eke out a living on minimum wage," Yorston writes. "These people will never be able to retire."

The short answer to that is life is unfair and then you die. The long answer is that society tends to pay top dollar for what it values most. And it obviously values its judges, lawyers, doctors and other "professionals" far above regular working stiffs.

Also, professional associations and unions work overtime to maintain their monopolies and boost their members' salaries.

That said, in recent years, there has clearly developed a huge -- and unhealthy -- divide between those on the public payroll and those who are not. In fact, B.C. appears increasingly being divided into a province of "haves" with high wages and big, fat pensions and "have-nots" . . . without either.

Increasingly, the "haves" are to be found in the heavily unionized public sector and the "have-nots" in private industry, the struggling engine of our sputtering economy.

Sure, some corporate bosses enjoy humongous payouts. But they're relatively few, and generally work for firms that will fire them if they don't produce results. With the public sector there's far less pressure to keep overall costs down. And taxpayers' pockets are always there to be picked.

Take B.C.'s school boards which, despite years of declining enrolment, keep demanding more taxpayer cash -- to meet the ever-rising salaries, pensions and other benefits of highly paid school administrators, teachers and other unionized staff.

Indeed, government these days seems to have become our master rather than our servant, with government employees a privileged, pampered elite.

Look no further than the bizarre move by Vancouver city hall to reward police, firefighters, nurses and, yes, teachers with special access to luxury rental accommodation at the Olympic Village.

And how about the report that some 350 Vancouver city cops were paid more than $100,0000 a year in 2008?

That was the year a study by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business found municipal workers in Canada on average enjoyed a 36-per-cent wage advantage over their private-sector counterparts, when benefits were included. With federal and provincial employees, the difference was as much as 42 per cent and 25 per cent, respectively.

Hundreds of B.C. public servants now make more than $200,000 a year, while overtaxed workers in the private sector take the brunt of the job losses, wage freezes and rollbacks.

No wonder some of them look at judge Dohm's generous pension and weep.

By Jon Ferry, The Province

http://www.theprovince.com/business/Anger+grows+over+great+salary+divide/2951290/story.html

So what if your getting paid $100k a year for being a cop. Would you do that job for 20 years of slugging thru the beaurcracy to get that position.

The problem is, 100k sounds like a big number, but your thinking of a time when a new pickup was under 10k. Thus it is all relative.

So what does Jon, want, you want mediocre people running a department, or do you want the best to run the departments. I prefer the bests. And for the best, you have to pay good wages.

Hey, I'm not even a public servant. In fact I am so right, when I look left I see the reform party. But I am smart enough to realize, you get what you pay for.

You get what you pay for!? I guess that is why we have a liar and drunken driver running this place.

Yep, as if we all not have something to be embarassed about. Get over it. It is easy to run someone down, if your not standing infront of a mirror.

So...today de Jong is threatening to ram the bill through the house within the next week.
Now that is democracy for ya!
This is not a democratic government,it is a dictatorship by election,and that in itself is every bit as bad as the HST and the lies surrounding it.
The Campbell clowns are running scared...very scared,so what is it that they don't want us to know or see?
They are a government completely out of control.
Something is indeed very wrong here, and we need to fight back as hard as we can!
If the voters of B.C. lay down on this one,we will regret it for along time to come.
This is not just about raising taxes...something IS wrong within this government, and we need to find out what it is!
Something smells really bad!
It is not an NDP or a Liberal thing,or any other particular party...there are principals involved in this mess.
Fight back B.C.!
This is the big one!

"This is not a democratic government,it is a dictatorship by election,and that in itself is every bit as bad as the HST and the lies surrounding it."

Uh, so what's the alternative to this? Put every decision, no matter how minor to a referendum? For better or worse, government is elected to lead and sometimes make unpopular choices.

I remember when the Liberals started their mandate with tax cuts, and that was unpopular. Now, the HST is unpopular. I would say the general population has no idea what it wants.

Oh, I think they do know what they want MrPg...and it isn't what we are getting!
I have seen a lot of bad government come and go in B.C. but this is without a doubt,the worst!
Campbell and clan are just plain scary, and failure to stand up for ourselves will be a huge mistake!

I know what you want Mr. PG..You want people to roll-over and play dead.

That is your field of expertise Mr. PG

Gordon Campbell is finished, and he is taking out the entire Liberal caucus with him.

He can ignore the HST initiative,he can`t ignore "Recall in the Fall"

If Hansen and Campbell ram the HST through, my consolation prize is a decimated B.C. Liberal Party..

Cheers

http://powellriverpersuader.blogspot.com/

Yeah for HST, unpopular as it is, twenty years from now, we will be saying.... what a visionary.

Funny, I'm sure WAC Bennet was not a popular man, but we look back in our history of our province, and his reign is pivotal to what we have today. Lets leave our kids a legacy, not a record of mundanish.

Here's a neat idea, instead of attacking me (which many seem to like to do ahem-Grant G-ahem), how about addressing the issues I brought up in the post above?

- If tax (service) cuts and the HST are unpopular, what is the right course of action?

- In the interest of 'democracy', should every government proposal be put to a referendum?

Mr. PG. In general, inclusive of this audience, most people fail to understand that we still have a pretty good standard of living. compare us with the rest of the world, we are not under military rule, we can voice and print our opinions with minimal reprisal. We live in a country with medical care for everyone. We live in a country with resources. We live in a country where, if your willing to work hard and smart, you can get ahead.

Basically, the whinners are people who fail to realize their potentials because it is easier to blame everyone else for their failures in life, instead of taking ownership and making a difference.

100 K per yr does not go very far in the vancouver area with the highest house prices in canada there. I know their base salary and many of them earning 100K did so working lots of overtime.

That is correct Imorge, good point. I would want our policemen/women, doctors and firement to be well paid, so that they value their continued employment. Thus they will not do stupid things to jeprodize their jobs.

Time to wake up and smell the flowers.

I sometimes wonder where people spend their time.

If the HST is such a good tax, why did the Government not bring it in years ago.

The PST was put in by Government and applied to business and Corportations. Why are we now calling it a bad tax.

The Government of BC has multi millions of dollars coming in from all kinds of sources, and if they need more money now, it is because of a huge mis-management problem.

People who support the HST are border line fools and cant see beyond the tip of their noses.

The biggest beneficieries of the HST are large Corporations. Has anyone anywhere heard anything from large Corporations about this tax. The short answer is NO, and the reason you havent is because the Government is implementing the tax for Corporations, which in effect makes it a subsidy, and no one wants to talk about it.

We were hosed on the GST, because they eliminated the 13.5% manufacturing tax for Corportations in 1991, and they are now eliminating the 7% PST for Corporations and folding it into the HST. This means a tax reduction of 20.5% since 1991 for Corporations, This means a huge increase in taxes for consumers to cover the lost revenue from Corporations.

So forget the BS about what it applies, on, or why the Government is doing it, or whether it is a good, or bad tax. The fact of the matter is your paying the taxes for the Corportations, so quit the silly debating, look into the facts, and sign the bloody petition and try and stop these guys from screwing you to death.

One more thing. We have absolutely no information to substantiate the statement that when we pay people huge salaries, we get the best people. In fact it has been proven time over time, that most of these people are ***Danny Dimwits***

Lee Ioccoca once said that the Majority of managers,.CEO's, Presidents, etc; in business in North America are fools.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

Grant, don't worry about Gordo, he is likely going to retire in mid summer. It is what is best for the party. He had his high with the olympics, He will take the heat for the HST, and then step down because he wants to spend more time with the family. Its simple as Tic Tac Toe.

We WILL NOT be saying "..what a visionary" about Gordon Campbell, He spoke, not EVER. He's a narrow-minded, global groupie ideologue. A 'follower', not a 'leader'.

WAC Bennett's legacy was that he tried his best to do what was right for ALL British Columbians. Not just a priveledged few.

Sometimes that wasn't always apparent at the time, and, yes, sometimes he, too, made mistakes. He was only human/

But there was never, in all his years of office, the same type of petty mean-spiritness present that's been exhibited from day one of their regime by Campbell and his Liberals.

And WAC Bennett, unlike the Premier we have now, a guy whose favourite sentence opener is, "Let me tell you...", never forgot why he had TWO ears, and only ONE mouth. He LISTENED to what the people were telling him.

And he was never afraid to take a second look at any policy with which they were clearly telling him they did not agree.

That's going to be Gordon Campbell's undoing. He's simply not paying attention to what "the People", an overwhelming majority of ALL British Columbians, are telling him on this issue. We do NOT want this TAX.

If he's so sure that we do, then lets have a Referendum on it and find out. Or even a "free vote" in the Legislature, where every MLA can do his own polling of his own constituents, and then properly "represent" them as to what they tell him on this issue. WAC would've called an election, to find out. But Campbell's fixed election date nonsense has precluded that. How convenient.

And another thing, WAC Bennett never used "closure". He just let his opponents talk til they were exhausted, through keeping the Legislature open all night if that was necessary. Gordon Campbell criticised the Clark NDP government for invoking "closure" before the Nishga Treaty had been fully debated. And he was right, that shouldn't have been done. But now his government is going to do the same thing with this HST fiasco. Where's the difference ~ do two wrongs make a right?

palopu: "If the HST is such a good tax, why did the Government not bring it in years ago."

You could make that argument about any change in law. It proves nothing.

palopu: "People who support the HST are border line fools and cant see beyond the tip of their noses."

Ah yes, when your argument is weak, resort to name calling and attacks to get your point across. Nice.

He spoke, I pretty much agree with you. We have it pretty good in general, but many can't see it because they're too busy hating the Liberals or Gordo or whatever.

I also agree that Gordo will be gone soon, and people will turn their attention elsewhere. And the world will keep turning.

MrPG asked what is the alternative to our form of government - it is going back to what our government was set up to do, represent the people of Canada.
Why are we mad about the HST - it is "the straw that broke the camel's back" for a lot of people. I, for one, am tired of - the lies!!, MLAs & MPs no longer representing the people but blindly following party line, new laws, etc. being done in the PMO office, Premier office, and backrooms instead of in the seating houses. And the worse part is the large wages and pensions that they have given themselves.

It doesn't matter if Campbell retires or not before the next election. The Liberals had NO MANDATE to impose this tax, and did not seek one. They promised the exact opposite than what they're now trying to do.

They are a 'illegitimate' government, and the next 'bastard' that leads them will fare no better than the present one would.

We were taught, back in my schooldays, that we had both "representative" and "responsible" government under the British Parliamentary system.

We lost the latter when "fixed election dates" were implemented, and a government could no longer "go to the people" if it felt a necessity for something like the HST, yet knew it had no mandate to bring it in.

And the former, 'representative' government, has been reduced to meaninglessness through the refusal of Liberal MLAs to actually "represent" what the majority of their constituents are clearly now telling them.

So let the Liberals put in whomever they desire as their new grand pooh-bah ~ if that HST goes through, they're finished as a Party that could form government here again.

you know what is interesting, where is the opposition party. Surely the NDP can not claim that they were not aware of the HST that was coming in. If they were, than what kind of an opposition do we have. It is just as much Carole's issue for not bringing it up as a election issue.

Somebody, pass me a longer stick, the pots a bit deeper than I thought.

"So let the Liberals put in whomever they desire as their new grand pooh-bah ~ if that HST goes through, they're finished as a Party that could form government here again. "

I'm not so sure about that. Who do people vote for if they're not socialists? As long as there is a party that represents the right side of the political spectrum, a large segment of the public will vote for them.

Right now, the Liberals are the only party that fits the bill. Gordo will be gone, but his party will live on unless something comes along to replace it.

so correct, Mr PG

Maybe it would be the Zalm Party

Palopu

Back to your half truths, misrepresentations and outright lies again eh'.

Maybe you should run for office, you seem to take on the traits of those you oppose.

I cant wait till you knock on my door and try that garbage face to face.

See you all at the rally!

HST has nothing to do with the NDP. It is a Liberal tax shift and the Liberals have to justify it. Campbell lied about it, during the election and everyone in the province appears to have believed him. Why wouldn't they? Noweveryone knows different.

I know it is a standard Liberal practice to twist everything and anything around to criticise the NDP in some way and blame them for all Campbell's screw ups, but come on, how do you expect anybody, yourself included, to read Campbell's mind? If it was so obvious, why didn't you mention it, yourself?

Stompin Tom. Do some reading on the GST since it was brough in. Also who do you think benefits from the HST?? Im talking about Corporations. That means companies like West Fraser, Fording Coal, Rio Tinto Alcan, Canfor, etc; etc; etc. I dont think you fall under that category.

There may be some benefits to **small** business, however these are out weighed by the cost to the majority.

How come the Government wont give us a list as to what this tax will apply on????

They just give a list of the exceptions,
like baby diapers.

Maybe you can give us a list of how it benefits you, and how it will benefit me. I suggest that there will be a huge difference. In other words you will save some money, while I will have to pay a hell of a lot more. Whats with that.

Palopu

You might want to do some reading.

Largest employer in Canada? Small business. Anything which benefits small business I am in favor of.

How does it benefit me? It allows me to be more competative in my field. It allows my business to become stronger which allows me to keep my employees and my self employed.

How does it benefit you? Roads, parks, police, firemen, health care, infrastructure, welfare, the list goes on and on.

Your posts the past few weeks have left me with this view of you, lets see how close I am. Your a unionized worker, same job for over 10 years, you put in about 2.5 hours a day of real work and 6.5 hours of dog flogging, you think your employer is screwing you, you feel they owe you more, you spend more time complaining than you do working, you hear stories then use your own words and ideas to modify them to your own use. You think you know more than your boss. You have trouble accepting the fact that others have a different view than you do.

The one thing the Liberals do understand is for this province to succeed, business must succeed. Making things favorable for small and big business goes a long way to making the entire province successful.

Well Tom as usual you blew it.

1. Have worked in Management for the past 30 or more years.

2. Have run and am running my own business. First business I lost $100,000.00 and went broke. (Didnt cry for any tax benefits to tide me over) Employed over 12 people. Second business is making money, without any benefits from the Government.

3. Most issues I comment on I do some research on. I dont just shoot from the lip like some posters.

4. The Liberals are taxing the consumers to offset the money they will lose by giving business and Corporations a tax break. As I said before do some reading on the GST and the manufacturing tax, and the HST. Business gets breaks, consumers get taxed.

5. During the 2004-2008 period with the housing boom in the USA when business and corporations were making millions of dollars in profits I didnt get any bloody benefits from them. But now that they are losing some money they want the consumer to come to their rescue. I think not.

6. The bottom line is, if you cant make a go of your business, they get out of it. Or lobby the Government for tax breaks etc; however dont expect the everyday working man to bail you out.

7. For every action there is a reaction. If you go broke someone else will take your place. That is the nature of the beast. There are no gaurantees in life.

Have a nice day.

stompin tom. Why did they feel the need to lie about something so great and why did't they bring this in years ago? Ask a restraunteur what they think of this. There are many small businesses that do not share your unconditional love for this tax. I guess they are just to stupid to know whats good for their businesses.

Charles, you are right on the money about public sector pay in BC.

Here's a quick factoid. The city of PG pays twice as many people over a $100,000 a year... than the entire state government for New Jersey. With 9 million citizens and a far higher cost of living than PG, the argument that we in PG re paying a fair wage evaporates upon comparison.

Dollar for dollar our currencies are the same, so why does PG pay twice as many people over a $100,000 a year than an entire state of 9 million people?

I read an article the other day that is profound in its implications... could very well be the most important perspective I've read in a long time for how it paints the larger picture of the circumstances we find ourselves in today.

When reading it I thought wow the parallels to our HST situation are uncanny. Its about America and the danger they are now in, but it very well could be dito for BC and Canada. What happens to America is not far from what happens to Canada, and as such its probably the most important perspective most of you will read if you truly understand what the implications are. I highly recommend it as a must read for everyone. I would love to see the same article organized from a Canadian perspective if I had the time to write it.

Had I wrote the Canadian version I think it would be nearly identical other then a few small things (Candian figures obviously). One is that the health care figures for the states are really anyones guess at this time and Canada doesn't have the same health care situation of an insurance company bailout gift at the expense of health care, and Canada isn't implementing health care revenue plans to finance its short term ponzi debt crisis. Take that whole part out of the argument and it doesn't change a thing to the overall big picture. Canada, and in particular BC, still have the same problem as the article raises.

Also I don't think buying gold is the best option to protect your savings from the coming overnight devaluation of our currencies... I would opt for silver instead, as its less elastic in its supply and that will be the true hedge against the devaluation when it hits and it will hit soon... the bankster ponzi scheme has run its course and the health care dollars are only a stop gap for the short term. Soon the American dollar will be on par with the Zimbabwe dollar. Unlike other recessions, this time bonds will be no safe haven if the currency is devalued overnight by 50% or more... equities too will be essentially worthless... we are being sold to slavery and 99.9999% of the people have no idea what is going on. HST and the way it is being implemented is only the start, and only an indication of what is coming.

America's Impending Master Class Dictatorship
http://www.kitco.com/ind/Dougherty/jan222010.html

The 'We Defy You' segment describes the BC liberals and Gordon Campbell to a tee.

I challenge everyone to really read this and understand it because your future well being could very well hang in the balance. Its about the debt slavery we are being sold into by our governments and their master class cohorts and how they are essentially already saying our democracy no longer applies to them... you make up your own mind on how best to use this information to protect your future and that of your family.

HST is only the beginning, and this article explains very concisely why it is so important we bring back the rule of law and the integrity of our democratic process.

dow7500:-"There are many small businesses that do not share your (Stompin Tom's) unconditional love for this tax. I guess they are just to stupid to know whats good for their businesses.
------------------------------------------

I guess we are, dow7500. I have one of them, and I can't for the life of me see where it's going to be of OVERALL benefit to me personally, to my employees, my customers, or my business.

I can see, however, how it'll benefit the big Banks, and large, capital-intensive, export oriented, industries. And the Federal government. All at OUR expense.

Palopu,

by reading your comments about small business, its not hard to see why you went broke.

As for your research, if that is the case, why are you wrong so many times in your statements?

Tom. Im not wrong you are.

Here is a statement made recently by former Liberal Finiance Minister Carole Taylor against the harmonized sales tax.

**This particular tax takes the tax off business--it takes $1.8 billion off business--and puts it on consurmers** said Taylor *and so that shift is ideological*

**But I think the bigger issue is that just before the election he (Gordon Campbell) promised that they would not-they would not--do the harmonization of the sales tax. And then right after the election decided to do it**

So you see Tom even their previous Finiance Minister agrees that this is nothing more than a tax grab. So where do you get your **right** information from.

There is absolutely nothing to indicate that this is anything other than a tax grab. So how the hell you can defend it is beyond me.

In any event the fat is in the fire. The Government will push it through. The petitioners will get more signatures than they need, and this will go to the legislature to be voted down, tabled, or go to a referendum.

Whether the tax stands over time is not certain at this time, however what is certain is that the Liberals will disapear as a viable political party in BC.

Have a nice day.

Palopu,

maybe reread some of your posts, especially the ones regarding small business, the ones where you post your views and opinons and dont quote others, there are so many errors it laughable.

Financing small business, PST costs to business, the changeover from FST to GST, the list goes on and on.



As I have said many times but you cant get through your thick head, keep fighting your fight, but quit posting your own half truths, misinterpretations and outright lies about small business.