Skip to content

New Westminster MLA pans “forget-everything” budget

The B.C. Liberals have released a “forget-everything budget” in an attempt to woo voters in the spring election, says New Westminster NDP MLA Judy Darcy. On Tuesday, the provincial government released its fifth consecutive balanced budget.
JUDY DARCY
New Westminster MLA Judy Darcy is giving the Liberals an F grade for its 2017 provincial budget, saying it's a "forget-everything" budget aimed at scoring points on election day.

The B.C. Liberals have released a “forget-everything budget” in an attempt to woo voters in the spring election, says New Westminster NDP MLA Judy Darcy.

On Tuesday, the provincial government released its fifth consecutive balanced budget. Highlights of the B.C. Liberals’ budget include reductions to MSP premiums for families with incomes of up to $120,000 (starting in January 2018) and a $740-million increase in education funding over three years.

“This is Christy Clark’s forget-everything budget,” Darcy told the Record. “This is a government that has made everything worse for regular families for years now. Now that an election is coming, she wants people to forget everything.”

Darcy said the budget doesn’t erase the Liberals’ neglect of funding services that are important to British Columbians or their “endless hikes” to programs. Under the Liberal government, she said the average family is paying $1,000-plus in additional fees as a result of hikes to MSP premiums and ICBC and Hydro rates.

“I would give it an F because it is an attempt at a forget-everything budget,” she said of her grade for the budget.

According to Darcy, studies suggest more than 50 per cent of British Columbians are living paycheque to paycheque and are within $200 of being unable of not being able to make ends meet.

“MSP hikes have gone up over 100 per cent since the Liberals came to power. They went up just last month, in January,” she said. “Now she (Clark) is saying that eventually they are going to phase them out. But they have gone up 100 per cent, not by some other government but by themselves.”

Although some of the announcements are pre-election goodies, Darcy said others the government had no choice but to increase funding in some areas.

“On education, they want us to forget that it was the Supreme Court of Canada that said they needed to re-invest in our classrooms. They preferred to put money into courtrooms than classrooms,” she said. “Now in this budget they make it sound as if they’ve decided to invest in public education, when it was the Supreme Court of Canada that told them to invest.”

The budget, said Darcy, still lacks on a number of fronts.

“They want us to forget that care homes – last year 82 per cent of care homes weren’t meeting the government’s own standards for staffing levels. This year it’s gone up from 82 per cent to 91 per cent. So, nine out 10 care homes aren’t meeting the government’s own standards of care hours. They want us to forget that,” she said. “There’s not one word in this budget about seniors. There may be announcements to come. They have left themselves some room to pave the path between now and the election with more announcements.”

Jonina Campbell, the Green Party of B.C.’s education spokesperson, said she’s astonished the budget doesn’t make seismic upgrading of schools a priority. She also expressed concern about the government’s failure to adequately fund public services and address issues such as poverty, mental health and affordable housing, which greatly impact a child’s success in school and in life.

“The government missed out on an opportunity to make real change with this budget,” said the New Westminster school trustee in a press release. “Many British Columbians were hoping for a budget that was focused on ensuring our students are safe in their schools and that the basic needs of our most vulnerable students will not continue to be ignored. It is time for a government that will make education a priority and provide students the supports and curriculum they need to thrive in a changing world. A disappointing budget indeed.”

Budget highlights

* MSP premiums for British Columbians with household incomes of less than $120,000 will be cut by 50 per cent starting on Jan. 1, 2018

*  An additional $796 million will be provided over three years to support families, individuals and children, including $287 million for the Ministry of Children and Family Development, $199 million to fund a $600 annual increase to income assistance rates for persons with disabilities, and $135 million for community living services.

 * Cuts to the small business corporate income tax rate from 2.5 per cent to two per cent.

* A promise of $920 million to support the creation of more than 5,300 affordable housing units.

*  $45 million to the Ministry of Children and Family Development over three years for more mental health counselling and treatment; $12 million for up to 28 specialized youth addiction treatment beds; $11 million over three years for the B.C. Centre for Substance Use; and $9 million for the expansion of youth service centres.

* A $740-miiion increase to the K to 12 system over three years, including $320 million to address court-ordered class size and composition issues.

(Figures  supplied by provincial government.)