The BC Liberal Government
It has been almost 1 year since the Liberal Party took control of the BC Government. Since then, our province has seen many changes to the government and social services.
The Liberal Government is drastically changing the way that the province of British Colombia operates. They are changing everything from the legal system to taxation. The Liberals are taking an approach that truly hangs the party out to dry if their methods do not succeed in the maximum five-year term they have been elected for. The provincial strategic plan for the years 2002 to 2005, which is entitled Restoring Hope and Prosperity, outlines the Liberals three main goals. The goals are:
These goals are to be attained by the end of the Liberals term. The liberals have run into two major controversies in their first year.
The public and the media have scrutinized the methods that the Liberal Government has chosen to attain its goals. In the last year we have seen many controversies that with labor unions. The most recent government confrontation with a union is the British Colombia Teachers Federation. On January 25, 2002, a contract was imposed on the BCTF after 2 months of protests and job action. The imposed contract gave the teachers a 2.5 percent raise per year for 3 years based on the salary grids that were already in place. The imposed contract gave the teachers less than one half of the salary they requested as well as removing limits of class sizes. In my opinion, I do not have a problem with the class size increase. I also feel that 22% is a substantial pay increase, especially in an economic environment that is flirting with recession. But, there are a large number of teachers that do deserve the pay raise. In the public school system there are generally two types of teachers. Mr. or Ms. X and Mr. or Ms. Y. Mr/Ms X is the teacher that is always trying to make the class more interesting for the students. They are always working long hours to return marked work rapidly with comments and suggestions on how to improve. They also make themselves available for students to come in before school, after school or during lunch hour to help. I feel this is the majority of teachers in this province, and I am grateful that there are so many dedicated teachers. On the other hand we have Mr/Ms Y. They work from bell to bell, no more. They mark work while other classes are working on something. I wish that there were a feasible method in the system that we have today to give the many teachers that work so hard for the students the salary they completely deserve.
The Government has also been criticized for the changes in taxation. The main idea that has been echoed by many people and the media is the fact that the tax cuts have really not affected the average British Colombian. The provincial tax cut that that was announced June 6, 2002 cut the lowest tax bracket (up to $30484) 2.35% and the highest tax bracket (over $85000) 5.00%. Even after this cut, the highest tax bracket, (14.7%) pays almost 2.5 times more tax than the lowest tax, (6.05%) bracket. Although the numbers show that the tax cut was larger, the low-income earner will pay 28.0 less tax, while the high-income earner will pay 25.0% less. I feel that this scaled tax cut affects the province equally, while the media has looked at the difference in dollar values being almost 10 times more for the high-income earner. I don’t like this angle as it neglects to inform that the percentage of a higher number will show a larger dollar decrease at a lower percent than a low number at a higher percent. The other tax change that has occurred is the PST increase to 7.5 percent. This increase is intended to increase revenue to enable the government to balance the budget while they encourage investment into the provincial economy. I feel this strategy will work, as people will now have more to spend, so they invest in the economy, increasing the size of businesses and creating jobs.
Finally, I feel that the Liberal governments strategies will pan out in the future to rejuvenate the once prosperous BC economy. I feel although the decisions that have been made are drastic and at times seem unfounded; the strategic plan appears to be feasible in the four-year period allotted by the government. I hope the government says by their plan and creates an accountable government body for the future.