Columbia River – Revelstoke MLA report, Mar 11
March 16, 2010 by Norm Macdonald
Filed under Business, Feature stories, Government
Budgets are about making tough choices, but what ‘tough choices’ did the BC Liberals make?
We all know that budgeting is about choices. Whether it is for your household or your business, you have to make choices about revenue and about expenditures.
So does the provincial government. And since the release of the 2010 Provincial Budget on March 2nd, minister after minister has stood up to defend cuts to programs saying that the government had to make some tough choices.
They go on to say that while they would love to be able to fund playground upgrades, improved energy efficiency, operating room time and the promotion of local foods, they have to make ‘tough choices’ in these challenging economic times.
In one example after another, government programs that were intended to improve the lives of regular British Columbians are being cut or cancelled. People in need are being hurt. Children and seniors will be living with less.
But there was one ‘tough choice’ the BC Liberal government wasn’t willing to make. Instead it was full steam ahead with a massive give-away of revenue to the one sector of the province that absolutely didn’t need it.
In 2009, Canada’s top 5 banks made $13.1 billion in profits. Bankers’ bonuses for Canada’s 6 largest banks for 2009 are reported to be $8.3 billion.
These numbers indicate that despite the tough economic times, the banking sector is doing just fine. Clearly, the big banks do not need any assistance from government to remain profitable.
But when the BC Liberal government sat down to make the ‘tough choices’ needed for the 2010 Provincial Budget they decided that while you could live without government programs and services, it was the banking sector that really needed government’s help.
They chose to continue the phase out of the Corporation Capital Tax, saving the banks $100 million annually. Yes, they gave away $100 million in tax revenue that could have been used to protect government services.
This government is continuing with its agenda to reduce services for seniors, to move the tax burden more firmly onto the middle class, to reduce costs for big business and to transfer the public wealth of this province into private hands. It is an agenda that will leave every average British Columbian poorer.
The only thing that will stop this shift is an electorate that stands up and speaks out. The power is in your hands.
An active and engaged voting public is the only antidote to a government that has lost sight of its responsibility; the responsibility to put the best interests of the people of the province first.
Golden
March 11, 2010
Norm Macdonald MLA
Columbia River – Revelstoke
http://www.NormMacdonald.ca
A laudible and empassioning report — your writing is getting better. But do you really think it would be any different if the NDP had to face those very same bankers? Some things are not easily changed, certainly not by mere words alone.
In the end, it may be that voting for the NDP, or anyone else, is NOT the solution. It may be that the growing number of people who decline to be governed by this kind of nonsense, and who accordingly decline to vote or otherwise participate in the sham of modern ‘democracy’, have the real solution in their hands. If the government isn’t doing things right, we can stop supporting the government. Without the consent of the governed the power of the government becomes just an illusion, a fiction, that cannot survive long.
.I agree with Shanna, Norm, your article went straight to the point about the fact that the cuts are benefitting only the bankers. That is par for the course around the world, of course. Whatever the level of government, whatever country you are looking at, (except perhaps China – they are the bank!), the story is the same and it has been that way for hundreds of years. The only difference now is that the bankers are right there in your face with no apologies whatsoever. Also, people are starting to see it.
Shanna talks about not supporting the government and she is right. The best tactic on the part of the citizenry is non-cooperation. Don’t turn up at the polls on voting day – a shocking and unorthodox method of saying “No”, to be sure but the message would be loud and clear. It would take a lot of courage because we are brainwashed from the cradle to the grave to think that our vote makes some sort of difference and it is our duty, etc. etc. In fact, no matter which party is in power, the outcome is always the same and the bankers are the ones that laugh all the way to the bank. Oh, the Liberals may do it one way and the NDP another but the outcome is always the same.You may disagree but the history of all levels of government in our country and most others, shows the truth.
And when all else fails, or maybe even before that, taxpayers could just not pay any personal income tax. It’s illegal anyway and the governments know it but as long as they can fleece the citizens, they have absolutely no motivation to let us find that out, do they? The bankers don’t want us to wake up to that idea either because our income tax goes to pay the interest on the national debt (we’ll never be able to pay off the debt, of course).
But you know this, Norm, or if you don’t, you need to do some serious reading. The whole thing is a game of political and economic chess and we are the pawns who are moved here and there to suit the bankers. Nutshell!
i don’t think not voting does a lot to help the situation. look at alberta. 40% turnout at the polls. same old government. another way to be heard as an individual is to not borrow from banks. the mighty dollar is a very powerful ballot.
bill, I think even if zero percent of the population voted, the government would go on pretty much the way it does. Only difference is maybe that they would have to find some other way to pretend they have our support.
I am with you about voting with out wallets. People don’t seem to realize that every buck they spend at mal-wart of any of the other mega-corps will always come back to bite them. And they don’t seem to realize that paying a little more to support small and local businesses will always come back around to benefit them.
Money is power and we are basically giving our power to the mal-warts of the world instead of to our neighbors. So it should be no surprise that local businesses cannot survive and people are driving to larger centers to shop – which actually costs them more then it would have to shop locally. Shopping locally is no longer an option once the local businesses have been killed off by the careless and thoughtless way we hand over the power in our wallets to the wrong parties – the parties that do us more harm than good.
We are getting what we deserve basically, but we could still change that by changing our spending habits and going back to supporting local businesses – even when it costs a little more, because in the end it costs less, not more.
maybe i’ve been misunderstood. what i stated was “don’t deal with the banks” . i did’nt say anything about wallmart. also, if everybody voted i believe our government would pay closer attention to every ballot and every voter.
bill – well you did say “the mighty dollar is a very powerful ballot”, and this is not only true when it comes to borrowing or not from banks, but also applies to the consumer marketplace. There is nothing as potent as where you choose to shop in determining who sinks and who swims among businesses. So i was simply extending your dollar-power idea beyond banking. We have huge voting power right in our wallets – power to influence not only government but business and nearly everything that it influenced by money, or lack of it. That is pretty serious power for us to be wielding, yet so few realize this, let alone use this power they have. In a world where everyone is jockeying for power, you’d think people would realize this more quickly…
My comment about “mal-wart” was just for an example – so many people hate Walmart (an icon of cut-throat big business), but continue to support them anyway. They obviously don’t seem to realize that all the Walmart haters are actually in the driver’s seat but are not bothering to steer.