Large Surplus comes with costs: Simons
The Powell River Peak
26 Jul 2006
By: Luke Brocki

EXCERPT

Finance minister Carole Taylor said a strong economy, higher resource revenues and sound fiscal management fueled the record surplus. "2005 was a very good year for British Columbia," said Taylor in a news release....

Taylor also cautioned that the strong growth pattern could change. "We are reinvesting the benefits of a strong economy in better programs and services for British Columbians, including for seniors, children, health care and education," she said. "But some of our natural resource revenues can be quite volatile, so we must be careful that our choices and investments remain affordable over the long term." ...

But Nicholas Simons, New Democratic Party (NDP) MLA for Powell River-Sunshine Coast, was unimpressed by the numbers. "A record surplus and a record low level of service for community members," he told the Peak in a telephone interview. "A surplus is only useful if services are being provided on an acceptable level."

Simons was disturbed to see much celebration around the record surplus in light of a national report released several days later that found BC has the highest poverty rate in Canada.

A report issued by the National Council of Welfare shows that BC continues to lag behind all other provinces in supporting low-income and impoverished families. In 2003, the latest year for which figures are available, BC reported a child poverty rate of 23.9 per cent, the highest in Canada and well above the national average of 17.6 per cent. BC also has the highest poverty rate for all persons, at 20.1 per cent.

"It is absolutely shameful that as one of Canada's richest provinces, British Columbia has the highest child poverty rate in the country," said Maurine Karagianis, NDP MLA for Esquimalt-Metchosin and Opposition critic for Children and Family Development, in a press release. "Children are the future of our province. But the BC Liberal government isn't doing anything to address the needs of kids living in poverty. Their lack of action shows that they just don't care."

Simons agreed. "Nobody is fooled by this surplus," he said. "Let's pat ourselves on the back for five seconds and then realize we need quite a few hours to figure out how to get services up to acceptable levels."