Critics lash out at deficit budget
February 17, 2009
CBC News

Government critics wasted little time in lashing out at the budget announced by British Columbia Finance Minister Colin Hansen on Tuesday.

"This budget has no hope for the average British Columbian," said Jim Sinclair, the volatile leader of the B.C. Federation of Labour. He called the document "a missed opportunity to change the course of history in the province."

Premier Gordon Campbell, he said, has failed to grasp the idea that a recession is already underway.

"I think you'll see a lot of layoffs in the public sector," Sinclair said, pointing to a $75-million contingency fund for "transition, which reads layoffs."

He called the decision to hold the line on public sector wages "old-style politics," with the government attempting to negotiate in public rather than at the bargaining table.

He said that what British Columbians wanted was for government and labour to sit down and work together to solve the province's problems, something "that did not happen."

Susan Howett, of the B.C. branch of the Sierra Club of Canada… "Mostly I would say this budget really missed the opportunity to really embrace the green economy ….

Irene Lanzinger, speaking for the B.C. Teachers Federation, called the document "disappointing."

"The small additional amount is not enough to cover the additional costs to school boards, such as salaries for teachers, inflationary costs," she said.

The government "introduced legislation [in 2005] that they themselves did not meet," Lanzinger pointed out. For instance, she said, the budget failed to address class size, an issue the government promised to deal with in 2005 and has as yet failed to implement.

"The government should have invested more money in education in order to make services in the classroom better," she said.

"The other part of this budget that is very disappointing is that there is nothing to take care of child poverty.

"We have the worst child poverty rates in the country," she added, "and that affects student learning.

"They have done nothing on that front, and in tough economic times we will see that get worse instead of better."