A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Poll
Monday Magazine
By: Jason Youmans
05/06/2009

10 things to remember when you go to cast your vote

Don’t want to vote on May 12? Can’t really blame you. With two elections in the last eight months already under our belts and one hell of a monkey-wrench thrown into the global economic works, B.C. residents could be excused for letting their minds wander to other matters. But in these waning days before the May 12 provincial election, remember this: government has the power to make things incrementally better. It can also make things much, much worse….

As eight years of Campbell’s cabinet have ably demonstrated, provincial politics no longer attracts society’s best and brightest. But while we might despair at the absence of imagination and ingenuity shown by our policy makers, they are policy makers nonetheless and the results of their decisions are borne by people like you, me and everyone we know. ….

7) Families in trouble: While it should have dominated this season’s election debates, not enough noise has been made by any of the parties about the fact the province has had the highest incidence of child poverty in the country for five years running.

The reasons for this embarrassing statistic are admittedly complex, but the Campbell government must still wear it as a badge of shame.

B.C. has the lowest minimum wage of any province—tied with New Brunswick for this dubious honour. Meanwhile, we have some of the highest prices for housing and rental rates in the country. This disjuncture means too many families are stuck spending too much of their income just to keep a roof over their heads.

The NDP, as part of its campaign platform, has promised to raise the minimum wage to $10 an hour, while the Greens want to see a government-supported guaranteed livable income.

Add to this the miserly rates of social assistance that families have received from the Ministry of Children and Family Development since the Campbell government took office and you have a recipe for the holes in our social safety net to grow even wider.

While the Campbell Liberals did follow through on a commitment to appoint an independent children’s advocate in Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond to provide a sober second look at issues involving children at risk, the government seems loathe to follow through on her recommendations.