Hundreds turn out to protest B.C. Liberal budget cuts, HST in Vancouver
April 10, 2010
Georgia Straight
By Stephen Hui

… Organized by the Coalition to Build a Better B.C.—composed of 30 groups, from the Alliance for Arts and Culture to the Wilderness Committee—the protest saw several speakers criticize provincial budget cuts and their effect on the arts, children, education, seniors, women, and other areas.

Fazeela Jiwa, a 26-year-old rape crisis line and transition house worker with Vancouver Rape Relief and Women’s Shelter, was one of those speakers.

“Women all, in general, are disproportionately affected by all funding cuts,” Jiwa told the Straight before the rally kicked off. “I think that it’s important for the government, if they plan to be democratic, to fund equality-seeking groups. Otherwise, without equality, you can’t have democracy.”

Denise Moffatt, president of the Surrey Teachers’ Association, told the Straight she attended the rally to raise awareness of the impact of cuts to the public school system.

The secondary-school teacher noted the Surrey school district is facing a $12-million deficit while dealing with an increasing student population, and that means cuts to staff and programs are on the way….

“When we can replace the roof on B.C. Place Stadium, when we can afford to put on the Olympics, we do have money in B.C. and we’re just not putting it in the right places right now,” Moffatt said. “We need to redirect that money to the people of British Columbia and into our students in particular.”….

VIDEOS of speeches and article