As summer approaches, provincial cabinet ministers may be making plans to travel to several constituencies to bolster support. But B.C. Liberal backbenchers aiming for re-election in 2013 may be better off without their enthusiastic endorsement, says the Vernon Morning Star. An announcement on new acute-care beds in Vernon recently was almost overshadowed by Health Minister Mike de Jong "fawning" over Vernon-Monashee MLA Eric Foster, the newspaper says. Bolstering the relevance of local MLAs is critical to the Liberals' campaign strategy, the paper says. "The question, though, is can voters be swayed by sound-bites and back-slapping? Or will they be more focused on the overall record of the government, including the HST, legislating an end to the teachers' collective bargaining process, ongoing budget cuts in our schools and massive bonuses for senior civil servants. If the discussion revolves around those issues, [Mr.]Foster may want his more experienced colleagues to keep quiet and speak up for himself."
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The credibility of the B.C. government has been damaged by news of "juicy" pay raises for government insiders, says Kelowna's Daily Courier. CBC News reports that staffers working for Premier Christy Clark and other cabinet minister received raises of up to 20 per cent while the government insists teachers accept no pay increases and other government employees keep their expectations in new contract negotiations to two per cent or less. "Obviously, the hypocrisy is blatant, but, more importantly, this news is going to make contract talks with government unions that much more difficult. Union negotiators are going to be less likely to settle for paltry pay hikes when they know the government has piles of money for certain employees," the newspaper says. "This news simply damages the government's credibility further. . . .When it talks wage restraint, the government now can't be believed."
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The election of two NDP members in the recent B.C. by-elections in safe Liberal seats may be a rejection of the right-of-centre options, not a victory for the left, says the Kelowna Capital News. The B.C. electorate is angry – angry as much as anything else with a lack of leadership choices," the newspaper says. Premier Christy Clark's pitch to unite the right by reminding voters that the Liberals are a free-enterprise coalition will likely only make voters angrier. "Many still recognize that soundly based business success is crucial to the economy, the only sure source of jobs, a proper living wage, and the money to adequately fund much-needed social programs. It is likely that many British Columbians still support free enterprise. It's just free-for-all enterprise they have a problem with," the newspaper says.
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Shelve the idea of logging in old-growth forests to make up for a shortage of timber, says the Prince George Free Press The provincial government has floated the idea of going into old growth stands in order to find enough fibre to re-open the Hampton Affiliates mill in Burns Lake. "The brain trust that hatched the plan didn't really think it through," the newspaper says. Mills go to great expense to ensure wood is certified as being harvested in the most environmentally sound way, as prescribed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) process. Buyers such as Home Depot look for the certification. "That environmentally-friendly way doesn't include cutting down every stick of wood that is out there, such as old-growth stands and established viewscapes and wildlife corridors. And, it most certainly doesn't include politicians overruling decisions by the chief forester in order to simply get more wood to a mill," the paper says. Opposition to the plan may come from the mills themselves, the paper says.
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Meanwhile in federal politics,
Support for taxes is rare indeed. However the Abbotsford New in an editorial prepared by Black Press says taxes are the price Canadians pay for living in a stable country. "While it sometimes feels like the various levels of government are always dipping their fingers into our back pockets to extract ever more of our hard-earned dollars, Canadians aren't as tax-burdened as we like to think," the newspaper says. Total taxes, including income, sales, corporate, property and other taxes, account for 31 per cent of Canada's economy, which is almost three per cent less than the average for other industrialized countries that comprise the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Americans pay less but we do not have comparable medical coverage. Greece, Portugal, Spain and Ireland pay less tax, but given the financial crises crippling their economies, that's unlikely to last, the newspaper says.