Critics lash out at deficit budget

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

Opposition Leader Carole James said she is unimpressed with budget cuts affecting prosecutors and crime and safety, which come at a time when Metro Vancouver is embroiled in a massive wave of gang violence.

"We did see cuts to crime and safety. The premier stood up on Friday and said that was one of the most critical issues to deal with … Well, as we saw today, they actually cut the budget," James said.

She also slammed Premier Gordon Campbell's cuts to environmental protection and affordable housing.

"I have to say I expected that the government at least in the budget would come forward with some ideas and some recognition of the pressures the people are facing. I saw nothing in this budget today. It was a huge disappointment. More than a huge disappointment, it was a failure."

Jim Sinclair, the volatile leader of the B.C. Federation of Labour, called the budget "a missed opportunity to change the course of history in the province."

"This budget has no hope for the average British Columbian," he said.

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, said she had with mixed emotions about the budget.

"I'm very happy to see the carbon tax still there and the initiatives of the climate action secretariat and maintaining those kinds of programs.

"But at the same time, this budget is a bit contradictory, because we're seeing alarming subsidies to the oil and gas industry — a focus on mining, a focus on energy grids. And so we're not really seeing a lot of solutions.

"Mostly I would say this budget really missed the opportunity to really embrace the green economy … we're not seeing job creation in terms of wind and solar [power]."

Cutbacks at the Environment Ministry could lead to an increase in environmental damage, she added.

Education needs more money

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

"The small additional amount [for education] 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."