From newswire at news.bc.ndp.ca Wed Feb 8 16:22:14 2006 From: newswire at news.bc.ndp.ca (BC NDP NEWSWIRE) Date: Wed, 8 Feb 2006 16:22:14 -0800 Subject: [LabComm] James Calls on Campbell to Protect B.C. Childcare Spaces Message-ID: James Calls on Campbell to Protect B.C. Childcare Spaces VICTORIA -- Premier Gordon Campbell must act to protect funding for B.C. childcare programs, B.C. NDP Leader Carole James said today. On January 31st, the B.C. Liberal government quietly passed the deadline for releasing the Child Care Action Plan, a key requirement of the federal-provincial Early Learning and Childcare Agreement. Signed last September, the five-year deal provided $633 million for B.C. children under six. "This week, the B.C. Liberals were expected to reveal their Child Care Action Plan. But instead of releasing it, the Premier opted to stay silent on the issue," said James. "Today, I am calling on Mr. Campbell join with other provincial leaders in demanding that the new Conservative government live up to the existing federal funding agreement with the provinces on childcare." Provincial governments across the country are calling on Prime Minister-designate Stephen Harper to respect the federal childcare agreements already in place. Ministers responsible for childcare from the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Ontario have already spoken out, as has Quebec Premier Jean Charest. "The Premier has a responsibility to advocate for the interests of ordinary British Columbians," said James. "Waitlists for childcare are already long, demand for childcare is growing rapidly, and B.C. families cannot afford to lose ground. The Premier recognized these issues when he committed to building quality, affordable and accessible childcare in September. I'd like to see him take a leadership role and advocate for the interests of B.C. families on this issue." B.C. NDP Childcare critic Diane Thorne added that those who are urging Harper to respect the existing agreements are warning of the problems that lie ahead if the agreements are cancelled. Thorne said that the Conservative plan to terminate the funding agreement will create uncertainty for the future of B.C. programs that rely on federal funding. "The Premier must work with the other provinces and the Prime Minister to maintain this agreement," said Thorne. To unsubscribe or change your settings go to: http://www.e-2ve6y.signup2.bc.ndp.ca/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From newswire at news.bc.ndp.ca Mon Feb 13 17:24:10 2006 From: newswire at news.bc.ndp.ca (BC NDP NEWSWIRE) Date: Mon, 13 Feb 2006 17:24:10 -0800 Subject: [LabComm] James says Throne Speech must address key priorities for average families Message-ID: James says Throne Speech must address key priorities for average families Leadership needed on childcare, Olympic cost overruns, forest crisis, says NDP Leader Victoria -- British Columbians will be looking to the government to show leadership on childcare, mounting Olympic cost overruns, and the continuing crisis in BC forests in tomorrow's Speech from the Throne, NDP Leader Carole James said today. James said that owing to the new Conservative government's decision to cancel the childcare agreement signed with the provinces, Gordon Campbell must signal his intention to reverse four year's of provincial child care cuts. She said that average families are counting on the childcare spaces promised by the Premier to be delivered. "Gordon Campbell promised families that he would deliver new childcare spaces with the promised federal dollars," said James. "Now that those dollars have disappeared, he has an obligation to assure British Columbians that the province will reverse its cuts to childcare and address mounting childcare waitlists and increased costs faced by BC families." She said the government also needs to signal its commitment to at-risk children with added resources and an independent child protection officer. James said that Olympic cost overruns and the continuing crisis in the forest industry must be key government priorities in the spring session of the Legislature. She said that the premier must provide a plan to ensure that the critical areas of priority for ordinary British Columbians aren't sacrificed to pay for the Olympics. "Issues like the forestry crisis, a lack of child care, declining services in health care, and skills shortage can't come second to Olympic cost overruns," said James. James said that the NDP Opposition will be looking for specific Throne Speech commitments that back up the Liberal government's rhetoric. "Tomorrow's Throne Speech is an opportunity for Gordon Campbell to address the real issues facing ordinary families," said James. "More 'Golden Decade' rhetoric is fine, but it needs to be backed up with substantive measures to help average British Columbians." To unsubscribe or change your settings go to: http://www.e-2ve6y.signup2.bc.ndp.ca/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From newswire at news.bc.ndp.ca Wed Feb 15 19:26:10 2006 From: newswire at news.bc.ndp.ca (BC NDP NEWSWIRE) Date: Wed, 15 Feb 2006 19:26:10 -0800 Subject: [LabComm] "Let's just stop pretending" Message-ID: "Let's just stop pretending" Carole James responds to Gordon Campbell's Throne Speech Carole James, Leader of the NDP Opposition, has responded to Gordon Campbell's Throne Speech. Here's an excerpt from what she said today. --------------------------- "The Throne Speech contained some very disturbing commitments that will affect the future health and well-being of average people in BC. After years of privatizing by stealth and neglect, the government has now embarked on an agressive agenda to move to two-tiered health care. The Premier says the principles of the Canada Health Act are ill-defined. But the blame for growing health waitlists, overcrowded emergency rooms, and declining care for seniors rests with his government, not with the principles underlying Medicare. The problem is not that the principles of the Canada Health Act are undefined; the problem is that this government has ignored those principles. The government has begun using the word innovation in reference to health care. But as we all saw last week, with the government's knee and hip-replacement scheme, innovation is just code for more privatization. The first thing the Coastal Health Authority did with the money it was given, was run out and use taxpayer dollars to subsidize private, for-profit clinics. That's not innovation. It's not new. It's old. It's not the future. It's the past. For-profit medicine is an old idea. A failed idea. No matter how the government tries to dress up its agenda, everyone here knows exactly what they're talking about. So let's just stop pretending." --------------------------- To read more, click here to visit the BC NDP Website. To unsubscribe or change your settings go to: http://www.e-2ve6y.signup2.bc.ndp.ca/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From newswire at news.bc.ndp.ca Tue Feb 21 19:52:10 2006 From: newswire at news.bc.ndp.ca (BC NDP Newswire) Date: Tue, 21 Feb 2006 19:52:10 -0800 Subject: [LabComm] BC Liberal budget ignores real challenges Message-ID: BC Liberal budget ignores real challenges Forest Health, Skills Shortage, Homelessness and Long-Term Care Ignored VICTORIA -- The BC Liberal government failed to respond to key challenges facing ordinary British Columbians with its disappointing and lacklustre budget that does not make life more affordable or plan for the future, NDP Finance Critic Jenny Kwan said today. Kwan said that critical issues like forest sector restructuring, BC's skills shortage, homelessness and long-term care for seniors were ignored. On issues facing children, this budget finally acknowledges the negligence of this government over the last five years. "Ordinary British Columbians expected this government to present a budget that helped make life more affordable," said Kwan. "Instead, this budget fails to make a real difference for families and communities in need. There is no relief from ongoing hikes in user fees and consumption taxes." "There is also no long-term planning or vision," said Kwan. "Despite record resource revenue windfalls, this budget has no strategic economic plan for communities in transition. Rural interior communities will despair to find no economic strategy to deal with the pine beetle aftermath." The new budget also missed the mark on BC's significant skills shortage and the impact on our economy. In August 2005, the independent Economic Advisory Council warned the government that the shortage of skilled workers is a major threat to BC's economic position. Today's announcement and commitments fail to make up for five years of poor management in BC's training and apprenticeship programs. "Over the last five years, the Liberals cut funding for apprenticeships, closed recruitment offices and bungled restructuring plans," said Kwan. "When the rest of Canada was bracing for a skills shortage, the BC Liberals dismantled industry training in British Columbia. Our completion rates are falling, and we now lag far behind provinces like Alberta." The province of Alberta has more than 41,000 students enrolled in training programs while BC has just 25,000. In Alberta, more than 5,000 apprentices graduate with Red Seal qualifications every year, while in BC only 2,300 apprentices complete the Red Seal qualification per year. Kwan said that while the budget contained some minor commitments on social spending, it appeared to have more to do with positioning the BC Liberals politically than positioning the province for the future. "This government still has no coherent plan to address childcare demands or rising poverty and homelessness rates," said Kwan. "BC's child poverty rate is the highest among all of the provinces and the number of homeless people in our communities is growing. Despite that, there is no commitment in this budget for social housing. The government is instead moving to a landlord subsidy program that will not help families living in poverty find adequate housing." Kwan said this budget marks the seventh Liberal budget that fails to fulfill Gordon Campbell's promise to build long-term care beds for seniors. "It's a broken promise with an enormous ripple effect in health care," said Kwan. "Cuts to home care, acute care bed shortages, overcrowded emergency rooms and ballooning waitlists are all a result of the broken promise to seniors. Today's budget simply highlights how disappointing and destructive their failure has been." To unsubscribe or change your settings go to: http://www.e-2ve6y.signup2.bc.ndp.ca/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From newswire at news.bc.ndp.ca Mon Feb 27 16:20:06 2006 From: newswire at news.bc.ndp.ca (Jenny Kwan) Date: Mon, 27 Feb 2006 16:20:06 -0800 Subject: [LabComm] A Disturbing Development Message-ID: A Disturbing Development Dear friend, Just under two weeks ago, people all across Canada were shocked to read about the latest actions of Gordon Campbell's government. In the Throne Speech delivered on February 14, the B.C. Liberal government made a startling commitment to move towards two-tiered, for-profit health care in British Columbia. Last week, Mr. Campbell's Finance Minister Carole Taylor only deepened my concerns about the direction he is taking our province. While showing off a pair of $600 Gucci shoes bought for the occasion, Ms. Taylor unveiled a budget that cuts the surtax on luxury cars, but does little to help working families who would were hoping for something that might help them make ends meet. Think of what the average family could have done with $600 -- clothing for the kids, money saved for education, a month's worth of groceries. What was she thinking? The budget offers no plan to ensure families can find and afford quality care for their children. No plan to address the devastation in communities hit by the pine-beetle infestation. No plan to reduce the taxes and fees paid by middle-income families. No plan to improve the government's dismal record of protecting children at risk. No plan to build the 5000 long-term care beds for seniors promised four years ago. The bottom line: this budget is going to make life more difficult and more expensive for the ordinary British Columbians who can't afford $600 designer shoes. Gordon Campbell and Carole Taylor just don't get it. But it's his plans for our health care that most concern me. For years, Mr. Campbell has attempted to privatize our public health care by stealth and neglect. Now he has embarked on an aggressive agenda to move to a US-style health system. It proves -- once again -- just how out-of-touch and uncaring this government can be. This is a very disturbing development that will affect the future health and well being of average people working hard to raise a family and make ends meet in our province. This government even has the nerve to suggest this plan -- a plan that will divide people into those who can afford quality health care and those who cannot -- is an exciting innovation for B.C. But it's not the future. It's the past. For-profit medicine is an old idea. A failed idea. British Columbians don't want to return to a past where families fell into crippling debt to pay for the health care needed by a child, a spouse, or an elderly parent. That's why Tommy Douglas made sure we have Medicare. Carole James and the New Democrats are going to fight this. But we need your help. Please consider making a tax-deductible contribution today. While Gordon Campbell can count on big donations from well-connected friends and large corporations -- including those which could directly profit the privatization of our public health care -- the NDP needs donations from average people, like seniors, students, and parents. People who work hard to make a better life for their families and their communities. People like you. Click here to make a donation right now. Mr. Campbell doesn't like to listen to ordinary British Columbians. In the last election -- not even a year ago -- people in communities all around the province voted against the Campbell government because they were tired of broken promises, cuts to the programs that help the most vulnerable, and the reckless drive to privatize public assets like BC Rail, BC Hydro and public health care. He's still not listening, and the next election is too far off. We all need to act now if we want to save public health care in B.C. That's why I hope you will take a minute to click here and make a donation. With your help, Carole James and the NDP will force the Campbell government to listen to ordinary people, not private interests. That's going to take money -- to organize public meetings, to buy advertising, to pay for materials. Your contribution can make a difference. Thanks to the support of people like you, our New Democrat MLAs forced the Campbell government to admit they've failed to protect children at risk. Now they've committed $421 million in extra funding -- that wouldn't have happened without a strong NDP opposition. And late last week, David Cubberley, our NDP Health Critic, pressed the B.C. Liberal government to explain why Gordon Campbell's brother-in-law -- an avowed critic of public health care who has compared Medicare to communism -- is the only outside expert traveling with Mr. Campbell as he tours Europe to study private health care! Why has he excluded anyone who could speak to the advantages of public health care? We need to keep the pressure on. Over the next few weeks, the NDP will be taking every opportunity to speak in support of quality public health care and expose the true cost of Mr. Campbell's health care record. Your help is vital if we want to succeed. And we have to -- the country is counting on us. Thank you for your support, Jenny Kwan MLA Vancouver-Mount Pleasant P.S. -- don't forget that B.C. tax credits make it very affordable to make a contribution. For example a $10 contribution only costs you $2.50, a $20 only $5.00, and a $50 donation just $12.50. To unsubscribe or change your settings go to: http://www.e-2ve6y.signup2.bc.ndp.ca/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: