(The following article is from the September 16-30, 2009, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 133 Herkimer St., Unit 502, Hamilton, ON, L8P 2H3.)

Commentary by Kimball Cariou

     The "budget update" introduced to the BC Legislature on Sept. 1 is a carefully crafted political document, designed to reassure a worried public that "core" services are being protected and that taxes on low and middle-income earners are not being increased. But the depth of anger against the Campbell Liberals will be on display on Sept. 19, during a rally in Vancouver against the government's plan to "harmonize" federal and provincial sales taxes.

     With its $2.8 billion deficit, this "update" is wildly different than the figures Finance Minister Colin Hansen presented just months ago. Hansen's earlier budget projected a mere $500 million deficit, despite ample evidence that the BC economy was deeply mired in the crisis which has shrunk government revenues in many countries. At that time, the Campbell Liberal government sought to present an image of fiscal reliability heading into the May 12 provincial election.

     That was then, this is now. Shortly after narrowly winning the election, the Liberals "learned the truth" - revenues were falling faster than rocks down a mine shaft. In April and May, the Liberals called the "harmonised sales tax" the worst possible economic policy for the province; by June, Campbell and Hansen announced that the HST was just the medicine BC needs. Their new-found enthusiasm for the "hated sales tax" apparently has much to do with the federal Tory government's bribe of $1.6 billion to implement this shift, which will create a 12% sales tax on a much wider range of goods and services next July 1. Looked at from a broader perspective, right-wing governments at both the federal and provincial levels are keen to complete the switch to the HST, which will move billions from the pocketbooks of working people to the bank accounts of corporations.

     But Harper's HST bribe is dwarfed by the size of BC's economic woes, as seen by the $2.8 billion deficit now projected for the 2009-10 fiscal year, and billions more to come.

     A virtual blizzard of cutback announcements has been issued from Victoria. Cabinet ministers have resorted to often contradictory explanations, as line-item cuts are dictated by Finance officials after virtually no consultation with other government departments.

     The budget update confirmed more than $300 million in cuts to front-line health care, including surgeries, seniors' programs, diagnostic and pharmacy services, residential care, health records, mental health services and other critical services. While services are slashed, British Columbians will pay more than $100 million in Medical Service Plan premium increases, and health authorities will have to absorb the increased premiums on their payroll costs.

     School boards across B.C. will also have to cover MSP costs for their employees. But Boards were even more shocked by the elimination of annual facilities grants announced last spring for the current budget year. Totalling over $100 million for the province, the grants help pay for maintenance of buildings and classrooms. Much of this money had already been spent by Boards doing such work over the summer. In the case of Vancouver, a $10 million cut will cost dozens of jobs, and leaves many students and teachers going back to classrooms where important improvements have not been completed.

     In the longer term, the budget crisis is seen by the Campbell government as a unique opportunity to advance its full right-wing agenda. As negotiations loom for most public sector unions, the Liberals are eager to impose pay freezes and cuts on provincial employees, with a wider negative impact on all workers in B.C. The Liberal "P3" strategy, already well underway in recent years, will also gain momentum, as the government argues that the private sector must take an ever larger role in building new infrastructure and seizing larger chunks of public services.

     Much of the opposition to this strategy will be seen at the "Stop the HST" rally, 12 noon, Saturday, September 19, at the Convention Centre in downtown Vancouver. Built as a P3, the Centre is a prime example of public dollars to subsidize big business; the cost of the project doubled to nearly $1 billion before completion last spring.

     Reflecting the breadth of anger against the Liberals, the Sept. 19 rally will be chaired by Bill Vander Zalm, the former Socred premier who has opposed Campbell on such issues as Hydro privatization. The labour movement and progressive social movements will be out in large numbers, helping to turn the event from a purely anti-tax rally into a wider demonstration for a shift away from the Liberal right-wing agenda for British Columbia.