(The following article is from the March 16-31, 2010 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, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)

In a welcome sign of a broader struggle against the Campbell government's latest round of cutbacks, a Community Coalition to Build A Better B.C. has been formed by community groups, cultural and arts organizations, and unions. The first major action of the new alliance will be a rally at the Vancouver Art Gallery, starting 11 am, Saturday, April 10.

     The groups are joining together to call on the provincial government to stop eliminating public and community services, and to work in consultation to provide "adequate, fair, and consistent funding to support public services and community groups."

     A statement from the coalition says, "The strength of British Columbia is our people. We each contribute in unique and different ways, through our talents, ideas, and hard work to build a better BC. Building communities where every woman, man and child is treated with fairness, dignity, and respect is a shared responsibility. When government singles out groups of individuals - by cutting services they depend on, raising fees inequitably, and unfairly shifting taxes - it diminishes all of us. It doesn't bring us together. It divides us.

     "The purpose of the Coalition to Build a Better BC is to bring us together. The public, community, and cultural services that we have built together over the years contribute greatly to a vibrant and diverse BC. They help to ensure that every British Columbian can participate and share in a quality of life that is recognized around the world.

     "Public, community, and cultural services are essential cornerstones of a civil society. They are a critical component of our economic well-being, especially in difficult economic times. A strong public sector to support, build, and regulate the private sector is vital to the social, environmental, and economic health of the province.

     "Due to drastic funding cuts, chronic underfunding, and misaligned political priorities, many of these services are at risk of disappearing, and putting our way of life and the environment at risk. Many of the cuts affect the most vulnerable people in our communities, particularly women, children, isolated seniors, and those with the lowest incomes. It is unacceptable for government to take more from those who have the least, in order to give more to those who have the most."