(The following article is from the May 1-15,  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.)

By Kimball Cariou

     The next B.C. election is three years off, but if a vote was held this spring, the Liberals would probably be reduced to a handful of MLAs in Victoria.

     The latest survey of voters showed the Liberals at just 29%, a startling 18% behind the NDP led by Carole James. The Greens are at 14%, and the provincial Conservatives - suddenly considered an attractive alternative by some business forces - are at 5%.

     The survey showed deep disenchantment with the current options. An overwhelming majority viewed the Liberals as arrogant and dishonest, but the results also found that if a new "centre-left" party was formed, it could have the support of 34% of voters, compared to 28% for the NDP and 23% for the Liberals.

     The news is particularly bad for Gordon Campbell, who is increasingly detested by voters.

     Probably the main factor is the "Harmonised Sales Tax", scheduled to take effect on July 1. Over 80% of voters oppose the HST, and a province-wide campaign to force a referendum on the issue may well succeed. This would require collecting the signatures of at least 10% of voters in every single constituency by early July, a task previously considered impossible. But the campaign is well on the way to completion with two months left to gather names. This could create a complicated legal situation, since the HST legislation is actually federal rather than provincial. But the exercise is widely seen as a de facto referendum on the Premier's moral and political authority to remain in office.

     Other issues are also dogging the Liberals, such as their announcement that the long-delayed Site C dam in northern B.C. will take the next step towards reality. This has further alienated many British Columbians, since the dam would flood valuable farmland solely to produce electricity for export. (More in an upcoming issue.)

     More immediately, underfunding of public education has further weakened the government. In an effort to divert attention from their policies, the Liberals recently appointed a "special advisor" to review the finances and operations of the Vancouver School Board, one of dozens facing huge budget shortfalls. The move is seen as an attempt to crack the whip over school trustees, by attacking the Board with the most consistent record of vocal criticism of underfunding.

     While the tactic may have confused the issue for some, it appears the government has already lost this public relations battle. Another survey, conducted in early April by the BC Society for Public Education, found that 80% of British Columbians want the government to increase support for the public school system. About 65% agreed that the government should end its ever-growing financial support for private schools, turning those funds over to the public system. The government did its best to cover up the findings; the pro-Liberal Vancouver Sun tried to muzzle its own education beat reporter, but the story was eventually reported.

     The survey may have prodded B.C. school trustees to shift gears during their recent AGM in Victoria. Historically, many trustees were reluctant to be associated with criticism of underfunding, but that changed dramatically at the April 23-25 meeting, marking a huge victory for the fightback movement in B.C.

     In one key vote, trustees resolved to "request the Ministry of Education to redirect to the public education system the public money spent on independent schools, other than band schools".

     The AGM backed school boards that are calling for more funding for public education, and passed another motion urging the province to "provide adequate, predictable and sustainable funding that includes additional financial support for newly mandated initiatives and existing unfunded liabilities".

     The trustees also called on Minister of Education Margaret MacDiarmid to release the report of the special advisor as soon as it lands on her desk. The Advisor, B.C. comptroller general Cheryl Wenezenki-Yolland, has already admitted that her report cannot help with the VSB's underfunding crisis, since it will be submitted a month after the Board's April 29 budget vote.

     At press time, the outcome of that vote remained hard to predict. Parent, teacher and student groups have been sharply critical of the cuts in the budget, but put the blame squarely on the province. No group has called for the defeat of the budget, since this is widely seen as an invitation for the province to remove the popular Board. But the trustees face the very real dilemma of trying to protect education without adequate funding.