Economic "miracle" requires more than belief in Gord

Broadcaster Bill Good: "Now, your critics will say you achieved this [projected $865-million financial surplus] on the backs of the poor, the disabled, and seniors."

Finance Minister Gary Collins: "Well, it's not true."

— CKNW Radio, September 15, 2004

Well, it is true, absolutely true.

Finance Minister Gary Collins can dance around it as long as he likes, but the bitter reality is that the B.C. Liberals' entire budget surplus this year is equal to the annual amount they have slashed from poor people, the disabled, abused children, and needed social services.

And then there's the "economic turnaround" the government is claiming thanks to making "tough choices" that are now "paying off". More stuff and nonsense that is being parroted by some media like a Liberal hallelujah chorus.

Don't believe it? Look at the Finance Ministry's own numbers.

They show that the B.C. Liberal government has radically cut annual funding for the three ministries that provide help to the poorest people in the province by $860 million since taking office in June 2001. That amount is almost identical to the projected $865-million 2004-05 surplus announced by Collins on September 14.

The Ministry of Human Resources took the biggest hit, a massive cut of $636 million--as measured from the government's July 30, 2001, update through to this year's 2004-2005 budget estimates--from $1.937 billion down to $1.301 billion. That's a 32.8percent funding cut.

Human Resources provides social assistance to the jobless and people with disabilities, and that help has been dramatically reduced by the Gordon Campbell government. Benefit rates are lower and eligibility has been restricted. The result: there are 87,000 fewer people receiving social assistance than in 2001.

Then there's the Ministry of Children and Family Development, which has suffered a budget cut of $171 million, from $1.553 billion in 2001 to $1.382 billion in 2004 ­05, or an 11-percent reduction. The ministry is responsible for ensuring the protection of B.C.'s most vulnerable citizens: children faced with abuse and neglect in their homes. There have been a series of tragic cases of abused children in B.C., including the death of five-year-old Matthew Vaudreuil in 1992, which prompted a major commission of inquiry by Judge Thomas Gove.

The Gove inquiry convinced British Columbians just how important child protection is, but apparently not this provincial government, which has continued to cut services for children at risk.

Lastly, the Ministry of Community, Aboriginal and Women's Services has seen its budget cut by $53 million, from $559 million in 2001 to $506 million in 2004 ­05, or a 9.48-percent reduction. The ministry is responsible for aboriginal, women's, and multicultural services, as well as transition houses for women. Last year the government cut $1 million in funding from women's sexual-assault centres and support programs across the province.

And, rest assured, other ministries were also cut. The Water, Land and Air Protection Ministry didn't just lose its former name--the Environment Ministry--it also lost $66 million in funding, a 30.8-percent cut from 2001 to 2004 ­05.

But hey, there are various ways to see how the Liberals made British Columbians pay for their surplus other than just by taking away needed services.

The 50-percent increase in Medical Service Plan premiums by Collins in his 2002 budget is the main reason MSP revenue has been jacked by a whopping $494 million, from $904 million in 2001 to $1.398 billion in 2004 ­05. That one regressive tax hit alone represents a full 57 percent of the total projected budget surplus.

And remember when Collins upped the provincial sales tax by half a percent to 7.5 percent in 2002? It was estimated then that it would bring in an extra $358 million, and in fact, total sales-tax revenue in 2004 ­05 will be $492 million more than in 2001. Plus, don't forget that tobacco-tax increases of $213 million since 2001 have made the nicotine-addicted smoking mad.

Big business isn't complaining, though. Corporate-income-tax revenue is down $261 million since 2001, thanks to generous Liberal tax cuts.

But what about that economic miracle turnaround in B.C. we keep reading about in the CanWest Global media empire? Aren't those hard decisions to beat up on welfare moms starting to pay off at last?

"B.C.'s economic picture is so bright these days you need a dimmer switch to tone down the candlepower," a Province newspaper story stated on July 4. B.C.'s economic growth is expected to reach 2.9-percent real gross domestic product this year and three percent in 2005, according to the Finance Ministry. This follows increases of 2.2 percent in 2003, 2.4 percent in 2002, and a decrease of -0.1 percent in 2001. Wahoo, three percent! Pass the sunglasses, the Liberal future's so bright I have to wear shades.

Or is it? In fact, B.C.'s economy has seen higher GDP growth several times in what Gordon Campbell calls the "dismal decade" of New Democrat governments.

GDP growth topped the three-percent mark four times between 1991 and 2000 and was higher than 2003's 2.2-percent growth in eight out of those 10 years. In 2000, the GDP increase was 4.8 percent, and in 1993 it was 4.5 percent, two strong growth rates well beyond Collins's three-percent estimate for next year.

Does that mean any economic progress is actually a Liberal fraud based on highly taxed smoke and mirrors? Of course not. Record-low interest rates have stimulated the housing and construction markets, while windfall oil, gas, mineral, and forestry revenues have added $695 million to the bottom line since the February budget.

But just as Mark Twain famously remarked, "The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated," so too can Liberal claims of great financial skill be seen for what they are: serious exaggeration.

Bill Tieleman is president of West Star Communications and a regular political commentator on CBC Radio's Early Edition. E-mail him at weststar@telus.net.