Will:

Here's my issue with you. You exhibit absolutely no philisophical compass. You pawn yourself off as a right-leaning critic of the current government, but none of your criticisms are based on any descernible principles.

Sales Tax - yes, its regressive but the only reason it the amount collected has increased - aside from the temporarily imposed helf percent increase to pay the docs - is because consumer spending is up. Is that bad?

Personal Income Taxes - Conservatives believe in smaller government and less taxes. So why are you upset that tax revenue is down. When you cut taxes, it drops. From your perspective, isn't that a good thing.

Transfer Payments - BC became a have not province under the NDP. So we have been receiving transfer payments. This will likely come to an end shortly since our economic prospects are improving. So what?

Budget of the Premier's Office - people like you manufactured this as a false issue. Existing functions of government were moved from other ministries into the Premier's Office. Ergo, the size of the overall budget rises. Then pundits like Will McMartin feign outrage and pretend this demonstrates a big spending increase. Then some of these functions are removed from the Premier's Office and put somewhere else and now that's a problem too. Talk about spin!

Tuition revenues - More students X higher tuition fees (no one is denying this) = more revenues and more funding for post-secondary education. What a scandal!

Why don't you right something that actually states what your fundamental, principle objections are with this government, rather than picking at the edges. At least then we might be able to figure out what the hell you stand for.

Thanks, Will, I for one appreciate your budget analyses. Good point made at the end about the 2001-02 budgets. The impetuous tax cuts at the outset did indeed constitute a "colossal" fiscal blunder. Viewed another way, however, this was a truly masterful political play. In one smooth move, the Liberals were able to:

1) Create a massive deficit to "prove" everything bad CanWest ever said about their political opponents,

2) Manufacture the "fiscal crisis" needed to justify their agenda of gutting or privatising anythign that wasn't nailed down in government

3) Establish a case for massive federal equalization payments, timed to create a huge fiscal surplus right on the eve of their next election, and

4) Reward their friends in the business community and high tax brackets and assure their financial backing to fund the next election campaign

Sickening... but brilliant! And the saddest part it that it probably will get them re-elected.

To Groovypippin: When I was asked by The Tyee to do some writing, we agreed that it wouldn't be from a right-wing or left-wing perspective, but hopefully informative, and if possible, enlightening or entertaining or maybe even useful. I've been active in politics for more than 30 years, worked in governments, managed numerous election campaigns, done a lot of research, tons of writing and lots of commentary. The hope was that I could impart some of what I know or have learned to Tyee readers, and at the end of reading one of my columns at least a few might say, "Hey, I didn't know that." Others, I am sure, will merely yawn.<>

If you re-read the above column on the budget, there are no value judgments as to whether it is good or bad; merely a few short observations of the budget's contents which were not reported elsewhere. My favourite part was a lengthy description of the historical development of the budget estimates, going back to the beheading of Charles I in 1649 and the Glorious Revolution in 1688, but the editor, wiser than I or perhaps with a better understanding of the Tyee's readership, excised the entire segment. Oh, well.<>

For me, life and politics are slightly more complicated than the perspective offered by Orwell's barnyard animals -- "four legs good, two legs bad" -- but that's the way many British Columbians see it. Liberals, bad; NDP good. Or vice-versa. My philosphical compass? Beer, and right now I'm going home to have one or two. Have a good weekend. Will

Damn Will, you edited out the Glorious Rev! Geez, I'd be all over that. The book 1688 was fascinating by the way, highly recommended to all :)

Anyway, I like the "just the facts ma'am" tone of your pieces. They're informative, and I'll take that over political puff-pieces, from either side, anytime.

Great article Will, thank you immensely. Yours are usually some of the best articles on Line. Sometimes, I don't think the "readership" realize how many hours, likely days perhaps, it takes to write and re-write an article such as yours. Have a bubbly on me!

once again will another great piece , but some will say we are doing sooo well arn/t we????
ask the seniors

Now there's a party that might have the potential to unite Canadians once and for all.

The Beer Party! A philosophical barrel out of which all Canadians can pour something good, something for everybody. I predict perfect harmonious accord by the end of every long constituancy meeting.

Kinda gives new depth to the phrase 'draft proposal', doesn't it?

Once again, the BC liars are fiscally, socially and morally incompetent Groovey Pimpin'. In agreement with the anonymous poster above, all the BC liars have ever been about are manufactured crises propelling hidden and unethical agendas. From the utter nonsense of the "structural deficit," as BC liberal fantasy =no doubt co-delivered to the the premier by two copresenters, the easter bunny, and a pink elephant- the claims of pimpin' and the "liberals" are utter nonsense and pathetic lies. There was not one year under the NDP in which BC was a have-not province: there has been ONE year under the liars in which BC was not. Of course sales tax revenue is up -BC is slowly crawling out of the economic damage done by the liars, aided solely by low interest rates fueling housing starts and high prices for natural resources. BC lost 22,600 fulltime well paying jobs in 2004 (Vancouver Sun, December 7, 2004) which Mcmartin has just reported was a have-not province year for BC AS WELL AS FROM 2001 TO 2004. This is success, grooveypimpin'? You must be joking.

Tuition and tuition revenue has doubled, a corrupt government has gutted the FOI, tripled the size of the premier's office, ducked all accountability, and shows an endless willingness to attack the vulnerable, with or without a surplus, and to use taxpayer monies and social program targetted funds for the benefit of themselves and their owners.

Once again, grooveypimpin', take a deep breath, that STENCH you smell is that of your tainted blood-soaked taxcut. You and every BC "liberal" should be deeply ashamed, but I suppose the conscience you all so greviously lack makes such repentence impossible...perhaps the law courts can do better...

Hombre:

If things don't work out for you here in British Columbia, at least I know you have an excellent future as the next Iraqi Information Minister.

Your rhetoric is truly extraordinary.

Great piece, Will, as always fair and informative. I think he's a great analyst in that he can take the complex and make it clear.

I think what is most interesting in this article is the revelation of the sky rocketing budget of the Premier's Office after the last election from 2.7 million under Dosanjh to a high of 52 million in 2003 (due to the Premier's "appropriation of several government functions for his own office") and then, even more interesting, the sly transfer last year of the PAB to the department of finance. Nothing like confusing the money trail and our right to information.

And what about those two hundred "hand-picked" political appointees that went with the transfer? I always love it when Gordon Campbell tries to distance himself from responsibility or involvement in anything, his shifty deflecting of questions away from himself in Question Period, when his "hand-picked" control and fingerprints are over everything he does.

YesYesYES, but whynot rid ourselves of the delusion that the wealthiest are taxed the most?
The sales tax regime is a flat regressive tax,why did the previous NDP or this LIb gov't cancel it all together?
is it about not wanting to tell the truth? maybe the so called middle class wants the poor to be inordinately hit[coz they are]
The majority of voters are the ones catered to the poor do not count in this equation,that's my opinion I'm sticking to it.
Don't get me started on municpal taxes,you know rents paying tax un related to income.
BY the way why don't landlord reductions in mortgage costs with the falling interest rates get passed on to the renters????????? Hmmmm.
Sounds like windfall profits to me to the property owners.

hombre; you are blind to your 1969 vision of the world. are you seriously suggesting that the have-not status was caused by the liberal gov't, rather than the previous 10 years of waste and futility? and are you now suggesting that we bring jim sinclair and the bctf back into power? jim and jinny couldn't run one of your be-ins, let alone a province of 4 million.

Will, Your article begins with a misleading sentence: "Having shielded their budget from debate, the B.C. Liberals are free to spin madly on the campaign trail." I'd be interested to know who wrote the misleading sentence and why they wrote it. I'd bet that you did not write the sentence, because in the body of the article you write that the "spending estimates" may not be debated before October. I know you know the difference between the budget debate and the estimates, and I'd also bet several of the points you raise in your article come up during the budget debate.

Gordon Campbell can't be trusted

griper, Gordon Campbell could not run a KoolAid stand without pissing off half of BC. In four years, the BC Liberals have shown that they are far inferior fiscal managers compared to the NDP. Try reading what hombre is writing. All of this propagation of lies from BC Liberal campaign workers such as yourself will not undo the anger.

Grooveypimpin'. wake up, and smell the stench. Only a moral imbecile, would defend the BC liar track record. And, Griper, the sixties were a good time, with progressive ideals, with people caring for each other. I could see where a little social parasite like yourself would find this offensive. And equalization payments have but ONE meaning: they are given to failed economies of have-not provinces. As Mcmartin states above recent figures show BC was a have not province for the fiscal year of 2004 to 2005 as well as from 2001 to 2004. THE BC backstabbers are an economic, a moral and a social failure. And grooveypimpin' Iraq just had an election, and I thought rightwing moral imbeciles such as yourself were all in favour of George Bush carpet bombing the IRaquis into democracy, and "freedom..." I repeat your taxcut is tainted with the blood of the innocent...this is not rhetoric, but proven fact, had either of you even the most BASIC rudiments of human decency, you would be DEEPLY ashamed...I'd feel sorry for you both, if not the blood on your hands -of the poor, the disabled, seniors, young people and all others whose lives have been ruined by the twisted dreams of a back-stabbing psychopath like gordon campbell.

Norman, a debate on the estimates is a explicity a debate on the budget, so it doesn't follow that Will wrote a misleading sentence when he used the more abstract term "budget" instead of the more defined term "estimates " in his lead. As far as I can see the only mistake Will made was to bother responding to that annoyance who calls himself groovypissin' or some such and has a problem both with readin' and writin'. Probably 'rithmatic, too.

Mr. Spector's skill and technique in sophistry are to be admired. Rule #1: The best defence is an offence. Rule #2: Accuse the accusors. The real story here is the important facts about the budget which neither BC's concentrated media nor Gordon Campbell wish to discuss.

How best to bury this rather damning evidence? Rule #3: Change the subject. It works perfectly (unfortunately). Deflect the story from the important observations about the Liberal's bogus BC budget, and instead hair-split about whether the 'headliine' is misleading or not. Even better, divide and conquer. Flatter the author (Will would never write a misleading headline cause he's a great guy, plus he's really smart). Instead, introduce the prospect of an intermeddling editor with, omigod, an agenda or something (the ultimate sin!)

And finally, the final lesson to remember about those who participate in the field of rhetoric: every time a person points a finger, there's three more pointing back.

hombre; "people caring for each other". your naivete is shocking. you're whacked. you must be a member of the bctf executive.

contumely; wrong again pal. i'm not even a member, but if they keep up the good work, cutting otherwise capable 20somethings off of welfare and the like, i just may have to give gordo a call.

Hombre do you use a template when you write your posts?

OK, let's talk transfer payments my ignorant friend.

If BC started receiving transfer payments in 2001, then the calculations for those transfer payments would have been made based on economic data taken from circa 1998-1999. If I'm not mistaken, the NDP were governing this province at that time.

Now that the economy in BC is doing better then before, BC will no longer be a have-not province by the 2006/2007 fiscal year.

Believe me Hombre, there are a lot of things you can try to hold against this government. Your case on transfer payments and have-not status is not even remotely supported by the facts. Not even NDP number-cruncher extraordinairre David Shrek tries to defend this one.

Wrong, as usual, grooveypimpin'. The transfer payments BC's getting now, are for 2001, and continue EVERY YEAR OF BC liberal reign, and are in fact PREDICTED TO CONTINUE into the years 2005 to 2006, as Mr McMartin states clearly and succinctly above. READ the article, groovey pimpin': "It pays to be a have-not."...Equalization payments now provide more revenue than persoal income tax, 900 million this year, 500 million the next, and as McMartin says. "While the BC liberals boast the province has turned the corner, fiscally and economically, the fact is BC remains a have-not province."

The desperation of the federal liberals to prop up the tainted Campbell regime, also begs the question: What does Eric Bornemann know that the rest of us don't? Tell me, grooveypimpin' when you pass homeless disabled people in the street, and see the rail thin children of the poor, who are paying for your tainted, blood soaked, maggot encrusted taxcut, do you ever have a pang of conscience? I would guess not...you should be ashamed of yourself...Hey JIm, and griper, ever had a decent impulse in your lives...you pathetic, reactionary, excuse for human beings...god, how I pity your families...smell the stench...

Hey, Norm! Spreaking of misleading headlines, how 'bout that two-inch headline on December 7, 2004 in the Vancouver Sun, claiming, "BC has lowest unemployment rate since 1981." Gee, it turned out that the unemployment rate was STILL 6.9%, only the BC liars just stopped counting everyone who had given up looking for work, and the WHOLE point of the headline was a bait-and-switch anyway, an attempt to hide the article's report THAT THE BC LIAR'S LOST 22,600 fulltime, well paying jobs in 2004. Then there was the recent ideologically driven headline of last monday, that "THE BC LIBERALS FIX SURREY HEALTHCARE." with the careful scapegoating of a CEO who reported adverse, dangerous emergency ward conditions months ago. Since you're SO concerned about misleading headlines, oh spectre of norm, I just know you're gonna want to write an outraged letter to the Vancouver Sun, demanding explanations for these DISGRACEFUL and misleading headlines...a travesty of, and insult to democracy everywhere...right, norm? Norm??? Norm??? I can't hear you, norm...???!!

thanks for trying to explain transfer payments to the castro jr. groovy, but you're wasting your time. these lefty freaks never listen to anyone. if they did they'd have to admit how detached from reality they really are.
hombre; fyi,here's what you're calling a social parasite. i teach 200 grade 11 and 12 students every year, and i coach 2 soccer teams, a rugby team, and a baseball team. what have you done for your community lately?

Moreover, it's interesting how the BC(Neo)Liberals strain their arms patting themselves on the back for the economic upturn (for some) and studiously avoid factors they have no control over that have had a greater impact on the economy than any of their pump priming policies: very low interest rates, booming metal and mineral markets driven by Chinese (and Indian) demand, high oil prices, etc.

If any of these factors comes unravelled, you can be sure Gordo and his cronies will be pointing westward quicker than you can say "cyclical market crisis."

Thanks for the interesting article.

Griper:

Do you teach those kids to name call too?

Uhmm, and isn't the teaching of 200 kids your job? Sounds like it. Laudable and all, but it doesn't really constitute community-mindedness when there's a fairly reasonable paycheque every month IMO.

Finally, from my perspective there's a pretty good body of evidence to suggest that the previous NDP administration was as fiscally prudent as the current government.

Funny how fast ferries come up again and again. Sure, they cost $500m, but compared to the coming boondoggle that is the Hwy 1 expansion (K. Falcon clearly fails to understand even the most rudimentary basics of traffic demand management, and we'll all pay for that far beyond a measly half-billion dollars), the NDP's policies stack up pretty well.

Stump

you missed the point stump. it's about how you choose to spend your time. for me it was a conscious choice resulting from years of coaching kids before i chose to make a career change with a cut in pay.
as far as the name calling goes, you're absolutely right about that. silly and immature. shouldn't retaliate to people like hombre. my apologies to the rest of the board.
as far as the fast ferries goes, that fiasco was so unique you can't compare it with anything else. even the staunchest ndp'ers admit that glen clark abused his office disgracefully. at one point the fastferry board was fired because they spoke out about the project, only to be replaced by party faithfuls like jack munro etc. who became yes men to glen and the boys. absolutely disgusting. william raymer rates glennie 31st out of 31 premiers, with dave barrett close behind. the track record of the ndp in power has been shockingly bad, and it amazes me that anyone can even remotely consider giving them another chance at power, at least not until they've made some fundamental changes to the structure of their party and their philosophy.

Sorry to gripe myself, but.... that sundeck and fast ferry looks pretty good compared to the last 3+ years.

C. Parkhurst, If I were in Carole James' shoes (an admittedly absurd hypothesis), I'd not use that as my campaign slogan.

Much better to just promise a new era and accuse the government of destroying the province. That always seems to work.

I'm so bored and tired of the NDP vs. Liberal arguments. The simple fact is that the current government is terrible for average people, there isn't any other rational way to look at it. They give tax breaks to the wealthy and increase the cost of living for average people while ruining the lives of the less fortunate, there is no way that anyone can argue with that just look at the facts. I hate the BC Liberals and everything they stand for.

But are the NDP really the answer? Unfortunately they will get some votes from people like me because their is no true alternative, if anyone mentions the green party I'll go nuts! Would the province be better under the NDP? I think that it would be more of the same with some slightly different focus.

As a teacher, can I ask Griper what the Liberal regime has brought to his classroom? More students with special needs Griper? 2,500 teachers laid off having an effect in your district? How many field trips have you been on recently...trips your students don't have to peddle 5,000 candy bars to be able to go I mean? Feel like your doing more with less? What's your opinion on more standardized testing for your grade 11's? I know I'm off topic for this thread, but in a way BC schools are hugely affected by budget decisions made by the Liberals. You may dislike the BCTF Griper, but at least we're trying to fight back against the harmful effects of privatization of our public school system. Maybe we'll see you at the BCTF AGM this spring...or, are you an "armchair critic"?

it's useful to stop believing the rhetoric prw. this government has increased funding for education consistently. the intention of the original cut was to make boards more efficient with their funds, and since then they have poured money back into the system, but you won't hear your leadership admit that. they'd rather 'misinform' and count on the fact that most teachers are more concerned about the kids in their classrooms than in politics. as far as the other lies, in our school we have several sea's guiding the special needs
kids through their days, my average class size this year was 26, and they gave us a bigger raise than the ndp did in 10 years of wasteful incompetence. consider that under the ndp bc had a negative net migration for the first time ever, and now people are coming back to the best province in the country. what's better for teachers? as far as the agm goes, political rallies don't interest me much. too many politicians.

I am so tired of hearing that the Liberals have poured more money back into the system and that this makes them better than the NDP. The services have gone down hill in the last four years and I would say that that proves they are not good managers. There are more homeless people today and more people working for less and the crime rate has gone up. This is not good management. A government is to govern for all people not just the wealthy.

I am so tired of hearing that the Liberals have poured more money back into the system and that this makes them better than the NDP. The services have gone down hill in the last four years and I would say that that proves they are not good managers. There are more homeless people today and more people working for less and the crime rate has gone up. This is not good management. A government is to govern for all people not just the wealthy.

Hey, Graper, do you physically abuse disabled kids in your class, or how 'bout inner city school kids, all groups attacked by the BC liars to pay for your filthy tax cut...or do you just prefer to let Gordon Liar do it for you??Teachers and school boards had to threaten LEGAL ACTION to even get the BC liars to fund inner city schools. Disabled people all over BC have been screaming for years about their treatment by the sub-human parasites that dare to call themselves "liberals." And now you've betrayed other teachers and you're proud of it...?

Hey, graper, I built his province: you've sold it out, and as far as I'm concerned you're the worst kind of parasite -one who wraps himself in a bloody cloth, and then claims to be cloaked in virtue...and I'll bet you work at a private school and your mate got a large taxcut...a teacher applauding a government that assaults children is about the sickest thing I can imagine, and explains the outstanding ignorance and bias of your posts...wipe the blood off your face...

wrong again hombre. public school, lower mainland. 'gov't that assaults children'?. with all due respect, you may need some help. good thing you're not lucid enough to run for office.
flower; good point. more money does not necessarily make the system better. my intention simply was to counter the bctf's misinformation.
as far as the homeless issue is concerned, this has become a systemic issue that needs to be dealt with at all levels of society. gov't alone will never change this. by the way, for those of you with bad memories, it was your beloved ndp that came up with the brilliant idea of 'deinstitutionalizing' these people.

Actually, I think there were some Charter of Rights issues that made it difficult if not impossible to be able to keep people in institutions against their will. Please correct me if I'm wrong in this regard.

The Liberals policies in regard to welfare certainly haven't helped, and IMO have exacerbated the problem.

Sorry Griper, my "rhetoric" says in the last 4 years the Liberals took away $320 million and two weeks ago they "gave" the schools back $150 million. That means we are still underfunded $170 million...Liberal "Smoke and mirrors"...and you accuse me of rhetoric? Another point to make is that the laying off of 2,600 teachers was due to declining enrollment. Fair enough if it were true. The reality is that they're laying off 4 teachers for each lost student. Does that add up? Or, can we be honest in saying that the Liberal agenda is harming our children? I'm glad your classroom situation is not too crazy because mine is off the richter! I don't have enough Teacher Aides to help my special needs students...we have teachers working through their lunches because some students need tube feeding and toileting...due to underfunding we have a large number of International Students who can barely speak a word of English and I'm supposed to teach them on top of all my other adaptions I deal with in a day. I still have history books that show the USSR and I think our school has a mould problem due to a leaky roof. You must be the only teacher in BC who the crap has not landed on. Where is this magical district? By the way, to ignore the fact that public education in BC is not political is just being in denial...there is a reason we have the BCTF as a political voice. When governments ( and I do mean any party that wins...I was no huge fan of the later NDP either) fully fund an equitable, stable school system and listen to line teachers as professionals then maybe the BCTF will not be a necessity...until then " You can't scare me I'm stickin' with the union".

I agree with you Geek. Demonizing gets tiresome and it would be nice to see more balanced government which I think would happen under Proportianal Rep. Having said that I think Gordon Campbell is evil :)

Although I voted NDP I thought they weren't very "left-wing" when they were in gov't.

too many errors prw. they began putting money back almost immediately after the initial cut, and have added over $500 million since then. plus they have spent $711 million on capital expenditures, including building 24 new schools and upgrading more than that. those are the facts, but i reiterate, the bctf will not tell you that. 2600 teachers (keeps rising, started at 2100) laid off and 28,000 less students doesn't jibe with your math. of course the union wants more teachers paying into their $5 million political campaign, but the fact is that per/pupil funding is up $500 since they took power. that comes from the auditor's office. i suggest you start questioning what your union rep is telling you.
misinformation can be very disempowering.

With all due respect, graper: shove it, parasite. And I repeat, how much was hubby's taxcut, you know, his bloody gift from gordon backstabber...if only there were provisions for your students to sue you...you "arguments" are stale, tired lies, AND you're a quisling...look it up...are you an organizer for the BC liars?

Why is every argument in favour of the BC Liberals considered a lie? Why is it necessary to waste millions of taxpayers dollars in order to run any public entity? It’s too bad that the Liberals are actually investing in the infrastructure of our province instead of doing nothing and watching it crumble.

Why is every argument in favour of the BC Liberals considered a lie? Why is it necessary to waste millions of taxpayers dollars in order to run any public entity? It’s too bad that the Liberals are actually investing in the infrastructure of our province instead of doing nothing and watching it crumble.

nice work with the thesaurus hombre, was that a mayday present? by the way, you still haven't answered my question: what have you done for your community lately?

Talk to your colleagues all over BC Griper...What you're saying does not jibe with the experiences of most teachers in BC. While I respect your right to have a dissident viewpoint I question your budget numbers hugely. Show me the proof? The lay-offs continue, so the number rises. I certainly have heard of no re-hires in my growing district...so who does the workload get shoveled off to? The Liberals play games with class-size numbers too...As you state, your average is 26 students but your colleague down the hall has 36! Let's come clean on the use of rhetoric too Griper...are you saying the Liberals are clean in that arena? Maybe you question what the Minister of Ed or the Canwest empire is saying to you?

prw; all of the numbers are available in the auditors reports on the gov't website @ www.gov.bc.ca, but i suppose he's complicit in the great canwest-capitalist-pig-empire conspiracy too?

Wow Griper, by your comments it would seem you have me pegged as some kind of "commie pinko"...I just had a flashback to the Cold War, Joseph MCarthy, witch hunts... all because I questioned the validity of the government spinmeisters and the Canwest folk for their bias. Are you saying the Canwest papers present fair and balanced reporting and editorials?
By the way...which auditor's reports? Do you know how big the bloody BC gov't website is? Throw me a bone here? Just where did you find this "report" from the auditor that clearly spells out that the Liberals did not underfund BC schools by $320 million over the last 4 years and then "give back" $150 million as an election ploy to pretend they really do support public schools and try to buy votes?

Griper, asking hombre to outline what he has done for the community lately is a transparent attempt to change the subject by forcing him to defend himself. Whether or not he is contributing in this way is irrelevant to whatever points he is making.

As for the BCTF being an unquestioning supporter of the N.D.P., I recall them criticizing the N.D.P. government pretty harshly in the '90's with a pamphlett denouncing the effects of new welfare legislation on the poor. I assumed it was because teachers were seeing first hand the effects on learning of hungry students in the classroom. I thought it was brave of them, since not all unions, and certainly not the B.C. Fed, were willing to be so outspoken about N.D.P. hypocrisy regarding social justice.

Are you the kind of phys-ed teacher I remember who values ruthless competition over physical fitness?
Who makes team captains choose team members one by one until the least popular person in the class is humiliated by being chosen last? I realize I'm maybe doing the same thing, here, that I accused you of doing to hombre, in which case, feel free not to answer, but I do wonder, from your comments, what kind of teacher you are.

I guess Griper has grown silent. Still waiting on where I can find your official government data on how BC schools have not been underfunded in the last 4 years. You claim it, so shed some light on my ignorance.

Griper, Paul Willcocks has quite a good and objective explanation of the education funding issue in his latest column about the BCTF ads. It's not simple, which is very useful for those who are interested in using the stats to mislead. If the Liberals restore all the dollars that they've promised to return over the next three years, they may be close to making up for what's been cut--in real terms. But that's a big IF and the reality is that we're still way behind today.

Secondly, your thinking on the "homeless" issue suggests you need to,...um,...think about this a bit more deeply, perhaps. There is undoubtedly some link between deinstitutionalization and homelessness, but your comments suggest the problem stems from closing the institutions in the first place. How about if government had reinvested the savings from closing institutions into community living and mental health supports, as promised, instead of gutting community living and giving away the savings in the form of tax cuts to their political supporters? Almost $150 million cut under the BC Liberals, despite costs rising annually and the number of clients growing every year... You'd have to invest an awful lot to keep them all locked up, even in Dickensian conditions.

If someone can explain how does 4 premiers in 8 years, as well as "fudge-it" budgets, were good for the economy, I will vote NDP. The reason the economy did not perform during the 90's was mostly because of this corruption.

According to growth and unemployment figures the BC economy under the NDP either outperformed or matched the Liberal figures most of the time. Without the housing boom created by the Bank of Canada and the big increases in world commodity prices the "Liberal" economic record would pale in comparison to the NDP's.

So apparently it coms down to what you want to believe.

Realistically, apart from exporting jobs wholesale as logs to China or something, you've gotta be real um...flexible to believe any of this stuff has anything at all to do with local BC or even national policical policy. These economic trends are global, cyclical, and apart from the ability to screw them up royally through stupidity can't be changed at all by Liberals, NDPers or anybody else.

What the real difference is, what they CAN do is much more real than that. It comes down exactly to a matter of what you believe.

Do you believe they're going to tell you the truth by and large? Or lie to your face?

Do you believe they will do the best thing for you, your family and neighbours? Or just their own?

Do you believe they will value your work? Or sell you out?

Do you believe they want to spend your money like you said they should, on hospitals and schools and infrastructure? Or on paybacks to their own 'supporters' and 'contributors'?

They really can't do SFA about commodity markets, but they can sure help decide whether we will get to saw the lumber, build the doors, windows and furniture, or Chinese work gangs will.

Hey, Graper, I don't NEED to have done ANYTHING "for my community lately," as I've already done every dirty, dangerous underpaid job BC has to offer and now suffer severe osteoarthritis among other complaints, along with merciless, covert attacks from Gordon Pimp, against disabled people in this province.

But, just for the record, I've taken on every mindless, neo-liberal rightwing pimp apologist for Gordon Backstabber whose presented their dreary and doubtfull lies both here and in Canwest sound-off posts, especially at Canada.com, where I recently have been posting under the name of John Brown...lately I've been pursuing other projects...this makes my contribution to BC far MORE valuable, than that of any quisling "teacher," like yourself, whose main aim in life seems to be selling out his students...I'm proud of MY life, just what you're proud of I'm unsure... being nominated backstabber of the year at your school perhaps...??

my heart bleeds purple piss for you.hombre.

Eww. That can't be a good thing. Even on American beer.You probably ought to see somebody about that.

Your heart probably IS purple piss...your taste in drinking a wimpy, polluted beer like budlite is all too obvious, or worse naming yourself after it, and is as well as an excellent metaphor for the little sell out BC to the americans for nickles on the dollar, that you obviouly are. At least you're consistent though, iq lite, humanity lite, and humancy decency lite...wht it's like to pimp out your kids and grandkids for nickles? What contributions have you made, what underpaid work have you done, you tacky little coward? Why not just call yourself human being-lite for the sake of accuracy, you GUTLESS little pimp?