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Mainstream media mum on broad coalition's planned protest

The Coalition for a Better B.C. rally scheduled for noon this Saturday outside the Vancouver Art Gallery may be the biggest political event you never heard of, if you rely on the province’s mainstream media.

Over thirty arts, labour, feminist, ecological and community groups have endorsed the gathering and it will be hosted by legendary Canadian blues singer Jim Byrnes, but a Google search of local and national news outlets reveals not a single story about the upcoming event.

In contrast, a search for news items about Bill Vander Zalm’s campaign against the HST produced 90 hits on the same search engine.

The Saturday rally is being organized by groups as disparate as the BC Federation of Labour, the Sierra Club, the Alliance for Arts and Culture, the Union of BC Indian Chiefs and Vancouver Rape Relief around this theme: “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 aim of this coali­tion is to bring us together to Build a Bet­ter BC.”

Representing civil society groups that have been hurt by past government cuts and policy changes, the coalition is arguing for a robust program of public investment in arts and culture, and in services and infrastructure to protect the province’s most vulnerable populations and its fragile ecology.

“This rally is only a first step toward building a much broader coalition,” said Jim Sinclair, president of the B.C. Federation of Labour. “It’s time we talked more to each other. Isolation makes us weak.”

The April 10 rally is not the first time the coalition has tried to promote more discussions about the service cuts and reductions in the public sector it believes is weakening the province’s chances for recovery.

On March 20 more than 150 British Columbians gathered for a day-long dialogue about the problems faced by the province in the current uncertain economic climate. The participants called for policies in B.C. that work effectively toward the goals of social justice, welfare of children, a healthy environment, funding for education, health care, housing and the arts, respect for women, tax reform and greater citizen involvement in the decisions that affect them.

They heard a presentation by frequent Tyee contributor Will McMartin, who explained that under the current budget plans of the provincial government, per capita spending will contract by 1.2 percent annually for years to come. Tax cuts for corporations, McMartin told the gathering, mean that the provincial government can do less, which accounts for cut backs in needed services and programs.

“The challenge, and it’s a huge one, is to create a new consensus of what we can build in B.C.," Sinclair told the gathering. "We need to talk about the world we want, the world we believe in, not just stop the cuts. We need to change what exists today and move forward.”


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