May 9, 2005
Carole James spent most of the May 9th Leaders’ Radio Debate running from the NDP’s record, running away from the facts, and hiding the NDP’s union ties. It was another reminder that this is the same old NDP.
HIDING NDP-UNION TIES
Carole James: “…the caller is completely wrong when it comes to the connections. I’ve been very clear that we had a balanced approach, we have a wonderful group of candidates. We have some people who are involved in labour…”
- Almost one-third (25 out of 79) of the NDP’s candidates are union leaders or union activists.
- Unions still have privileged affiliated status within the NDP. These unions include the BC Federation of Labour, CUPE/HEU and the CAW.
- Carole James’ very first promise as NDP leader was to cut the NDP’s ties to Big Labour. She was going to remove the affiliation status of the BC Federation of Labour, CUPE/HEU, the CAW and other big unions. She didn’t do it. They are still NDP affiliates today.
- Unions like the BCTF, the BCGEU, the BC Federation of Labour, and the HEU are running multi-million dollar campaigns to get the NDP back in power. And the NDP president today is Jeff Fox, a BCGEU organizer.
- Over 100 unions have registered as third-party advertisers – all of them running aggressive political attack campaigns on behalf of the NDP.
RUNNING FROM THE NDP RECORD
Of course Carole James doesn’t want to talk about the NDP Record of the 1990s – she doesn’t want voters to know that it’s the Same Old NDP, with the Same Old Policies.
- NDP candidates include:
- Adrian Dix (Glen Clark’s right-hand man)
- Mike Farnworth (Minister during the Casinogate scandal)
- Corky Evans (NDP Health Minister)
- John Horgan (NDP government chief of staff)
- Harry Lali
- six former NDP cabinet ministers
- 10 former NDP MLAs.
- This is the same gang that was responsible for:
- Fast Ferries
- Casinogate scandal
- Fudge-It Budgets
- “We made announcements about things we were never going to do.” – Corky Evans, 2000
- The worst economic and job creation record in the country.
- Failing to invest in doctors, nurses, seniors’ beds and medical equipment.
RUNNNING AWAY FROM THE FACTS
Carole James: “Low- and middle-income earners are now paying more and getting less.”
- WRONG. British Columbians have the lowest provincial income taxes in Canada for all lower- and middle-income levels.
- We reduced or eliminated provincial income taxes this year for 730,000 British Columbians with incomes under $26,000 per year and eliminated provincial income taxes for all people earning under $15,500 per year.
- On our first day in office we reduced income taxes for all B.C. families by an average of 25%, and by 28% for those earning up to $30,000 a year.
- Examples of total provincial tax savings in 2005 versus they would have paid under the 2001 NDP budget:
- A senior couple (income of $30,000) = $933 in total tax savings a year
- A family of four (income $30,000) = $1,287 in total tax savings a year
- Single individuals (income of $25,000) = $612 in total tax savings a year
- 290,000 people with low and middle incomes saw their MSP costs go down under this government; 280,000 saw their costs for prescription drugs reduced, with 82 per cent of all clients seeing costs frozen or reduced.
Carole James: “We will be ending privatization in health care.”
- NDP RECORD: During the 1990s, the NDP doubled the number of private clinics in the province to more than 50.
Carole James: “Because you broke your promise to the seniors of this province and didn't build 5,000 long-term care beds. That's created an increase in the wait lists.”
- WRONG: Wait lists for long-term care have actually been reduced. Under the NDP waitlists for these beds were nearly a year long; today, they are between 30 and 90 days.
- NDP RECORD: The NDP was told by their own think-tank, the CCPA, in the 1990s that they needed to increase long-term care beds and assisted living options. Instead, they effectively reduced long-term care by 18%, and built virtually no assisted living under their watch. Over the entire decade only 1400 new beds were announced – despite a rising seniors population. By 2006 alone, BC Liberals will have created twice as many beds in half the time that the NDP did over their entire decade.
- In 8 of the 10 major surgical categories wait times have remained the same or been reduced. There is virtually no wait times for cancer. We have added 68,000 additional surgeries since 2001.
Carole James: “We could have held on to the railway [BC Rail], we could have put the profit into both improving as well as putting a Northern Development fund there for the people of the north.”
- WRONG: The BC Rail partnership has generated funding for the expansion of Port of Prince Rupert, funding for the Northern Development Initiative, new access to the American Midwest market, elimination of BC Rail’s $500 million debt, and $15 million for First Nations economic development. None of these opportunities would exist if it wasn’t for the BC Rail Partnership.
Carole James: When asked if the NDP would finally return the money to Nanaimo charities stolen in the 1980s. “It went to court, the judgment was made, and the issue was dealt with.”
- WRONG: More than a million dollars diverted from charities by the NDP’s fundraising arm, the Nanaimo Commonwealth Holding Society, has never been repaid.
Carole James: When asked about the lack of specific policies to enhance the hi-tech industry. “Caller, you are just plain wrong …. We’ve put money aside through the forecast allowance so we actually have dollars year over year, not one time dollars as we’ve seen by Mr. Campbell to make sure that we have long term, sustainable economic growth.
- There is not a single specific commitment in the NDP platform to implement measures to boost the hi-tech industry. In fact, Carole James has no specific policies to boost any of our significant economic sectors, except for a hidden plan to slash funding for tourism.
- NDP RECORD: Thousands of skilled workers fled the province because of the NDP’s high taxes and low opportunities. With the same team in place today, why would we expect a different result?
- How many times will Carole James spend the forecast allowance? Does she even know what the forecast allowance is put in place for?
Carole James: “We need to ensure that there is a fair contract for our employees…. I know the way to negotiate fair contracts …”
- Under the NDP, taxpayers lost billions of dollars to sweetheart deals with big labour. They negotiated their contracts through backroom deals out of the Premier’s office.
- Public sector unions like the BCGEU, the BCTF and the HEU are bankrolling and running the NDP’s campaign – how can we possibly trust Carole James to negotiate with the unions tomorrow, when they are running the NDP campaign today?
Carole James: “British Columbia is the only jurisdiction that actually lets 12-year-old kids go to work.”
- There’s been no change in the age for people to work – those 12 to 15 can work as long as it is not during school hours, and parents agree.
- There were 160,000 people between 12-15 years old working in BC in 2002, but only 300 hundred permits were issued. This system clearly didn’t work.
- Youth unemployment in 2004 was the lowest it’s been since 1990.
Carole James: “We’ve put no money for teachers wages in this first year in our platform. We have made sure the investment in education goes into support for students.”
- One of Carole James’ “star” candidates for this election is David Chudnovsky, former president of the BC Teacher’s Federation. In 2001, Chudnovsky put forward demands for what amounted to a 34% wage increase for teachers. He is one of the members who Carole James believes should be negotiating with teachers.
- With no plan for teachers’ negotiations, and a commitment to remove education as an essential service and allow strikes to shut down our schools, the NDP’s plan is a certain recipe for conflict in our schools.
