NDP government a national laughingstock
Taxpayers in Alberta and Ontario have good governments. Why? They recognize that taxpayers cannot afford compensating government employee wages on a regular basis.
The latest government proposal in Alberta is that all government employees, including teachers and nurses, will all have their present pay scale rates discounted between two and five per cent, in their next negotiated contract talks. The Alberta government said this temporary procedure has to be done as many private companies have given wage rollbacks to their employees and also a lot of private companies have closed sending their employees to the unemployment office. Taxpayers cannot keep funding government employee wage increases with what is presently happening with the private employers.
Alberta’s credit rating was downgraded this week from AA1 to AA2 mainly to the new government trying to clean up the mess left by the previous NDP government.
It’s amazing the difference between teachers in B.C. and Alberta. The teachers last union contract in Alberta, signed in 2017 for a two year deal, saw the teachers vote yes to a wage freeze with no increase in wages. Here in B.C. the teachers have been offered a new three year contract with wage increases of two per cent each year of the three year contract. B.C. teachers have refused the offer, yet the teachers were not offered to vote on the offer. Refusal came direct from the union negotiators.
In Ontario, the latest government proposal is that all new contracts for all government employees including teachers and nurses, will be signed with a one per cent wage increase per year in a three year contract. Like Alberta, Ontario, says that taxpayers cannot keep paying for wage increases on a regular basis.
In May of 2017, taxpayers in B.C. voted in a minority NDP government. The NDP lost the election in regards to number of seats, but have been supported by the three Green party MLAs.
The previous B.C. Liberal government left a taxpayer surplus of $2.8 billion to the new NDP minority government.
Now two and a half years into their elected mandate, the NDP are now trying to curtail their spending habits, because if they do not, B.C. once again is going into a deficit budget in the new year.
A majority of teachers and forestry workers voted NDP in the last election to see if a change might improve options to their liking.
For the teachers, the NDP is not favouring their contract demands.
Many forestry workers are laid off, and many are on strike in regards to new labour contracts, with some of the blame on the NDP government forestry practices code.
Are these teachers and forestry workers now wondering if voting NDP was the right thing to do?
Canada has 10 provinces, but B.C. is the province that the other nine provinces laugh at. Why? The other nine provinces have said goodbye to previous NDP provincial governments and will not allow them to govern anymore, but B.C. taxpayers always seem to give the NDP another try at being the B.C. government.
The first NDP government in B.C. only lasted one term. Likewise in Alberta, Ontario, and Nova Scotia.
These voters are two faced. Why? They give the NDP another chance at government, but would never take back a spouse from a previous divorce for another chance in marriage.
B.C. NDP has won three provincial elections since 1952 as majority governments and the last one as a minority government.
Each time the NDP government was voted out of office, the new coalition governments had to come in and clean up the NDP mess, making harsh decision making for a long term gain, mostly financially, for the benefit of the taxpayers.
B.C. presently has a minority government, and a provincial election could happen before the next scheduled provincial in October of 2021.
Now that the $2.8 billion surplus has been spent just two and a half years into their mandate, and possibly a deficit budget in the new year, history will repeat again.
The next B.C. provincial election, whenever, will see the coalition government of the B.C. Liberals once again form the government of B.C. Why? The NDP has no taxpayer support north of the Fraser Valley in B.C. except for one MLA in Prince Rupert and another in Nelson, B.C.
The new Liberal government will have to make hard decision making, in regards to making a long term gain for the benefit of the taxpayers, again in regards to finances.
The previous B.C. government saw the premier travel to stir up business to keep the B.C. economy prosperous.
The sad part is that B.C. presently has a lame duck premier, who in two and a half years has not traveled anywhere to stir up business for the B.C. economy.
In the meantime, as long as B.C. stays with an NDP government, the number one comedy show in Canada for the other nine provinces to keep their eyes on is politics in B.C.
For you teachers that voted NDP should have remembered the phrase, “You can’t have your cake and eat it too”.
For the other taxpayers that voted NDP should have remembered the phrase, “What goes around, comes around.”
The NDP is not totally to blame for the mess being created in B.C. The three members of the Green party are also to blame. Why?
The Green party has the balance of power, and in reality, they can stop any decision made or put into legislation by the B.C. NDP. This has never happened. Why?
The B.C. Green party leader was more interested in qualifying for an MLA pension which you need six years of service in the legislature, to qualify. He agreed with the NDP proposals because he could not face another provincial election because he knew he would lose his MLA seat, because the taxpayers were not satisfied with him agreeing to let the NDP do anything they wanted. He agreed to everything in order to qualify for an MLA pension, which he qualified for in May of this year.
He has announced that he will not be running in the next B.C. provincial election, and his MLA service will be giving him around $30,000 per year from the MLA pension.
As far as holding the balance of power, the Green MLAs should have just crossed the floor to sit as NDP MLAs.
They have failed big time in saying that they are the third party in the legislature. They are the third party in name only.
For you taxpayers that agree that all government workers should receive pay raises each year have no right to complain when their taxes and government services rise in payment too, because taxpayers pay the bills managed by the provincial government. Facts, reality, and common sense should prevail, but that has not been seen.
In summary, all governments are the same, but some are a touch better, and the present provincial government in B.C. is the wrong one from a taxpayer’s point of view.
Unbelievable!
Joe Sawchuk
Duncan