BC Election issues

[BeingHuman]

The BC Liberals have made British Columbians poorer on average than the rest of Canada.

"B.C. lagged almost all other provinces in 2013 in terms of wage increases. The average wage increase for B.C. between November 2012 and November 2013 was 1.7% – below the Canadian average of 2.5% and well below Saskatchewan, which led Canada in terms of wage increases with a 4.7% increase."

https://www.biv.com/article/2014/2/bc-l ... statistic/

What really is disheartening is that BC's wage income growth actually became the worst in Canada in 2015. When we say the jobs being created in BC are part-time, low wage, jobs we actually have the sources to back that statement of fact up!!!

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/in ... story.html

[Urbane]

^^ Fun with stats! People are actually working in this province but NDP'ers are trying to convince us that it's better to be unemployed rather than having a job. In fairness to the NDP'ers, it's hard to argue against the strongest economy in Canada.

[Urban Cowboy]

Even if the NDP did improve the wage increase percentage, which is doubtful, it wouldn't make any difference, because the tax increases needed to pay for their promises, would more than eat that away, and once again lower our disposable income.

Regardless of how promises are funded, in the end it's always the end consumer who foots the bill. Corporate tax increases simply get passed on to us, as do wage increases to public service sector workers, and raising the minimum wage to $15.

While the NDP do not, most people do understand that, because they know there is no such thing as a free ride.

[BeingHuman]

More proof that the jobs in BC are low wage jobs, is the increased use of food banks in order for people to make ends meet. "Food bank use in B.C. highest on record for province. 100,086 people used food banks in B.C. last March; 32 per cent were children."

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-c ... -1.3323449

The evidence is every where, and it is indisputable... there is absolutely NO DOUBT, under this BC Liberal Government, people are suffering!!!

[fluffy]

In the end this comes down to the difference in political philosophies. Do we go with the right wing, capitalist approach which favours the rich at the expense of the poor, or go with the left wing socialist approach that favours the poor at the expense of the rich. Sounds easy enough on the surface but it always seems to be the middle class that ends up footing the bill. What it does come down to is whether we want to take our lives in our own hands, or whether we want the government to do it for us.

Unrelated comment: I had a huge laugh on the "Hulk Horgan" reference, not so much for political reasons but just for it's cleverness in exploiting his anger management issues.

[maryjane48]

yap . folks like oldtechie simply do not care about their fellow bcers . for them its all about theselves . case in.point . he says raising the min wage takes money out of his pocketb like the cost of living is same as 1901

the people of bc are starting to wake up to the fact the bclibs are corrupt and really have taken bc backwards in to many critical ways . we need to raise the bottom up not make the seperation larger.

[mr.bandaid]

"Hulk Horgan" is the moniker given John Horgan by Province columnist Mike Smyth. As you know, he's rather sympathetic to the NDP but he wrote a good column, an excerpt of which I posted, discussing that first debate and what we all saw of Horgan's famous temper.

I seriously considered voting for someone other than Christy Clark in my riding. It would have been an independent or the Green candidate. However, the NDP campaign, and the rhetoric of their supporters on here, have reminded me that Clark and the Liberals are the only viable choice we have this election. So you are making a difference but perhaps not in the way that you intended. The NDP have a history of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Might that be happening again?

LOL, I am literally on the floor laughing at this one. Vote other than Liberal....good one Urbane. You bs your friends and I will bs mine but we shouldn't bs one another.

[lasnomadas]

Whole post removed due to personal attack.! Take it to the bickering room.

[Urban Cowboy]

More proof that the jobs in BC are low wage jobs, is the increased use of food banks in order for people to make ends meet. "Food bank use in B.C. highest on record for province. 100,086 people used food banks in B.C. last March; 32 per cent were children."

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-c ... -1.3323449

The evidence is every where, and it is indisputable... there is absolutely NO DOUBT, under this BC Liberal Government, people are suffering!!!

To begin with your statistic is for March 2015, but then who needs accurate facts right?

Now how about I add a little perspective to that rant.

Here we see food bank usage for the whole nation, and though it is never a good thing to see, the statistics cast a more balanced view of the whole picture, as opposed to another cherry picked statistic, designed to cast BC in a bad light.



source: https://www.foodbankscanada.ca/getmedia ... x?ext=.pdf

What one would see when looking at those statistics is that there is only one province in Canada with a lower number for children, that being Nova Scotia. Everyone else is higher than us.

Manitoba with a population of only around 1.4 million had 61,914 people use the food bank, compared to a BC population of 4.7 million and 103,464 using the food banks.

This is but another example of an NDP sympathizer cherry picking data for dramatic effect, leaving out the crucial statistics that show this to be a problem for the whole nation, and various political parties.

[maryjane48]

100 thousand people is more than 60 thousand . simple math vs bclib alt facts

[BeingHuman]

Old Techie engaged in a typical BC Liberal ploy, that does NOT address the fact that BC now has the highest food bank use rate in our history. Old Techie attempts to draw everyone's attention away from the fact that under this BC Liberal Government food bank use has reached RECORD HIGHS!!!

Old Techies food bank numbers are useless, the differences in population in each province is not even considered... how lame is that?

[Merry]

Given the difference in population size in each Province a chart that shows numbers of people, as opposed to percentage of total population, can give a bit of a misleading impression.

That said, the numbers of folks living at or below the poverty line in ALL Provinces is totally unacceptable, and needs to be addressed by ALL levels of Government from coast, to coast, to coast.

Welfare rates in this Province are abysmally low, and haven't been increased in over a decade. A single person gets $610 a month, plus free MSP. Pharmacare and emergency dental assistance. Now ask yourself, if you lose your job and are unable to find a new one before your EI runs out, will you be able to survive on that?

If your honest, I think you'll admit that the answer is no.

I know that a lot of people think of welfare recipients as "bums" and therefore undeserving of any kind of increase. But the reality is that, while there will always be some folks who abuse the system, there are also many hard working individuals who lose their job through no fault of their own, and are unable to find a new one quickly enough to avoid having to resort to welfare. It's time we lobby our political Party of choice to raise welfare rates to more realistic levels.

But as not all food bank recipients are on welfare, we also need to take a look at minimum wages. Far too many folks work long hours for very low wages, and wind up having to use food banks to supplement their income. I know small businesses can't afford a large increase all at once, but a slow steady increase over time to bring those workers wages up to a living wage is both appropriate and necessary. If a business can't afford to pay its workers a living wage, that business isn't a viable business IMO.

[Urban Cowboy]

Old Techie engaged in a typical BC Liberal ploy, that does NOT address the fact that BC now has the highest food bank use rate in our history. Old Techie attempts to draw everyone's attention away from the fact that under this BC Liberal Government food bank use has reached RECORD HIGHS!!!

Old Techies food bank numbers are useless, the differences in population in each province is not even considered... how lame is that?

Of course the numbers are useless now because they destroyed the credibility of your NDP slanted post.

Is there some part of "this is a nationwide problem" which the statistics clearly show, that you do not understand?

The numbers are up across the country, including NDP governed Alberta, where not too long ago you bragged about how they just created 20,000 jobs.

You've provided proof you can't even read statistics accurately, let alone present them in proper context.

Quite brazen of you to use the word "ploy" too, given the endless examples of creative journalism, you've graced the board with.

[Urban Cowboy]

100 thousand people is more than 60 thousand . simple math vs bclib alt facts

Now how about you try factoring in the population of each province, to get a proper percentage figure. That would be "simple math", which oddly enough I already did for you, but in typical anti Liberal fashion, that just zipped right over your head, in the haste to post a condescending rebuttal.

We have four times as many people as Manitoba yet they have 60K compared to our 100K, so again using "simple math", that translates into us being in a far better position that Manitoba.

[Gone_Fishin]

Old Techie engaged in a typical BC Liberal ploy, that does NOT address the fact that BC now has the highest food bank use rate in our history. Old Techie attempts to draw everyone's attention away from the fact that under this BC Liberal Government food bank use has reached RECORD HIGHS!!!

Old Techies food bank numbers are useless, the differences in population in each province is not even considered... how lame is that?

How did you like it when fully 1 in 10 British Columbians were on welfare during the 1990s? Would have been nice if we had food banks back then for those folks who were forced onto the dole by the NDP.