Re: Clark on climate, clawbacks, credit cards (B.C. Views, Dec. 10)
Well, it was time for my annual revisit of Black Press legislative reporter Tom Fletcher’s B.C. Views column to see if anything was new since last year, and it was a bit like switching to a boring TV show during the commercials; nothing much had changed.
As per usual, Fletcher lobbed a couple of Nerf balls at the premier and made sure they included a few openings to complain about the NDP.
What was most revealing, however, were a couple of responses made by Christy Clark.
When Fletcher stated, in regard to the anticipated $400-million surplus for this year, “Of course the opposition is interested in welfare rates and in particular ending child support claw backs,” Ms. Clark came back with her usual sage wisdom. She said, “Like any family that’s been through tough times, the first thing you need to do, when you get back to finding a job and making an income again, is to pay off your credit cards.” She then stated, “It’s typical, the NDP want us to spend the money before we have it.”
While I’m a big fan of reducing personal debt, the first thing that comes to mind to do with job income is not paying off credit cards, but instead providing proper shelter and food for one’s family.
Considering how B.C. continues to have the highest child poverty rates in Canada (one child out of five), and a bungled social welfare, medical and educational system, the fact that the B.C. Liberals both find that acceptable and think that it “can wait” until the “credit cards” are paid off, shows indeed that nothing much has changed, nor should we expect it to as long as they remain our government.
Tune in next year for more of the same.
Arthur Entlich
Metchosin