Government needs to better value children
DAVID F. ROONEY
Revelstoke Times Review
January 2 2008
The provincial New Democrats plan to offer British Columbians a clear choice regarding party priorities in 2008 when they ‘put a Child Care Program in front of the people,’ says MLA Norm Macdonald.
“In the next election there will be a child-care program put in front of the people of British Columbia,” he said in a year-end interview.
“Look at a province like Quebec. Quebec has a childcare program in effect that is affordable and accessible to most families as a result you have much greater participation in the work force and you have quality childcare where workers are paid appropriate wages to care for those people who are most precious to us – our children. It’s easy to do if you have a commitment.”
In a wide-ranging interview that harkened back to the issues of 2007 and looked ahead to the political landscape of 2008, Macdonald, who is the Official Opposition’s Critic for Tourism, Sports and the Arts, said the Opposition has worked diligently to keep the governing BC Liberals’ collective feet to the fire.
Health care, child care and social policy issues were first and foremost on the New Democrats’ agenda.
One of the most recent issues that came to the fore this year was the outcome of the BC liberals much-ballyhooed Conversation on Health.
“It’s clear, as you said, that there was a lot of (public) participation,” he said. “It’s a lengthy document (1,500 pages)… and cost about $10 million. In the end the message that came through was that while the premier is interested in privatization it’s pretty clear that people said while the system is not perfect… there is deep, deep support for that.”
Macdonald thinks the timing of the report’s release – it was issued at the same time that questions were raised about the private Copeman Clinic in late November – suggests that Premier Gordon Campbell and the Liberals were not pleased with the results of the Conversation.
Any attempt to find ways around the Canada Health Act and increase the amount of private health care in British Columbia is certain to be opposed by NDP MLAs like Macdonald who will happily use the results of the Conversation on health as a shield to protect public health care.
It may be that ‘legislation enacted decades ago’ needs to be kept current but the basic premise that people are treated for medical conditions based on their need instead of their ability to pay is the over-riding principle that should be adhered to by any provincial government, Macdonald said.
On a more immediately local level, Macdonald said the Interior health Authority’s staff appear to be working diligently with the communities within the riding. He said the IHA’s staff has been willing to co-operate with him and to a great extent with residents.
“We need to be able to work together… as constructively as possible,” he said. “What we’ve found as time has gone on is that those relationships have been successful. I think the IHA would say the same thing.”
Affordable housing has become an increasingly major issue right across the riding, Macdonald said.
“There is simply a lack of reasonable housing,” he said. “The poorest get hit first but… even people with reasonable incomes find it difficult a challenge… Why has that not been addressed? Why is the province doing nothing? That’s a big question.”
One major reason behind the apparent lack of response may be philosophical.
I think part of it is that the BC Liberal government believes the market will take care of issues like that,” Macdonald said. “The point that we’ve made is that this is a situation in Revelstoke, Fernie and Invermere in particular where the market has been distorted.”
So many people from Calgary, Vancouver and the Lower Mainland and from overseas are flocking to these communities to purchase second homes that affordable – or attainable – housing for local residents has disappeared.
“There are things the government could do in terms of regulation but in fact there are things the Liberal government has done that have exacerbated the situation such as exacting rules that allow apartments to be, in effect, switched over to condominiums,” he said. “There were changes that affected mobile home parks.”
Macdonald said the province could also help communities out by making Crown land available to those towns and cities that are embarking on affordable housing programs. And it’s not just the province that has to help solve the growing rural housing crisis – the federal government should be able to free up money and other resources to help, too, he said.
“When you look at the problem if there had been energy put towards it by more than just local governments it would be solved,” Macdonald said. “It really has to be all three levels of government if you want to it solved.”
Another major issue was the BC Liberals’ attempt to redraw the electoral map.
“In some ways it’s a simple story and in others it’s a bit complicated,” he said.
The province is required to review electoral boundaries and, in due course, the Electoral Boundaries Commission was instructed in 2005 to set up new boundaries that would either maintain the existing 79 seats or expand the number of seats to as high as 85. After 18 months and $3 million the commission recommended decreasing the number of rural seats by three and increasing the number of urban seats for a total of 81 seats in the Legislature.
That would create huge problems for rural MLAs like Macdonald who needs five hours to drive from one end of the riding to the other. The changes proposed would have meant he would be faced with double the travel times. The NDP called for a new rule to protect rural seats, but used delaying tactics to resist the government legislation.
Ultimately, the government abandoned this proposal and has, in effect sent the commission back to square one with new public hearings tentatively starting on Jan. 14 in the Lower Mainland, Jan. 16 in Castlegar, Jan. 17 in Kelowna, Jan 22 in Quesnel, Jan. 23 in Nanaimo and ending with a Jan. 24 hearing for MLAs in Victoria.
“It needs to be completed before the next election,” Macdonald said, adding that he is dismayed by indications from the government that it will reject the final report from the commission if the BC Liberals don’t like it.
This suggests to Macdonald that the government is fumbling the ball.
“We’ve just spent six weeks in the session and I would say that on each and every day we’ve caught the government on a misstep,” he said.
“In Question Period you can highlight their missteps. Lind Reid got caught on a misstep (last January) when she tried to cut the Child Care Resource and Referral Program and they got caught on a misstep over booster seats.”
The booster seat episode involved the government sending complimentary booster seats to Liberal MLAs for distribution to constituents. None of the seats were sent to Opposition MLAs to give to their constituents.
“It was ridiculous,” Macdonald said.
He said the government seems to ‘want the appearance of doing something on child care without actually doing anything.’
It’s quick to trumpet the achievements of BC students on international tests but the government attempts to cut the CCRR program funding, its failure to address the province’s housing problems and the recent revelation that – for the fourth year in a row – BC has the most child poverty in Canada underscores Macdonald’s conviction that the BC Liberals don’t care about children.
“Beyond just the moral arguments that these are the people who should be most precious to us, if you’re not making investments in children when they’re young there will be a tremendous cost that will be borne later on,” he said.
Not only are families kept poor but children ‘lose the opportunity to blossom into the kind of people they could be.’
“It makes no sense to waste that potential,” Macdonald said.
As far as 2008 is concerned, Macdonald says child care and seniors’ care will continue to be major issues in 2008.
He also said that he and the rest of the NDP’s Rural Caucus would like to ensure that ‘there’s a connection between the wealth rural areas generate and the services they get.’
“We need to put forward a platform for that,” he said. “Rural people should have a say on how forest lands are used, on independent power projects and a whole host of other issues.”