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Wednesday, February 29, 2012 The Interior News
OPINION
See us Prudent not a word to define budget first P for your Home Insurance
rudent, defined as “careful in managing resources so as to provide for the future”, is a laudable goal when discussing public finances in these economic times. In fact, BC Liberal Finance Minister Kevin Falcon used it numerous times leading up to, and during, the provincial budget Feb. 21. But I was wondering what the word actually meant to the finance minster or his government when I opened the 2012/13 budget documents to find the seventh annual deficit in the BC Liberal’s 12-year legacy and another $7 billion added to the provincial debt next year. The minister knew these figures in advance and yet continued with his ‘prudent’ messaging. I believe that shows a significant credibility gap for this government. This ‘say one thing and do another’ approach is evident in many other outcomes
GUEST VIEW
Doug Donaldson off the 2012/13 budget despite what Premier Clark and her MLAs are saying publicly. I focus on what these contradictions mean to Stikine’s rural communities and people. The first example is about skills training for people living in the northwest. One way of providing for the future is through training opportunities so that local people have the best chance for local jobs. Yet last year Northwest Community College’s trades training allocation from the provincial Industrial Training Authority was cut by 4%.
In this budget, ITA funding is slashed by more than $9 million. The implications for trades programming are worrying. The Ministry of Advanced Education budget is being cut back at a time when each college across the north is facing a million dollar plu deficit. This does plus not bode well for core fun funding being sought by NWCC’s award winning win School of Exploration and Mining, let alone expanding to meet labour market needs. The budget means we are setting the stage for a ‘fly in, fly out’ labour force. This scenario would be an injustice for residents of the northwest, where unemployment is higher than average. The second example that stood out for me is that the word ‘forestry’ or ‘forests’ did not appear once in the minister’s budget speech. And yet, the auditor general’s recent report said the government’s reforestation efforts are not
keeping up with the growing inventory of land needing restocking and that the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations has no real plan around forest management. The response in the budget? A $20 million cut in the next two years in silviculture, inventory and forest restoration activities. It makes one wonder how that is managing in a way to provide for the future. Forestry built many of our communities – it can still provide good jobs but the public forests must get the attention they deserve from government. Oh, and a sample of what did get funded in next year’s budget? $15 million for an advertising campaign to promote the BC Liberal’s jobs plan. And the Officer of Premier’s $9 million budget remained intact. Odd priorities and ones that don’t match up with what is needed in the north. Doug Donaldson is the Stikine MLA.
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Country still has gun control LETTERS from p. A7 It has to be renewed every five years with a current passport-like photograph. There is no prior warning and it is up to each individual not to miss the deadline. The standing order “you must apply to renew your licence before the expiry date on your current licence” leaves no doubt that any laggard faces the confiscation of his
firearms. If this isn’t gun control, what is? Incidentally, there is a curious aspect to Mr. Cullen’s tirade about the “lack of gun control”, the “potential bootleg market” and the “ease for gangs to get guns.” When he talks about the licence verification provision, intentionally or not, he uses the all-encompassing word ‘gun’ rather than the dis-
I read because . . .
tinct term ‘long gun’, thereby changing the whole concept. ‘Guns’ include all firearms, whether they are nonrestricted — like shotguns and rifles — or restricted — like handguns. Since 1934 trans-
actions of the latter have always involved the Firearms Centre. That provision is not likely to change and there is no reason that it should. Walter Hromatka Smithers
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