VANCOUVER – The B.C. Liberals continue to try to create noise and distractions to steer people away from their lacklustre record on the economy and their lack of real vision, say the New Democrats.
“It’s clear they need something to draw attention from themselves after a summer of bad news – from the flip-flops on the HST, to changing positions on the Canadian Senate, to being no-shows at the Vancouver Pride Parade,” said New Democrat finance critic Bruce Ralston.
Today, Liberal MLA John Les misrepresented John Horgan's comments regarding the Office of the Municipal Auditor General, as promised by Premier Clark during her leadership campaign.
“We know the Liberals want to deflect from the numbers that make it clear that their mismanagement of the economy is hurting people,” said Ralston. “While they have been busy giving out millions to their friends and supporters to spin us on the HST, Christy Clark’s Liberals make life more expensive for families thanks to the HST and increased fees such as hydro rates, ferry fees and medical service premiums.
“And while they’ve been obsessed with spinning the HST at all costs, the economy continues to slide. Economic growth during ten years of a Liberal government has only been 2.4 per cent compared to 3.0 per cent during the previous New Democrat term. We have declining family incomes, the highest unemployment in western Canada, and lagging job creation and retail sales.”
On the municipal auditor general, Ralston said that unlike John Les and the B.C. Liberals, New Democrats don’t have to fall into line behind Christy Clark's “ready, fire, aim” campaign promises.
“New Democrat MLAs have heard from municipal councils and the Union of B.C. Municipalities who have been presented with a fait accompli– in their own words, a solution in search of a problem. The Liberals record on local government is one of continued downloading of costs without funding or extra funding mechanisms,” said Ralston.
Ralston noted that B.C. unemployment is 7.3 per cent, well above Alberta (5.5 per cent), Saskatchewan (4.9 per cent) and Manitoba (5.7 per cent) and still above the Canadian average of 7.2 per cent. He also said that B.C. families saw the largest decline in family income in 2009 of any province in Canada (dropping from $67,000 to $63,000 – median pre-tax family income).