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EDITORIAL: Budget full of blab we’ve all heard before

Nothing concrete about anything announced by the provincial government
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Last week’s provincial budget brought more of what we’ve been hearing for years, but little substance.

It doesn’t matter who’s in power, the Liberals and NDP sound about the same at budget time.

Finance minister Carole James announced, while choking back tears because these things are so emotional when you’re thinking about helping your own family, that there are great opportunities for families in this budget to enjoy more prosperity and blah, blah, blah.

There’s always a lot of double-speak and hype, but not much specific detail so B.C. residents can put everything into perspective.

On the one hand, we hear about the strong economy and how so many new jobs have been created and additional ones are forthcoming. What, specifically, are they and in what sectors?

On the other hand, we’re hearing about how the government needs to do more with affordable housing and affordable living in general to make the economy stronger because no one earning less than $100,000 a year is making a decent go of it anymore.

So, which is it, are we enjoying economic prosperity or is there a crisis here? Judging by the homeless problem, rampant drug use and corresponding mental health issues mainly because of that excessive drug use it would seem more like the latter.

The government - again no matter whether it’s NDP or Liberal - is always going to spend more on health care and education and that’s the wonderful announcement being made again. People want to know exactly where that money is going and how it will benefit their own communities.

There is some good news for students with the elimination of the interest on B.C. student loans. But it’s still costing students a fortune to get a degree so it’s only a small improvement.

Overall, there’s a lot of work to be done in this province and the current government is moving very slowly.

Any bets on what’s going to be said during the budget same time, next year no matter who’s governing? Yes, the same blah, blah that sounds good but doesn’t amount to much.



Don Bodger

About the Author: Don Bodger

I've been a part of the newspaper industry since 1980 when I began on a part-time basis covering sports for the Ladysmith-Chemainus Chronicle.
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