The BC Federation (BCFED) of Labour approved Tuesday’s BC Budget put forth by Finance Minister Carole James.
It takes bold action in two areas of affordability including child care and housing, seeing the NDP live up to its promise.
“When we talk to people who were in union and non-union settings they said to us these were major areas that they struggled with and I think that the budget will make life more affordable for BC and that’s what the NDP promised and I am glad they lived up to it,” says Irene Lanzinger, BC Federation of Labour President.
Lanzinger was especially pleased with the NDP’s plan to eliminate MSP Premiums by January 1st of 2020 – an issue which can be classified as a red-herring for most people.
“It’s a particularly good move because it increases tax fairness and the MSP premium was the most unfair tax that we had in the province, it was a flat tax and didn’t matter if you were making $500,000 or $10,000 a year you paid the same amount.”
However, the only issue the BCFED had with the budget pertained to the Employment Standards Branch – something the BC Liberals decimated during their time in office.
“It’s a smaller issue that doesn’t get a lot of public attention but I think it’s a very important one because the Liberals cut the Employment Standards Branch by about half and that means if you have a problem with your employer and your non-unionized it’s very difficult to take that complaint to someone.”
The NDP increased the funding by a million dollars a year for the next three years.
The BCFED will sit down with the government and seek more funding.
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