Mon, 04 Feb 2002

What is going on with the far from liberal Provincial government?


One school of thought expressed by former NDP cabinet minister and now political commentator Moe Sihota is that the Campbell government is causing the various confrontations because of inexperience.

In my view it is more likely that the Campbell cabinet have embarked on a radical anti-public privatization agenda similar to the failed policies of Thatcher and Reagan and seen today as globalization. Why is that?

Those whose political education includes some knowledge of French political science will know that a Parti (political party) is seen as part of a class, in essence the Parti tries to advance the interests of their class.

Another tool to help analyze political events is to determine whose economic interests are affected by the actions undertaken by the Campbell government.
Who benefits?

Finally in a capitalist economy there is a general tendency for the rate of profit to decline in mature segments. This is particularly troublesome for the B.C. economy where 1/2 of all economic activity is still dependent upon the mature declining forest industry.


So what does the Campbell government do in the face of this situation. Before they really out of the starting gate and before they have any real assessment of the governments economic situation, they take a balanced budget and give a $1.2 billion dollar tax cut. $800 million goes directly to the business and wealthy. Who benefits?


Secondly, to pay for the tax cuts the Campbell government undertakes a review of government programs and adopts an agenda of cuts to numerous public services and privatization of several government functions


Cuts to social safety net programs of social services, to the elderly and children; funding freezes which are defacto cuts to health care (closing of hospitals) and education; imposed contracts and failure to honor existing signed agreements all show in whose interests the Liberals are working.

The cuts to social services will increase poverty and make a more desperate work force drive down wages, increasing corporate profits.

The Campbell government is cutting taxes, redistributing wealth to the private sector and instituting policies to erode living standards and environmental protection (oil moratorium, fish farms, forest practices code) to advance the interests of the corporate sector.

The Campbell government is also looking to privatize various segments of government services, opening them up to private profit. Noted are highways, social services administration, health care support services likely to be followed by medical services and B.C. Hydro are a few of the known moves.

All of this quite understandable once there is a realization of whose interests the Liberal Party were financed to protect.

In response the labour and public organizations have taken to the streets protesting the Liberals assault. The protests however have been characterized by the specific nature of their concerns, so far an overall comprehensive unifying program hasn't been articulated. This is a weakness and will need to be corrected to halt the Liberals offensive. Discussions between the labour, first nations and the popular social movements to articulate a common program and strategy are warranted and would be welcomed. The negotiation and settlement of treaties with first nations need to be part of any program and would be a unifying issue.

Translate this page automatically.