"Families first."
The motto of our new premier. This government is going to be about putting "families first".
Great news - if it is true. But it is a lot harder in politics to live up to ideals than it is to spout platitudes. It is a lot harder to actually live by a plan, such as the failed "New Era" platform, than to spew rhetoric in the hopes that no one is actually watching.
Indeed, I suspect that most people - upon hearing the new premier say that she is committed to "families first" - rolled their eyes and thought "Here we go again!" We have become so used to our politicians generating verbiage that we place little faith in them keeping their word.
In Premier Clark's case, there is some justification to believing that "families first" is going to be just more hollow sloganeering. After all, in her previous stint in government, she was responsible for some of the more draconian cuts to the Ministry of Children and Family Services.
As the Minister of Education, she gutted the clauses in the collective bargaining that put a maximum on class sizes and put our children at a disadvantage.
Of course, she is not the same person, that she was six years ago. Her son is older (nine years old) and in school now, so I suspect that she has a different view on the class size issue.
Or, she might just be one of those parents that say it is the teacher's fault. After all, teaching a larger class of pre-teens doesn't take more work, does it?
But she could actually want to put "families first".
What does that mean, though?
To me, "families first" is about ensuring that our families are able to raise children in a healthy and safe environment. When I was a kid, that meant that one parent could afford to stay home and be there during the day. Not that they had to stay home but that they could stay home.
You didn't need both parents working to be able to afford a middle class lifestyle.
And when I say "middle class lifestyle," I am talking about a moderate house, a relatively recent car, and food on the table, with maybe a vacation every year and a few extras. Not the "lifestyle of the rich and the famous" with multiple vehicles, ATVs, and vacation homes.
The average weekly wage in this province has stagnated for the past 10 years. We used to be either No. 1 or No. 2 in the country.
Now we trail Alberta, Ontario, and Saskatchewan. Indeed, with an average weekly wage of only $826 we are so far behind Alberta ($950) there isn't any point in even trying to talk about catching up. If you want to know why people have left B.C., for Alberta, you need look no further than that number.
But we should, at the very least, catch up to Ontario. At $851 per week, we are only talking an annual wage of $44,250. Remember, that is the average - more than 60 per cent of the people in the province earn less than that number.
When talking about wage distributions, it might be better to consider the median instead of the average.
The median is the middle of the spread.
That is, exactly half the population earns less than the "median wage." For a family in B.C., based on Statistics Canada data, the median wage is $67,890 - below the national median wage of $68,860 - and an inflation adjusted decrease of 11 per cent since 2001.
We are not keeping up. And that is with both parents working in a majority of cases!
Yes, increasing the minimum wage is a necessary first step and one that should be applauded. I do find it ironic, though, that groups and organizations that have been adamant that a minimum wage hike would kill business in this province are now on board with the idea.
But, hey, that's politics and the new leader has spoken.
But it can't just be about increasing the minimum wage. I find it somewhat baffling that Premier Clark would talk about "families first" one second and then defend the HST in the next.
Let's get real. The HST is nothing more than a tax transfer. It is taking $1.8 billion out of the pockets of working families in the province and giving it to corporations.
With no strings attached.
If Premier Clark really wants to do something for families, giving us a break by rescinding the HST would be a step in the right direction.
The "$4 dollars a day" would be nice to have back. Especially as that is $1,400 per year.
Families should be first in any government's agenda. It will be interesting to see where they truly rate with the BC Liberals.
