SometimesEvenTheObviousIsWorth
RepeatingVille
In his latest column in The Globe, Mr. Mason takes the Clarklandians to task for treating struggling British Columbians like crap.
Here are a few of those takes:
...There was lots of money, for instance, for those wanting to purchase a house – tax breaks of up to $13,000 – but little for those for whom the idea of ever owning a home will remain a dream...
...The government could find $100-million to put in some phony prosperity fund, a pre-election gimmick of the first rank, and yet could find only enough money to give those on disability assistance less than $20 a week more to make do. It is barely a nudge of a rate that has been frozen, unconscionably, since 2007 at $906.00 a month...
...The increase in disability assistance will be partly cancelled out for about 55,000 people who are losing government-provided transit passes worth about $55 a month. Some will be losing other transportation subsidies as well. (I mean, if you didn’t take this stuff away you’d be spoiling these people!)...
...What help was there for people who can’t find a place to rent in Vancouver because the focus of civic and provincial governments is on building condos that make developers rich and put money into the coffers of those same civic and provincial governments? What help was there for young people whose minimal, service-industry wages have stagnated while facing rent increases of 2 per cent to 4 per cent annually?...
None of which is anything that those few British Columbians who have been doing all the heavy lifting themselves to find out what is actually going on can disagree with, I reckon.
But after all the takes and examples were done with came the bit in Mr. Mason's column that I cannot disagree with more:
...(T)he Opposition can rail on in the legislature about how horrible it all is, and columnists can take great umbrage over what is happening, but sadly not much will change...
Why do I disagree?
Because there is no evidence that columnists have taken 'great umbrage over what is happening' in any concerted way whatsoever.
And why does this matter?
Because if they did I am almost certain that British Columbians everywhere (i.e. not just the heavy lifters) would come understand what is going on.
And if that were to happen they would demand change.
So....
With that said, I look forward to Mr. Mason's (and his colleagues) numerous follow-up columns in which he (and they) lay things out in great detail for all to see so that he (and they), and his (and their) readers can take great umbrage.
Repeatedly.
OK?
______
While Mr. Mason's column laid out excellent examples of how Clarklandian spending priorities are treating the struggling like crap he only barely nudged up against the flipside, which is the increasing unfairness of the revenue collection side of the equation (even without the HST).
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No the Autobahn doesn’t actually count
16 minutes ago
2 comments:
Umbrage, great or small, has not oozed from this Press Gallery since 2001. The litany of outrages and scandals perpetrated by this ruling kleptocracy have enjoyed a free pass from this fourth estate since their ascension to power. Can't jeopardize their fees for "moderating " friendly supportive conferences or seminars, lose their invites to government friendly golf tourneys, and worst of all, threaten their spouses and other relatives' employment within the bowels of this regime. Bill Good by comparison is looking like I.F. Stone( with apologies to Izzy).
Gary Mason on January 4th:
“Quibble with her priorities all you want, what is not in dispute is that Ms. Clark has demonstrated a singular tough-mindedness when it’s come to managing the treasury. And in the kind of perilous, uncertain economic times in which we live, that is likely be a compelling and attractive feature for voters.”
Gary Mason’s first and last paragraphs on February 17th:
“Here is a sad, sour fact about politics: If you’re poor, vulnerable, disadvantaged, scraping by to feed and house your family, governments don’t really care about you. They all say they do but they don’t.”
“The B.C. government had lots of money to help those who could have really used it. It decided it had better things to do with it.”
In between those two paragraphs he conducted to a great extent the quibbling he mentioned on January 4th. In fact his quibbling rose to a level better described as indignation.
Christy Clark didn’t suddenly leap out of the bushes with her distain for certain segments of her fiefdom; she has been demonstrating it for years, wearing her skewed priorities on her sleeve. Mr. Mason said on January 4th we could quibble with those all we wanted, but those priorities are compelling and attractive to voters.
It’s the same old Christy Clark exhibiting the same old priorities, and Mr. Mason claims to have a real problem with those priorities. It’s the same old electorate he says is likely to find those priorities compelling and attractive, thereby allowing Christy to continue inflicting pain on the most vulnerable. So shouldn’t the solution to Mr. Mason’s angst lie in him and his peers using their respective platforms to properly and consistently inform voters of the damaging priorities of the BC Liberal government?
Even Ron Obvious should be able to see it.
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