Columns: One In Seven Kids In BC Lives In Poverty

Categorized | David Murray, Provincial Politics

Columns: One In Seven Kids In BC Lives In Poverty

Posted on 19 April 2012
Tags: BC Liberals, child poverty, christy clark, Columns, david murray, Issues, NDP, Provincial Politics, Thomas Mulcair

By David Murray. One in seven children or about 121,000 kids in British Columbia were found to be living in poverty in 2011. The poverty rate among British Columbia children aged six or lower was almost 20 percent. This shocking total means that one in five children in our province are not getting enough funding (support) to meet basic needs.
It is time for our BC Liberal government to put forward a child poverty reduction formula.
Christy Clark and her Liberal party have refused to commit themselves to fighting poverty. Almost every other province in Canada has adopted some sort of child poverty reduction plan.
Child and family poverty simply won’t disappear on their own. Not only is child poverty a big concern but lone-parent female family poverty rate stands at 31 percent.
Seven provinces and territories have either enacted or committed themselves to enacting anti-poverty strategies, and at least one other province is said to be ready to join the majority. The Federal NDP under Thomas Mulcair has recently issued reports urging Ottawa to commit to an anti-poverty strategy of its own.
Despite growing pressure from a wide variety of voices within the province for BC to follow suit, BC’s many are still looking for this kind of leadership. The Christy Clark and the B.C. Liberal government have regularly denied the severity of the problem,
and promised for over a year that a cross-ministry initiative will be coming soon.
Poverty has yet to become an issue in the prelude to the next provincial election. The NDP has called for the government to introduce a poverty reduction plan with targets and timelines.
I believe each of us has a role to play in working to reduce child poverty, but it is time that at both the federal and provincial level we get the kind of leadership and investment that can help make this happen. We must all understand that the window of opportunity for healthy development for each child is short and those growing up in poverty cannot be asked to wait any longer.
To reach this target we must start to see increases in the minimum wage, welfare rates and child tax benefits; enhanced employment insurance benefits and eligibility; universal access to high-quality, affordable child care; and improved access to post-secondary education for low-income students, as well as, most importantly, an affordable housing strategy.

David Murray is the editor of the Pitt Meadows Today

Corporate Tax Cuts Do Not Work For Anyone But The Rich

Categorized | David Murray, Federal Politics

Columns: Corporate Tax Cuts Do Not Work For Anyone But The Rich

Posted on 15 April 2012
Tags: christy clark, corporate tax cuts, david murray, Stephen Harper

By David Murray. The Harper Government is increasing the deficit, borrowing more money and cutting vital services to hand over a whopping 2.85 billion dollars in tax giveaways to already successful Canadian companies and foreign multinationals this year.

Harper asked last month to cut public pensions . At the same time he cut corporate income tax from 16.5% to 15% on January 1st 2012. (The Christy Clark government in B.C. has a corporate tax rate of 10%-it is the lowest in all of Canada and the United States)- Yet B.C. still has the 2nd highest unemployment rate in Canada. There seems to be no correlation between employment and corporate tax cuts. Christy Clark’s government does offer the highest child poverty rate in Canada , and has done so now for nine straight years.                                                                                                 



Stephen Harper knows full well that federal corporate tax rates have been cut by almost half since 1990 when they were at 28%. (they are at 33% in the United States as of Jan 2012). Canada has the lowest corporate tax rate of any G7 country. Yet we struggle with especially high youth unemployment very much like the 1930′s.

Despite getting all these breaks Canadian corporations are sitting on more than $859 million in cash reserves. These corporations are using this great financial windfall to pay out more in dividends to shareholders, while they themselves are not reinvesting to stimulate the economy, instead choosing to hoard huge amounts of cash.


I believe we need to roll back these corporate tax cuts. We need to invest in affordable housing, child care and infrastructure which would provide a lot better return on our tax money.

David Murray is the editor of the Pitt Meadows Today

“Wait For Me, Daddy”

“Wait For Me, Daddy”

It's October 1, 1940 and Province photographer Claud Detloff is standing on Columbia Street at 8th Street in New Westminster, his press camera up to his eye, preparing to take a shot. He's focusing on a line of hundreds of men of the B.C. Regiment marching down 8th to a waiting train. Soldiers of the Duke of Connaught's Own Rifles are marching past. Suddenly, in the view-finder, Detloff sees a little white-haired boy tugging away from his mother's grasp and rushing up to his father in the marching line . . . click.

“Wait For Me, Daddy” becomes the most famous Canadian picture of the Second World War, and one of the most famous of all war pictures. And it was a fluke, a one-in-a-million shot.

The mother's outstretched hand and the swirl of her coat, the boy's shock of white hair and his own reaching hand, the father's turning smile and the downward thrust of his own outreaching hand — he has shifted his rifle to his other hand to hold his son's for a moment — the long line of marching men in the background, all this makes an unforgettable image, a masterpiece of unplanned composition, a heart-grabbing moment frozen for all time.

But Warren “Whitey” Bernard, who was five when Claud Detloff photographed him, doesn't remember October 1st. What he does remember is October 2nd, when the picture appeared in the Province and he was suddenly famous.

Today, more than 60 years later, Whitey Bernard lives in Tofino. Back at the time of The Picture, he and his dad Jack and his mom Bernice lived in Vancouver, near General Wolfe Elementary, where little Whitey was in Grade One. (His mom lied about his age to get him in.)

“The picture went everywhere,” Whitey says. “It was a full page in Life, it was in Liberty and Time and Newsweek and the Reader's Digest and the Encyclopaedia Britannica Yearbook and in newspapers everywhere.” Whitey's wife, Ruby, nods. “It was hung in every school in B.C. during the war,” she says, laughing. “I saw him years and years before we actually met.”

The photo caught the attention of the military.

“They were holding War Bond drives,” Whitey says, “and they asked Mom for permission to include me in some of them. They were six weeks long, and so I had to be excused from school. They had entertainers and put on shows. I remember meeting Edgar Bergen and 'talking' to his dummies, Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd, and there were local entertainers, too: Barney Potts, Thora Anders, Pat Morgan, and I'd come out at the end in front of a big blowup of the picture with a fellow dressed up as my dad. I'd stand there in my dressy blue blazer and short grey pants, they put me in short pants, and give a little speech, and I'd end by asking everyone to buy war bonds to help Bring My Daddy Home. That got everyone all misty-eyed and they'd rush up to buy bonds.”

Whitey's dad came home in October 1945 and Claud Detloff-now the Province's chief photographer-took a photograph of their reunion at the CNR station.

Not long after Whitey and Ruby Johnson married in 1964, he got involved in local politics. He was elected alderman, was mayor for several years in the 1980s and then went back as councillor. Today, he's retired. His son Steven runs the business that Whitey started long ago, a small marina, marine hardware and fuel station.

Time to Stand up for the ALR and Protect Delta Farmland, say New Democrats

Victoria— In light of revelations that developers have options to purchase agreements on 600 acres of prime farmland in Delta, New Democrats are calling on the B.C. Liberals to make it clear that the land won't be removed from the Agricultural Land Reserve.
“The Liberals have been quietly allowing the Agricultural Land Reserve to be eroded for the last 11 years,” said New Democrat agriculture critic Lana Popham. “It’s time for the Liberals to tell British Columbians where they stand. If they truly support the Agricultural Land Reserve, they need to make it clear that this 600 acre parcel will remain in the reserve.”
The Liberals have yet to take significant action addressing issues with the Agricultural Land Commission raised by the Auditor General in a report issued in 2010. The report noted that “the commission is challenged to effectively preserve agricultural land and encourage farming in British Columbia,” and showed a disturbing pattern of excluding prime agricultural land from the reserve in the south of the province, replacing it with less fertile land in the North.
“If the Liberals allow this land to be taken from the reserve it will strike a concrete arrow into the heart of Delta,” said Guy Gentner, the New Democrat MLA for Delta North. “It would also send a clear message that this government has no intention of protecting the Agricultural Land Reserve.
“This is some of the best farmland in the country; if the Liberals allow it to be developed they can’t credibly say they support the ALR.”
Gentner noted that Delta has already suffered from a wave of exclusions from the ALR that have undermined the ability of the community to retain its agricultural character and support farmers.
“Adrian Dix and the New Democrats recognize that British Columbians overwhelmingly support the Agricultural Land Reserve and want the government to ensure the province maintains the ability to produce local food,” said Popham. “The Liberals have been speaking out of both sides of their mouths on this issue, saying they support the ALR while allowing illegal fill dumping and approving exclusions of some of the best agricultural land in the province.”

Conservative budget slashes health care, pensions

Stephen Harper promised to create jobs, instead he slashes vital services Canadians rely on

OTTAWA —NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair today slammed Stephen Harper’s Conservatives for introducing a budget that recklessly cuts the vital services that Canadians rely on—such as Old Age Security and health care.
“Stephen Harper promised jobs and growth, but delivered reckless cuts. There’s nothing on jobs, nothing on inequality and nothing to strengthen our front-line health services. ” Mulcair said. “Mr. Harper is once again looking out for his friends, while he ignores growing inequality.”
The budget outlines the Conservative plan to raise the OAS eligibility age from 65 to 67, forcing seniors to work two years longer to make ends meet. It also unilaterally changes the funding formula for federal health transfers, short-changing provinces by a whopping $31 billion, opening the door to privatization and two-tier health care.    
“The Conservatives ran an entire election campaign without saying a word to Canadians about their plans to cut OAS or health transfers,” Mulcair said. “Clearly Mr. Harper is not a man of his word.”
As recently as last June, Mr. Harper solemnly stated in the House of Commons “We will not cut pensions. We will not cut transfers to the provinces for major programs such as health care.”
Mulcair said New Democrats would oppose the Conservative budget unless it was amended to focus on the priorities of Canadians. New Democrats are calling on the Conservatives to increase targeted incentives to create good jobs, protect retirement security and provide the stable funding necessary to allow provinces to hire more doctors and nurses.
“This budget attacks the very institutions that make Canada what it is,” Mulcair said. “Conservatives want to balance the books on the backs of seniors who can’t retire with dignity, and families without a family doctor. New Democrats will hold them accountable for that.”

Conservative budget fails BC families

Budget ignores the needs of British Columbians

March 30, 2012

OTTAWA – Yesterday’s budget included no help for families and shows how Conservatives continue to take British Columbians for granted, according to NDP leader Thomas Mulcair.
Cuts announced for the Old Age Security program and healthcare funding were confirmed in the budget plan tabled today by the Minister of Finance.
“Stephen Harper promised to protect healthcare funding – and didn’t,” said Mulcair. “And he didn’t tell Canadians about his plan to cut Old Age Security until after the last election. Mr. Harper prefers short-changing provinces and balancing the budget on their backs. It’s unacceptable.”
The budget also cut millions from Western Economic Diversification Canada, and provides no funding for transit, housing or immigrant settlement services.
“This budget largely ignores the needs of British Columbians,” said Mulcair. “Conservatives have billions to build prisons, buy fighter jets, and offer gifts to their friends in large corporations but nothing to address the affordable housing crisis in BC; the need for investment in public transit; or the need for economic diversification.”
“The NDP will stand up for British Columbians. New Democrats will never take BC for granted,” said Mulcair.

Conservative mismanagement destroyed Rights & Democracy

Laverdière criticizes Minister Baird’s change of tune

April 5, 2012

OTTAWA - During Question Period Wednesday, NDP Foreign Affairs Critic Hélène Laverdière (Laurier–Ste-Marie) condemned the government’s actions towards the non-partisan Montreal organization Rights & Democracy. Minister John Baird announced on April 2 that the government will close the arms-length organization that was created by unanimous Act of Parliament in 1988.
“Canada is losing its place and its reputation in the area of democracy promotion,” said Laverdière. "The closure of Rights & Democracy is another black eye for Canada.”
In December 2011, Minister Baird told the Foreign Affairs Committee that the Harper government had cancelled plans to establish a democracy promotion institute, as promised in the 2008 Speech from the Throne, and that Rights & Democracy could “play a greater role than it has in the past.” Yet a few short months later, he pulled the plug on Rights & Democracy, leaving Canada with no democracy promotion agency.
“Minister Baird says the functions of Rights & Democracy—an arms-length organization—will be pulled into DFAIT. Yet this is a department that is increasingly politicized by this government,” said Laverdière, who also noted that DFAIT does not have the resources to take on these added responsibilities. “The Conservatives appointed their friends to the Board of Rights & Democracy, who then attacked the integrity of its president and staff.”
Laverdière argued that it was Conservative mismanagement that ruined this once-respected organization. Said Laverdière, “Minister Baird speaks of a ‘clean slate’- but everything about this story is dirty.”

Part 3: My first night in Toronto and the beginning of the NDP convention the next morning!

Part 3: My first night in Toronto and the beginning of the NDP convention the next morning!

Posted by Alex ⋅ April 7, 2012

This is a continuation of where I left off.
And now to continue the adventure:
I returned to my suite at the Sheraton, which was where the entire NDP stayed, to an empty room after staying out until after midnight in Toronto that first night – it wasn’t because I was partying in Paul Dewar’s hospitality suite the whole time. No, no, nothing could be that simple on my very first trip as a proper 27 year old adult in a city I’d never been to before. You see, rifling through my suitcase to prep for the gathering at Paul Dewar’s suite, I realized that I had forgotten my makeup. All of it. On the other coast of Canada. Whilst that may not seem like a big deal, when you are very aware of the fact that every news station in Canada is going to be at a convention you are participating in, you want to look your best. Hell, even the men wear makeup! So, I mingled for a few hours and met with many lovely people, including Paul Dewar, who remembered me very well from Vancouver (which flattered me – I am still young, after all, and social democrat politicians are my heroes), the adventure took me to several drug stores until I finally got some cheap makeup just before midnight. All together, I had to spend about $100 on the cab fare, the makeup (why didn’t anyone tell me Toronto was so expensive?!) and the two key-chains I bought to cheer myself up for having to spend that much on makeup exactly one day after I’d splashed out a fair bit of cash on some designer makeup. In my world, designer makeup is purchased for weddings, funerals, or in this case, a political convention.
I’m a fitful sleeper and I fully regarded the next day to be one of the most nerve-wracking days of my life, but I somehow managed to fall asleep in a skirt, panty hose, high heels, and a sweater above the comforter in my hotel room. Passed right out and slept until early the next day, when the startling ring of the hotel’s wake-up call I’d ordered the night before awoke me from what was quite possibly the best sleep I’d had in months. Considering I had just returned home to BC after staying on a cramped sailboat in Florida not that long before I left for Toronto, I was practically in heaven. And considering my pre-convention nerves, when I realized exactly where I was, I didn’t feel like I was in hell. In fact, I was so excited to begin the adventure.
David Murray and I headed to the Metro Toronto Convention Centre to crowds of people with various signs supporting their chosen leadership candidates. We gathered our delegate identification placard as well as press passes, and headed over to the Dewar suite. It was there where I spotted my roommate for the first time! She had flown in early on a red-eye like the amazing wonder woman that she is and was already diligently at work as a devoted member of the Dewar Team. I was immediately at ease around her, as she wasn’t all that much older than me, exuded both confidence, a down-to-earth persona, as well as a certain brand of coolness that would have made me gravitate toward her even if we had met under different circumstances. Needless to say, she was an amazing roommate for the rest of the trip, taught me so much, and best of all, was a blast to get to know outside of the political sphere!
Dewar gave us a pep talk beforehand to tell us that we needed to go around the convention centre and try to bring people onto our team, as all candidates instruct their campaigners to do. Except we all knew that it was of utmost importance, as Paul’s campaign was completely grassroots and not funded by big unions like some of the other candidates who shall remain nameless.
Dewar, as always, was a class act.
This was the scene before the candidates and their teams entered the  convention part. And that’s where I’ll leave this post off for now! The more season political veterans may chuckle at my Toronto series thus far, but I know for a fact that  all the under 30 year olds in attendance know how I felt.

Part 2: And so the NDP Convention in Toronto begins!

Posted by Alex ⋅ April 6, 2012 ⋅ 1 Comment

Filed Under  NDP, Jack Layton, Canadian Politics, Politics, Canada, Toronto, citizen journalism, Social Causes, hope

These aren’t exactly in order as this WordPress editor has proven to be far more difficult to figure out that I had anticipated, but here are a few pictures from the night before the convention began and the day of. There are only a few, but many more to come.

And he winked at me earlier on. He’s a lovely man.

A look at my Toronto Federal NDP Convention Adventure series.

Part 1: A snippet of things to come: A look at my Toronto Federal NDP Convention Adventure series.

Posted by Alex ⋅ April 6, 2012 ⋅ Leave a Comment

Filed Under  NDP, NDP Leadership race 2012, Jack Layton, Canadian Politics, Politics, Canada, Toronto, citizen journalism, Social Causes, hope, Vancouver, Thomas Mulcair

The CN Tower!

I was chosen to go to the NDP Leadership Convention in Toronto, Ontario, from March 22 – 25 as a delegate, a member of the media (thanks, blog, articles, and pen and notebook), and as a campaigner and member of the BC Dewar Team.
Leading up to the NDP Leadership Convention in Toronto, I was more than a tad nervous.  At 27, the trip to Toronto was my first professional trip without close friends or family with me, and I was to be staying in a hotel with a lady I’d only ever met very briefly at a mixer for Paul Dewar months before after the BC NDP convention in Vancouver. She seemed very nice, but I still didn’t know what to expect from not just her, but from everyone. I am no stranger to the political game and have been involved for quite some time, but  I always figured that the true inner workings of politics was cut-throat and terrifying, so I never really put too much creed in my previous experiences in politics, regardless of how lengthy my volunteer resume was. My roommate wasn’t scheduled to arrive until the day the convention started, so I had a hotel room all to myself the first night. This was as equally comforting to know as it was terrifying, because there was no one there to ask just what the hell would I be doing. Here I am, thrust into an atmosphere of the steely resolve of federal politicians and their somewhat ruthless teams and supporters, and I was a fish out of water – proverbial water on the opposite coast of the country as well!
But once the plane touched down and I got my bearings, I knew I was in for a great few days. All of my fears about the people were absolutely unfounded. Stay tuned for a wrap-up of the first night. I’ll be doing this in an incremental articles, because I am absolutely swamped right now – which is why it took  me so long to post this in the first place! I promise you won’t be disappointed.