February 17, 2009
When you get to the fine print of the Campbell government's proposed 2009 budget, it's clear that important public services and front line staff will be under significant pressure over the next year, says the B.C. Government and Service Employees' Union.
"Nothing we heard today allayed our concerns. Fewer front line staff will face more work load pressures to provide important services to the public at a time when British Columbians will need to rely on those services even more to weather the economic downturn," says BCGEU president Darryl Walker.
On a ministry-by-ministry program review of proposed expenditures, Walker says funding cuts lie ahead in community development, environmental enforcement and stewardship, parks, labour and citizens services, finance, highways maintenance, commercial vehicle inspection and legal aid-just to name a few.
Other programs like child and family development, women's services, corrections, and forest management will receive status quo funding that when inflation is taken into account means net funding reductions.
Walker acknowledges that it will take time to work through ministry budget allocations to determine overall impacts on front line workers. Across the public service, overall full time equivalent jobs remain relatively unchanged, though some ministries face sizeable reductions in front-line positions.
Given the small projected deficit, Walker says that Victoria had more room to invest in capital projects and measures that would have built B.C.'s social infrastructure.
"I'm discouraged by the Campbell government's failure to make significant new investments in child care and home support to help meet the urgent needs of B.C. families. The tiny new subsidy for child care does nothing to address the child care crisis in B.C. especially high parent fees and long wait lists," he says.
Walker says he's disappointed that the government didn't talk with front-line staff when reviewing discretionary spending. "Line staff are all too aware of wasteful spending especially the use of outside contractors-which even the Campbell government admits are too costly to rely on.
"If Victoria had reached out to us last fall when the expenditure review was conducted, we could have identified even more resources to reallocate, to protect public services," he says.
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Media please contact Stephen Howard, BCGEU communications 604-992-0105
