A budgeting lesson for Christy

         We have all heard the liberals state the importance of balancing the provincial budget. We have all heard that there is no room for spending in the current budget that is still not balanced, yet spending cuts cannot go on forever. So, I have created a little explanation for Christy on the basic elements of budget making taught in Planning 10 and that she can use to put the province on track to a financially prosperous future.

        There are two main elements to budgeting: income and expenditure. The income is defined by the amount of money that can be allocated in the budget and the expenditure is defined by the amount of money that is allocated in the budget or the amount of money spent. If the total expenditures exceed the total income the budget is not balanced. In such case, for the budget to be balanced at least one of two things must  happen: expenditures can be cut and income can be increased.

        Any government can be very good at cutting expenditures but few will increase their income. Here in BC we see that money is being cut from numerous services in an attempt to break even, but these services cannot take the cuts any longer. If the expenditures cannot be cut then income must be increased. Simple logic, yes? Apparently not to Christy. To increase income all the government need do is increase the corporate tax rate. Something they said they would do in their campaign if necessary. Well now it is.

        The issue, unfortunately, is not that simple. The issue is prioritization: something else that is vitally important in budget making.  High on the liberal's Priority list is to allocate the largest portion of the provincial income possible to corporations in the form of tax breaks. Thus it should come as no surprise that the province with the lowest corporate tax rate cannot afford to fund the education system to the national average. If the money not being taken from the corporations in the form of a tax break is re-allocated to the services the budget will not be any less balanced and the proper funding for the services will have been found. If the government were to demand that the corporations pay a tax rate compatible to that of the income they make this budget deficit would not be an issue.

There we go, Planning 10 level budgeting in a nutshell for Christy Clark and the Provincial Government.

A letter to the Premier

Christy Clark, Your Honor,

I am a grade ten student writing on behalf of my teachers. While ever creative and dedicated, years of cuts have been harsh on them.

 One of my teachers had a class of thirty four students. So many students that there were not enough chairs and desks for every kid in the class. There were pairs of people sharing chairs and workspace due to the excessively large class. This is Canada, not a third or second world country! There should be enough chairs to accommodate every student, should there not?

Once the material had been taught to the class as a whole (approximately fifty minutes must be spent doing this), our teacher circulated to aid us in our individual understanding. There is only time – in the remaining thirty minutes - for fifty three seconds per student in an eighty minute period.  In those thirty minutes, the teacher had to help the seven special needs students in the class which left no time to help the rest of the class.  There is no CEA in this classroom as the class next to us had more special needs students and therefore qualified for the CEA.  Simply put, in this environment students are not able to receive the support required for optimum learning and understanding and this cannot continue.

I would also like to comment on the state of the resources in one of my other classes. For our novel study in English class we read “To Kill a Mockingbird”. Due to its literary renown, this is the same book my parents read in high school. Unfortunately, it is the exact same set of books my parents used.  , The condition of these books is deplorable. Twelve years ago the condition of these books might not have warranted replacement but now the issue is non-negotiable. There is writing on the inside, some of the covers are falling off and mine had several pages missing yet they are not being replaced or updated due to a lack of funding.

In third world countries, when organizations intervene, the biggest focus is almost always on education as it has been shown to help lift people from poverty. We see in our society that many of the educated people tend to be better off. Obviously education raises the standard of living. Your campaign promise was to “put families first”. In properly funding education you do exactly that: raise the general standard of living which is almost synonymous with your promise. These may not be the established families of today but they will definitely be the families of tomorrow. Please, keep your promise to the families of British Columbia and put families first by supplying adequate funding for our public school system.

Often we hear that the province cannot afford to fix the woes of the education system. We are one of the richest provinces in the country yet we invest one of the least dollar amounts per student in our education. Ms. Clark, another one of your campaign promises last year specifically stated that, if necessary, the corporate tax rate would be increased.  We have the lowest corporate tax rate in the country. No business will leave our province if their tax rate is increased by one percent. Ms. Clark, for the students, for our teachers, for our families, it is now necessary to raise corporate tax. Please make good on your election promise.

Our hard working and dedicated teachers have always taught kids to identify and help end bullying in our schools. When we are young we learn that bullying is when a kid gets hurt at the hands of another and that it’s simply not nice. As we age we learn that it is an imbalance of power that is wielded to the harm of the other party involved. Every year kids are bullied and teachers stand up and support them. Every year entire schools come together decked out in pink in support of those who were bullied and those who still might be.  When you introduced Nova Scotia’s “Pink Shirt Day” as a pledge to end bullying in our schools it was a one day event. Now, it has grown and wearing a pink shirt has become a symbol that says “I support the parties affected and I will not let the harmful deeds go unrecognized”. When I look at my school I see a lot of bullied teachers with no one standing up for them. So today I wear a pink shirt to stand up for my teachers and to stand up against the endless cuts and illegalities perpetrated by this government.  If your pledge is valid you will look at all the teachers in this province and live up to your word that will end the bullying in our schools because that extends to our teachers as well.

British Columbia cannot afford for this to continue. This issue is negatively affecting the teachers who have endured this torment for too long. The students who deserve much more than they are getting and the families of this province whose future wellbeing rides on their education are patiently waiting. So, it must be dealt with now and the outcome must be favourable for all the aforementioned parties before this issue can be considered truly resolved. 

A prompt personal reply would be appreciated.

Sincerely,

Alexander Corbett

Grade ten student at Salmon Arm Secondary School; Salmon Arm, British Columbia