Why do Young British Columbians Veer Left?

Today we feature a quest opinion piece from Jesse Donovan. 

Jesse Donovan is a Political Science student at the University of Toronto. He was born and raised in North and West Vancouver. Jesse has served in the Canadian Armed Forces since 2010, and he is currently, he works as a Summer Intern for the BC Conservative Party. 

Jesse is also the President and Founder of the BC Conservative Youth Association, a grassroots organization for young conservatives in BC.

In 2010, after nearly a decade of BC Liberal rule, the youth unemployment rate in British Columbia had reached a staggering 13.8 percent. This was the highest it had been in the past seven years.

Under the BC Liberal Government, young British Columbians have faced many obstacles to their economic success. High unemployment, slow wage growth, and a disproportionate amount of part-time labour are some of the severe threats to the financial well-being of young British Columbians. 

Under the BC Liberal government, young British Columbians have not only had to deal with high unemployment, but also incredibly slow wage growth. Between 2007 and 2010, the weekly wages of BC Youth have grown around 20 times slower than the weekly wages of British Columbians aged 25-54.

British Columbia is the anomaly among the successful Western Provinces. Young Canadians from Alberta and Saskatchewan have fared relatively well under their Conservative governments. While all Western Provinces experienced rising youth unemployment from 2008 to 2010, BC’s was by far the highest. Between 2008 and 2010, British Columbia’s youth unemployment rate increased by 5.8%. This is over twice as much as Manitoba’s increase and almost three times more than Saskatchewan in the same period.

Many young British Columbians are concerned and angry about their seemingly bleak economic future. They are right to be concerned and their anger is justified. There is, however, a worrying trend in how young people are directing these emotions.

Twiddle Dee, and Twiddle Dumb. That’s what we have with the BC Liberal Party, and the BC New Democrats

Message to BC Liberals and BC New Democrats

Is this, or isn’t it, the height of hypocrisy … the pot calling the kettle black?   

A BC Government Caucus News release today, quoted Kamloops North Thompson MLA, and Environment Minister, Terry Lake as saying:

“Raising taxes on business will only kill jobs in BC.  The NDP still don’t seem to understand that higher taxes will hurt BC’s competitiveness and our economy. They have conveniently skipped over the fact that the carbon tax has returned $500 million more to taxpayers than it has raised in revenue.”

This in response to an interview on CKNW, with NDP environment critic Rob Fleming, who apparently stated that BC’s government, should “fix” the carbon tax, by using it to fund transportation projects.

The BC Liberal media release went on to say that,
To pay for these projects he (Rob Fleming) re-iterated the NDP’s proposed plan to raise business taxes to make the carbon tax “revenue positive” to government.

Well there is another side to this story, as BC Conservative Party Leader John Cummins has clearly pointed out:
“Despite all the new taxes and rate hikes, the provincial government is still short of cash because they have a spending problem. How can the government ask British Columbians to pay more when their money is being thrown away?”

And yet asking for more is exactly what this government has been doing!  A study by the Fraser Institute, in 2011, showed that the average family in British Columbia makes less, and pays more taxes, than in any province west of Quebec.

John Cummins … thoughts on Jobs … and ‘common sense’

Today I thought before I posted a media release from John Cummins and the BC Conservatives, I would take an edited (only to shorten) quote from John Cummins “About Me” web page

Throughout my career I have always stood for common sense. Too often political decisions are driven by special interest groups or political correctness.  Join me in building a … new government based on common sense … do politics differently … listen to the people … build a new choice for British Columbia. Help us return common sense to the Legislature.

Given the government we have been getting under Christy Clark and the BC Liberals, BC Conservative Leader John Cummins is right when he says … “the cries for common sense change from everyday B.C. families will only grow louder”