The B.C. government released its 2016 budget and it is a balanced one.
In it are changes to MSP premiums that exempt children but couples who earn 45 thousand dollars a year or more will pay an extra 20 dollars a month.
MLA for Powell River-Sunshine Coast Nicolas Simons says LNG profits didn’t pan out for a prosperity fund so the premier found money for the fund at the expense of MSP premiums……
Simons says he was happy to see a promise for one hundred more social workers even if it’s only half what was needed.
Doug Routley, MLA for Nanaimo-North Cowichan says the people of BC were left out of their own budget….
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He says the pressing education issue of class size and composition were not even addressed in the budget.
CUPE says funding for K-12 education is scheduled to increase but only by very small amounts over the coming three years. In 2015/16 net funding will rise by just $28 million, because the province is cutting $24 million from “administration.”
The 46,000 member Hospital Employee’s Union says a growing crisis in seniors’ care had been largely ignored.
But the Association of Registered Nurses is applauding the government on several changes announced in the budget that, it says, will have a direct impact on the social determinants of health – including eliminating Medical Services Plan premiums for all children effective next January, expanding the supply of affordable housing and increasing income assistance rates for Persons with Disabilities.
The BC branch of the Canadian Federation of Students says it will be another year of missed opportunity to invest in post-secondary education and address growing problems with affordability.
