As far as election planks go, the NDP’s call for a one-year extension to Employment Insurance benefits is a weak one. First, it’s a federal decision. Granted, the federal extension of five weeks does little to help laid-off forest workers, to make it a provincial election issue is a non-starter. Second, Premier Gordon Campbell was calling for a one-year extension to EI benefits for forest workers as well. NDP leader Carole James says Campbell didn’t lobby hard enough. It’s a weak argument.
James and the NDP are also calling for a return, of sorts, of appurtenance – a provision the Liberals ripped out of the Forest Act that tied the production of lumber to the community it is harvested near. With the prophecies of the niggling naysayers coming true regarding the dismal future of forest dependent communities without appurtenance, this is a strong election platform for the NDP. However, they prefer to avoid the word ‘appurtenance,’ using ‘social contract’ instead. Either way you look at it, tying production to communities has been an issue in the Interior for several years now. Removing appurtenance is good for forest companies, bad for forest towns. In a bit of irony, James hailed former Social Credit premier W.A.C. Bennett for realizing the value of a ‘social contract’ when it comes to dealing with the province’s resources. It was Bennett who wrote appurtenance into the Forest Act. It was Bennett who dictated that the areas from which resources are extracted should be the major beneficiary of that activity.
Granted, we now live in a more global world, but we also have to help our forest-dependent communities however we can.
The NDP are also campaigning on increasing the minimum wage. It’s another area where they can gain some points, except in the business community. The Liberals have steadfastly opposed raising the minimum wage, which has remained at $8 an hour since 2001 when they were elected. In addition, the Liberals instituted the infamous $6 an hour starter wage. In these hard economic times an argument could be made that increasing the minimum wage would help stimulate the economy by putting more money in the pockets of a good number of workers in the province.
However, the argument can then also be made that there would be fewer minimum-wage jobs available. Whether there would be a net gain or net loss is something economists can quibble over until the next economic crisis is upon us.
The other campaign plank that will get good play in the Interior is the huge amount of infrastructure money being poured into the Lower Mainland for the Olympics at, seemingly at least, the expense of the Interior.
And, with a deficit coming, the economy will certainly become the major issue of this election campaign. It’s ironic that former NDP Forest Minister David Zirnhelt got raked over the coals for an offhand comment when that government was backtracking on something, suggesting that because they are government, they can do what they want.
The Liberal government enacted legislation requiring it to balance the budget. But now, because it’s government, it can do what it wants and ignore that law.
It will be a heated campaign. That’s for sure.