AW

As of April 1, British Columbia's Health Professions and Occupations Act (Bill 36), takes effect by replacing self-regulation with government-appointed boards, reducing regulatory colleges from 15 to six, and introducing stricter, centralized disciplinary processes. This means if doctors don’t agree with the government, their license could be stripped, they could be fined up to $500,000, and they can go to jail for up to 2 years. It also mandates vaccinations for professionals. BC is going to lose a lot of great doctors during a time when it already has a shortage.

I had a convo today (with a municipal councillor, no less) where BC’s 5th consecutive credit downgrade was brushed off as a nothing burger, just the opinion of financial firms. That misses the point, because this isn’t about who’s saying it. It’s about what it means. But it did get me thinking that we need to be clear about the actual impact for real people. In simple terms: lenders see our province as higher risk, so we pay more interest to borrow. And when interest costs go up, more of your tax dollars go to servicing debt… and less goes to the things people actually rely on: healthcare, schools, infrastructure, childcare, public safety, etc Every dollar spent on interest is a dollar not spent on you. That’s not politics…that’s called math. And my point to my colleague was simple: if you care about strong public services, and especially if you want to see more of them as I do, this should matter to you most.

Giving herself cover from Taxing the Rich by expanding failing neo-liberal means-tested programs. We can do better!

A fraction of the endless money flowing into the DTES ever reaches the people it's meant for. This neighbourhood doesn't just need a financial audit, it needs a moral one.