Letter to the Editor of the Victoria Times Colonist, 17 February 2003
It is no longer enough to simply disagree with the Liberal agenda.
The 60 per cent of Victoria citizens who cast their ballots for NDP and Green candidates must use their majority mandate to shut this government down.
In the Legislature, the Liberals have near-absolute power. But democracy is about community empowerment, public participation, and local control. The decisions Campbell and his corporate backers are making have immediate, violent consequences in our community.
A child whose mother is kicked off social assistance and loses access to affordable housing and daycare will have more difficulty succeeding in life. A poor person, barred from attending college or university by exorbitant user fees, will have no option but to set up camp on our streets. Women and children who are vulnerable to abuse will have their lives endangered by the Liberal cuts.
Why? So large businesses and wealthy citizens get Campbell’s ‘dramatic tax cut.’
The NDP balanced three consecutive budgets in BC, and provided necessary social services and well-paying jobs. The Liberals have thrown the province back into the red to fund their tax cut, and jobs and services are being slashed. BC Hydro, BC Ferries, ICBC, and our highways may be sold to Campbell’s backers, with price increases for the rest of us.
The Liberals have no mandate to roll back the clock of social justice by half a century. Victorians did not vote for them. We have an obligation to educate ourselves, organize, and mobilize to stop this brutal, immoral, and inhumane agenda.
