British Columbia Federation of Labour

The B.C. Federation of Labour is calling on Premier Gordon Campbell to address the important issues he failed to address during the election campaign. 

“Gordon Campbell campaigned exclusively on his supposed economic leadership but ignored the fact that British Columbians also want a province that is fair, caring and where our public assets are defended and protected,” says Jim Sinclair, President of the B.C. Federation of Labour. 

“Gordon Campbell needs to focus his attention on the people his government has ignored for the last eight years,” Sinclair added.  “It would be a mistake for the Campbell government to believe it has received a mandate to continue the freeze on the minimum wage, to continue to ignore the crisis in the forest industry or ignore the increasing income gap between the rich and everyone else.” 

Given the high number of job losses in BC since last summer, the Federation is also calling for a moratorium on public sector layoffs.  “Premier Campbell has stated he plans public service job cuts of at least 30 percent.  Now is not the time to be creating more uncertainty and reductions to important services on which the public relies,” says Sinclair.   

The Federation is also calling for a public process to address the plummeting number of eligible voters who choose to cast a ballot.  More than 200,000 fewer British Columbians voted yesterday than in the provincial election in 2005. 

“Yesterday’s voter turnout shows the roots of our democratic system are in trouble,” Sinclair added.  “We need to understand why so many people are not voting.  We need to see if there are barriers to participation or changes that could be introduced to our electoral system.  We need more people engaged in our political process, not fewer.” 

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For more information:  Evan Stewart, Director of Communication (604) 220-3095.