May 23, 2000
Kamloops Daily News



Maybe it's a clever political manoeuver.  In a recent
newsletter sent to all households in B.C., the provincial
Liberals suggest how they would reform government using
Ireland and New Zealand as models --  countries who have
shown "how we can save tax dollars by making the delivery of
government services more efficient and effective."

The idea of reducing taxes through efficient government
strikes special resonance in B.C., but that alone was not
the key to the phenomenal economic growth in Ireland.  One
key decision was to make all education free -- no tuition
fees for colleges and universities.  B.C. already has frozen
tuition fees, and has one of the lowest costs for education
in Canada, but it's not free.  Do the Liberals propose to
lower tuition fees further, or even make education free?

Another part of Ireland's success is the tripartite
agreement reached between government, business and labour. 
The resulting labour peace and coordinated industrial
strategy focusses the  Irish towards a common goal.  A
government that is openly hostile to labour, as in Ontario,
is a recipe for reduced productivity.  Will the Liberals
establish a good  relationship with unions, as well as
business?

Irish artists pay no tax.  The spin-off generated by
recording groups, for example,  has increased economic
activity in the recording industry.  Nelson Riis, MP, has
proposed a private member's bill that make income generated
by artists, up to $30,000, tax free.  The bill has received
all party support in Canada's parliament. 

Ireland's government is now considering a "basic income"
scheme in which all citizens receive an annual income,
regardless of whether they are working or not.  An
guaranteed universal annual income could eliminate welfare
payments and provide relief for many workers (usually women)
who leave  well paying jobs to care for children or elderly
parents.

If the Liberals plan to implement some the Irish solutions,
it could be a  clever political manoeuver to steal the
thunder of the NDP.  It has worked for the federal Liberals. 
They silenced right-wing critics by implementing the
policies of the Reform party. Canadians watched numbly as
the feds implemented drastic cuts to health, education and
welfare.  If Reform had done the same, there would have been
a revolt in the land.  One way to silence political
opposition is institute their policies.

Tax saving can have a disastrous effect when it is an
ingredient in a different political recipe.  Just look at
what happened in New Zealand.  They  swallowed the
right-wing concoction whole.  Taxes were cut to the rich on
the pretense of creating jobs.  Spending to education and
social services were cut, as well as subsidies to farmers . 
Public utilities were sold off.

The result was an increase in unemployment and despair in
the countries youth.  Teen prostitution increased 800 per
cent and 11,000 citizens left the country last year.  Urban
crime has become a major problem.  Capital took flight as
the rich took their tax cuts and invested their wealth in
safer economies elsewhere.  Power outages occur in the
private utilities that were unheard of in the public
utility.

New Zealanders tossed out the right-wing radical government
last December but repair to the damage caused will be a long
time coming, and they will probably never get their
utilities back.  The new prime minister, Helen Clark, has
some advice to others who want to try the New Zealand
experiment, "Don't try it.  It won't work"

Tax reductions may be useful as part of an overall strategy
of government.  But tax reductions alone, while popular,
only benefit the rich.  And the Irish solution involved
cooperation --  businesses  limited profits in return for a
10 per cent reduction in corporate taxes. This makes taxes
only slightly less than Canada's.  Personal taxes are
approximately the same.

Do the Liberals plan to make government more efficient by
reducing union jobs and weakening the labour code? If they
plan is to go to war with union workers, as Alberta and
Ontario have done, the result will be disastrous.  The road
to prosperity in B.C. isn't paved with reduced wages and
labour unrest.

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