B.C. premier defends budget cuts

B.C Premier Gordon Campbell is defending the decisions in his government's latest budget to cut expenditures such as funding for dental care and birth control for the disabled and those on welfare.

Every decision to cut spending is thought through and made for the long-term, Campbell said Friday. But critics call the cuts irresponsible attacks on the most vulnerable. 

'We continue to put low-income people on the top of the list.' —B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell

The cuts will mean people's health will suffer and it will cost the government much more in the long run, according to Jane Dyson of the B.C. Coalition of People with Disabilities.

Dyson said she couldn't believe that the government had thought through the cuts, including its plan to axe support for contraceptives.

"I think it's irresponsible. People on very low incomes are already struggling to pay for the things they need and birth control is one of them."

But the premier said his ministers considered the cuts carefully.

"I am comfortable that ministers have consistently thought about how we can meet the needs of all of the people of British Columbia, regardless of their income."

Among the cuts to be phased in or trimmed are a $20 monthly bottled water supplement for people who are immune compromised, funeral costs for some sponsored immigrants, dental coverage and a $75 shelter allowance for the homeless.

The government pays for shelter and support separately, and because the homeless don't have a home, they were only given the minimum of $75.

The government now calls that allowance an "out-dated policy."

But even though they're homeless, they still have shelter costs, said Dyson.

"They're not doing well," Dyson said of the homeless that come through her office. "They're hungry and their struggling."

Contraception cuts cited

She called the cuts to birth control irresponsible, saying people earning low income are already struggling to pay for food and shelter.

New Democrat critic Shane Simpson said cutting more than $26 million from people who are the most vulnerable is outrageous.

"When you have a difficult economic time [and] you have greater pressures on people, the last thing you do is aim at the people who can least afford it."

Simpson said the cost of birth control is modest and the government should make it available to those who need it.

"Of course in the bigger picture of things, [there are] costs down the road of what happens with kids, births and children who may not have been wanted."

He said those later costs are untold.

Campbell said his government is taking a number of steps to improve the quality of service for people with low incomes and disabilities.

"There are a number of initiatives that are undertaken in the budget to make sure that we continue to put low-income people on the top of the list."