Business and Forestry groups warn of damage NDP win will do to economy, industry

In the past few days, business and forestry groups have issued news releases and held news conferences to warn of how damaging an NDP win could be for British Columbia’s economy. Business leaders from all stripes are agreeing that Carole James and the NDP have put out a platform that will cost jobs, business and create havoc for BC’s economy at a time when we can ill afford it.

First, forestry leaders issued a news release on May 4th setting the record straight on forestry issues. The heads of Interfor, West Fraser Timber and Canfor came together to accuse the NDP of playing “politics with the lives of the thousands of people who depend on forestry.” They credit Gordon Campbell for being a champion of the industry, and say that the NDP’s plan to open up the Softwood Lumber Agreement shows a fundamental lack of understanding that would “jeopardize the economic stability of BC companies, their employees and the communities in which they live and work.”

Then on Tuesday, the Independent Contractors and Businesses Association (ICBA) and the Canadian Home Builders’ Association of British Columbia (CHBA BC) issued a joint news release rallying everyone touched by construction in BC to ensure voters get out to the polls to stop the possibility of an NDP win.

“The NDP platform shows their hostility to the interests of home builders and home buyers, by proposing significant re-regulation that would disadvantage independent construction companies and raise prices across the board,” says Tim Kasten, President of CHBA BC. “Our industry has worked collaboratively to build a strong industry training system in recent years, but the NDP is proposing to undermine these improvements in one fell swoop. We can’t stand by and let that happen.”

Also on Tuesday, the Coalition of BC Businesses held a news conference with 13 business associations representing more than 50,000 small- and medium-sized employers held a news conference where they warned that higher taxes and higher payroll costs featured in the NDP platform will put at least 110,000 British Columbians out of work and put at risk the viability of BC’s small- and medium-sized businesses.

“The sectors of the economy we represent are working hard to keep their businesses open and keep people on the job through this global economic downturn. That will become harder with the $450 million in extra payroll costs, courtesy of the NDP’s 25 per cent minimum wage hike. Job losses are estimated at 50,000 as a direct result of the minimum wage increase.”

It seems everyone agrees that the NDP platform promises ruin for British Columbia. We have to ensure that voter turnout is high on May 12th to stop the NDP.

Carole James and the NDP. Wrong party, wrong leader, wrong time.

New environics poll shows construction community can't be complacent, must get voters out

(May 5, 2009 – VANCOUVER) An Environics poll released yesterday shows the BC Liberals with an 11 per cent lead over the NDP, but that margin has the Independent Contractors and Businesses Association (ICBA) of BC and the Canadian Home Builders’ Association of British Columbia (CHBA BC) rallying everyone touched by construction in BC to ensure voters get out to the polls to stop the possibility of an NDP win.

“If the NDP win, they have promised to bring back policies that will destroy the competitiveness of BC’s construction sector, so even with this lead in today’s poll, we cannot be complacent,” says ICBA President Philip Hochstein. The poll was sponsored by ICBA, and results released today show that 47% of voters support the Liberals, with 36% of voters supporting the NDP, 12% for the Green Party, and 16% undecided.

“The NDP platform shows their hostility to the interests of home builders and home buyers, by proposing significant re-regulation that would disadvantage independent construction companies and raise prices across the board,” says Tim Kasten, President of CHBA BC. “Our industry has worked collaboratively to build a strong industry training system in recent years, but the NDP is proposing to undermine these improvements in one fell swoop. We can’t stand by and let that happen.”

With the NDP platform demonstrating a continued willingness to sacrifice economic logic and the greater good to the interests of big labour, Hochstein and Kasten are urging anyone involved in construction, home building or home buying to rally their friends, family and colleagues to ensure voter turnout is high on May 12th.

“The last time the NDP were in charge, they directly attacked independent, family-owned construction businesses with policies like union-only hiring, pension suspension legislation, and badly hurt the economy,” added Kasten. “Carole James and the NDP are the wrong party and wrong leader at the wrong time, and we have to be sure voters who agree with that get out to the polls.”

Judge dodges issue of worker rights in election spending decision

With the full verdict issued yesterday in the unions’ legal challenge to Bill 42 restricting spending by third parties in an election, the judge chose to sidestep the question of the democratic rights of workers who do not support their union’s political views.

Two educators: Gloria Laurence, a CUPE member, and Wendy Weis, a member of BCTF, were parties to the court case to try to prevent their unions from spending their mandatory dues to attack a government they support.

See the full text of ICBA’s news release on this issue at www.mydues.ca.

ICBA President Philip Hochstein, in an op-ed in today’s Vancouver Sun, is calling on government to stand up for worker rights on use of union dues.

“Unlike every other democratic country in the world, and despite a Supreme Court ruling that forced union membership is a violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, British Columbia clings to labour laws that force workers to join unions, and then force those workers to contribute to the unions' political agendas, no matter how extreme.”

It is ludicrous to say that every single union member in BC supports the NDP, yet they’re all forced to watch their unions spend millions creating ads that say Gordon Campbell wants to kill their grandmas. This has to stop.

NDP in need of acronym translator ASAP, current one MIA

The NDP is running scared after the Vote Smart BC campaign launched. So scared that they’ve created a website mocking our campaign. But they’ve missed the point, and can’t even focus their attack on the right group. One email sent to promote their fake website said Vote Smart BC was launched by the “Independent Contractors Business Association”, and another said it was from the “Independent Contractors and Builders Association. We’re pretty sure they know what the BCTF, HEU, and BCNU acronyms are for, but they just can’t quite seem to zone in on what ICBA is an acronym for.

The group behind Vote Smart BC is the “Independent Contractors and Businesses Association”, something the NDP and their supporters would know if they actually took the time to read our site, or even googled “ICBA BC.” Can we really turn our economy over to a group that can’t even look up the right name for something they oppose?

Of course we really should thank them for giving us more exposure!

And for the record, ICBA is a member-based organization that represents open shop construction companies in BC. If the NDP could find our website, they’d see that we offer a full suite of member services, including affinity programs, insurance and health plans, apprentice programs, education, networking and other benefits for family-owned construction businesses in BC. Our website, in case you want to let the NDPers behind the failed attack know, is http://www.icba.ca/.