As more critical reaction continues to come in on the provincial budget, Kootenay East MLA Bill Bennett has gone on the offensive, decrying critics of the government.

Bennett says Cranbrook District Teachers Association President Wendy Turner’s fears that not enough money will be available for a Mount Baker replacement school are groundless because the funds would come out of the Education Ministry’s capital budget and not the operating budget.

“The capital budget is still well funded to replace the schools in the province that need replacing the most. The fact the President of the Cranbrook District Teachers Association does not understand how a budget works undermines the credibility of her other comments.”

Bennett also went after East Kootenay District Labour Council President Jackie Spain for saying the government is not doing enough to create new jobs.

“Economists say (the) HST will create hundreds of thousands of jobs – not 100’s or 1000’s, but hundreds of thousands. The NDP was wrong about the Olympics and they are wrong about HST. Also, the huge investment in infrastructure this year is all about creating jobs.

And Bennett also took a poke at Wildsight Executive Director John Bergenske for not appreciating all the things the provincial government is doing for the environment.

“Mr. Bergenske failed to mention the $100 million clean energy fund announced in the budget. Does he not believe going to cleaner energy sources like bio fuels from waste forest wood is a good idea?”

Bennett said the theme of the budget is “steady as we go.” British Columbians should take pride in their low taxes and the government’s investment in infrastructure, which is creating thousands of new jobs. “This year hundreds of millions will be spent on everything from highway construction, to new schools, colleges and hospital expansions.”

Bennett said the provincial economy is already on the road to recovery because of the strong foundation laid down by the government. “You don’t create a strong resilient economy with one budget, but with a long-term commitment to smart policies and prudent management.”

Health spending will rise by more than half a billion this year and education spending is also up with per capita student funding now standing at $8,301, he said. Bennett said the spending increases belie the opposition’s claim that the government is not spending enough and that the increases are really “cuts.”

“The fact that we are not throwing bushels of money at everything is something most taxpayers support. We are increasing funding and focusing on innovation to help us find ways to deliver public services more effectively.”

Bennett downplayed concerns about an alleged multi-million cut to the Forest Ministry budget, saying it was due to restating the costs of last year’s fire season “It is not a $350 million reduction in operating expenditures. It is accounting. The actual reduction this year will be $32 million, which is about six per cent of the total budget.

But Columbia River-Revelstoke MLA Norm Macdonald took exception to Bennett’s interpretation of the Forest Ministry cuts saying the provincial budget reduced forest ministry funding by 23 per cent from what the Liberals promised in last year’s pre-election budget.

““The B.C. Liberals’ inaction over the past nine years has devastated the industry,” said Macdonald. “Their refusal to adequately look after forest health threatens forestry in the years to come.”

Macdonald said silviculture contractors have estimated that there will be 170 million fewer seedlings planted, as well as less work done to maintain the current forest stock in the upcoming year

 “Healthy forests are the key to a sustainable forest industry,” he said. “The people of British Columbia own the forests, but the B.C. Liberals refuse to make the necessary investments for the future.

East Kootenay BCNU Chair Pat Shuttleworth said she doesn’t buy the government’s contention that the latest health care funding increase is adequate to meet the needs of the people of B.C.

“What concerns me is they say they’ve put more money in health care, but the amount they’ve put in isn’t even going to cover off the cost of inflation and the cost of raises people have to have. So the end result will be more cuts.”

Shuttleworth said core services such as home care have been greatly reduced and the government never met its full commitment in providing more long-term care beds.

“The other thing that concerns me is the rush to pay off the Olympic debt which is just going to mean more cuts to services and the kind of services required to meet the social determinants of health.”