Both main parties in this election campaign are accusing the other of being big spenders. The BC Liberals claim the BC NDP is making election promises that are too expensive and argue the 1990s (the last time the NDP was in government) was a time of particularly high spending. The BC NDP points out that [...]
Entries Tagged as 'budget'
Reality check on government spending: is the overspending fear mongering justified
May 9th, 2013 · Iglika Ivanova · 2 Comments · Economy, Provincial budget & finance
Tags: budget·campaign·deficit·government priorities·government spending·Liberals·NDP·platform·recession·role of government·unemployment
Assessing BC’s Fiscal Health: Can BC afford more deficits?
April 17th, 2013 · Seth Klein · Comments Off · Economy, Provincial budget & finance, Taxes
By Seth Klein and Iglika Ivanova [Note: this piece has also appeared in the Tyee here.] OK, time for a reality check on BC’s deficits. Simply put, while arguments about deficits and “who is the better fiscal manager” may make for entertaining politics, there is no compelling economic reason why BC cannot run a few [...]
Social Housing Reality Check: Government’s own numbers reveal modest investment in new social housing
March 31st, 2013 · Seth Klein · Comments Off · Housing & homelessness, Poverty, inequality & welfare
[This post has also appeared on the Tyee here.] One of the more contentious issues regarding the BC government’s record concerns the issue of social housing. To hear Minister Rich Coleman tell it, BC’s record has been above and beyond. For the last few years, barely a week has gone by without a government news [...]
Tags: budget·homelessness·housing
The Shifting Terrain of Taxes in BC: Budget signals new openness to tax increases
March 3rd, 2013 · Seth Klein · Comments Off · Provincial budget & finance, Taxes
[The following piece was also published on The Tyee here.] These are certainly interesting times. For all the faults in last week’s BC Budget (and there were many), it’s worth noting that the conversation about taxes has fundamentally shifted, and in a welcome direction. After vigorously insisting for years that tax increases would be ruinous [...]
BC throne speech repackages old announcements, lacks courage and vision
February 12th, 2013 · Iglika Ivanova · Comments Off · Climate change, Economy, Poverty, inequality & welfare, Provincial budget & finance, Taxes
Today’s Speech from the Throne reads more like a list of what this government sees as its main achievements than a true framework for going forward. New initiatives are few and far between, sandwiched between pages of self-congratulatory recap of the natural gas strategy, the jobs plan and highlights from the last budget. All in [...]
BC’s Other Deficits
November 28th, 2012 · Marc Lee · Comments Off · Economy, Provincial budget & finance
The release of the BC Budget Second Quarterly report notes an increase in the projected budget deficit to $1.5 billion, up from $1.1 billion when the beans were first counted back in September. The growing deficit, amid a soft economy, is bound to get plenty of media attention. But this blog post is not about [...]
BC is giving away its natural gas
November 21st, 2012 · Marc Lee · 6 Comments · Economy, Energy, Environment, resources & sustainability, Taxes
In September, when the BC government tabled its First Quarterly Report on the BC Budget the big story was on plummeting natural gas royalties, which means cuts to public services in order to keep the budget balance in check. As the update states on page 6: The deterioration in natural gas royalty revenue is the main [...]
Tags: budget·natural gas
Dix right to scrap balanced budget legislation
September 28th, 2012 · Seth Klein · Comments Off · Economy, Provincial budget & finance
Yesterday, Opposition leader Adrian Dix indicated that, if he wins government, he would scrap BC’s balanced budget legislation (BBL). His announcement has drawn some fire from predictable sources. Some media reports indicate that Dix appeared uncomfortable sharing this news. He shouldn’t have. Scrapping BBL is good public policy. CCPA researchers have long been critics of [...]
Tags: budget
Kevin Falcon’s narrow take on tax options
January 28th, 2012 · Seth Klein · 5 Comments · Economy, Provincial budget & finance, Taxes
BC Finance Minister Kevin Falcon says he is keen to take a fresh look at the BC tax system. He is welcoming new ideas, and he even wants your opinion. He has struck an “expert” panel to review BC’s tax regime, and in early January the government launched an online tool that the public can [...]
Making health care funding sustainable
January 13th, 2012 · Seth Klein · Comments Off · Health care
The BC Legislature’s Select Standing Committee on Health is currently investigating the sustainability of BC’s health care system (with a focus on demographic / aging trends), and asked for written submissions of peer-reviewed studies on the subject. Here’s what I just submitted: Submission to the BC Legislature’s Select Standing Committee on Health From: Seth Klein, [...]
Tags: budget·health care costs
