FORSETH – Only most ardent NDPers can say budget benefits everyone
(BC Govt)
OVER THE PAST quarter century, according to Statista, parents in British Columbia have given birth to an average of 42,000 children.
If only those children knew what kind of government debt they would be inheriting, never mind their own personal debt for things like a home or vehicle. If they did, they might just try to head right back into their mother womb and say forget it.
Especially given what came out in BC Budget 2024 this week.
According to the NDP government’s provincial debt summary (Table 1.9 – page 54) the updated provincial debt for 2023/24 is expected to be just under 104 billion dollars – however, by year 2026/27 the provincial government is estimating that debt will increase to one hundred and sixty four billion, nine hundred and seventy three million — an increase of SIXTY THREE percent.“What I saw today is a budget that is quite frankly bankrupting the people of the future” ~~ Conservative Party of BC leader John Rustad.
British Columbians are desperate for health facilities and healthcare professionals … schools and educators … services for seniors … better transportation and infrastructure … and more. Instead, we will be seeing more and more taxpayer resources going to simply pay the interest on the debt – from 3.2 cents per dollar today, to 5.4 cents per dollar by 2026/27.
AND REMEMBER … that’s just to pay the INTEREST on the debt.
Most/ all of you reading this know what happens when all we pay is the just the interest on a credit card; the total debt just keeps on climbing — no wonder then that the Vancouver Sun’s Vaughn Palmer was quoted saying:
“BC Budget 2024 bleeds red ink, with no cure in sight” ~~ Vaughn Palmer
British Columbians (yes, I will proudly call myself that, but that’s another story) need a government that will take a look at every way it is spending OUR money and determine if that is providing the best value.
It needs to decide if a handful of unions should be getting sweetheart contracts with the government to build our infrastructure – while inflating the cost of every project.
It should decide if throwing money at a variety of segments in society – in an effort to buy votes – is the best value for the people of BC.
And it needs to decide if a 35.5% increase in ‘per person spending’ since 2016/17 — the highest by far in all of Canada — has made our lives any better.
And WE should be concerned about this revelation from Rob Shaw who last Fall (Oct 13,t2023) revealed something that was costing us ever increasing billions; the staggering increase in public sector/ civil service employees hirings:
“By next year’s election, the number of full-time equivalent government staff will have risen more than 31 per cent since the NDP took power in 2017” ~~ Rob Shaw
What has that got us? Are services any better? Are wait times to see doctors getting any better? Are seniors getting better care? Are we seeing a decrease in deaths from a poisoned drug supply?
The answer to that, I believe, is a resounding NO!
The government can mess around with Debt to GDP figures all it wants. The bottom line is this …
Only the most ardent NDP supporters will be able to say this budget, delivered yesterday by NDP Finance Minister Katrine Conroy, is one that truly benefits all British Columbians.
In Kamloops, I’m Alan Forseth.
Alan Forseth is a Kamloops resident. For 40 years he has been active, in a number of capacities, in local, provincial and federal politics, including running as a candidate for the BC Reform Party in the 1996 provincial election. He was involved in the BC Liberal leadership campaign and is now a member of the BC Conservative Party.
ArmchairMayor.ca 
We for sure need to keep bureaucracy in check and for sure accountability needs to be demanded from public sector unions however government debt is the lifeblood of our economy. Where do you think more and better healthcare facilities and staff come from? Or better roads and other infrastructure come from? No conservative government in the recent era has ever managed to deliver any sustained surplus.
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Well Al, I’m not the most ardent NDP supporter but I can say with all honesty I prefer this budget to any of the Campbell/Clark budgets which you raved about in the past. Maybe the reason that the civil service has risen so much is because the past Campbell/Clark gov’ts, which you were a “ardent” supporter, member and contributor to spent 17 years gutting. Maybe the reasons we don’t have enough Drs is because these gov’t didn’t train enough during their 17 years and not the NDP’s fault for not training enough in the last 5plus yrs since they’ve been in office. Remind me, how long does it take to train a Dr? Teachers, did I read that right, you of all people are complaining about not having enough teachers, as though you and your ilk care about Teachers. Where was this concern when your party was increasing class sizes and not building schools but rather supplying more portables. Where were you when your party was reducing funding, cutting programs and teachers bargained benefits? How many tens of millions of tax payer dollars did your party spend in court battles and lose in every step of the way to the Supreme Court against the teachers?
I’m sorry, who is John Rustad, can someone help me out? Oh, and Vaughn Palmer wrote a critical sentence, oh no stop the presses, a political columnist wrote a less than glowing column on a throne speech, I’m sure he never did that when your party was in power. Yes, the increase in deaths due to drug poisonings around the world are all linked to this provincial NDP. Should we also blame them for global warming, oh ya, I forgot that’s just a conspiracy perpetrated by the left wing.
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You claim my support for the former Christy Clark / Gordon Campbell BC Liberals is to blame for Thursday outrageous and reckless spending budget.
Let me say this … you are wrong.
I can tell you that in the past I have been a member of the BC NDP (early mid-70s under Dave Barrett) … the BC Reform Party initially under the leadership of Jack Weisgerber … followed by a LONG period where I believed the political process in BC was hopeless.
Then came the BC Conservative Party, which has certainly had it’s ups and downs but still, to me, offers the best hope for a better BC.
AS FOR the BC Liberals. During the last BC Liberal leadership campaign I did became a member — that was to allow me to support and work towards having Skeena MLA Ellis Ross elected. He was the one individual that I believed could bring about a common sense government that would have support in both rural and urban BC. Backroom maneuverings, that ensured the election of Kevin Falcon, guaranteed a split was going to happen as those with conservative leaning would be unable to support Falcon.
Sadly in my nearly 70 years of life on this earth, I have seen massive overspending by centre left governments, that always end up with them getting turfed. It then becomes the challenge of centre right governments, that replace them, to straighten out the financial mess.
NO party and NO government , no matter where they lay on the political spectrum, is going to be perfect.
I believe, however, that history will show the massive and out of control spending by David Eby’s NDP government, will have them looked upon as one of the worst governments this province has had – especially when our children and grand-children are left to pick up the pieces
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