Debt keeps rising, so budget not balanced
No, no, no. The B.C. budget is not balanced.
The government says it, but the trickery should stop.
The budget is everything the government does with your money and others’ money.
It is made up of what it spends on operating, such as keeping the lights on and the maintenance of everything the government is involved in — the current account budget.
Then there is what the government builds — the roads and bridges, the hospitals and schools, the court houses — called the capital account budget.
Both together make up the budget.
The government says it is balancing the current account budget, with a small surplus.
All the capital account budget is borrowed, minus the little bit of operating surplus that is applied against it.
That’s why, in the government’s budget documents, we see:
The total debt of the province is $70,638 million in 2019-2020.
It goes in 2020-2021 to $76,392 million, then $82,063 million in 2021-2022, and $87,595 million in 2022-2023.
From $70,638 million to $87,595 million over the forecast period. About $17 billion more in borrowing, because all the revenue (except a tiny amount of surplus) will be spent on operating costs.
So rather than a surplus each year, there is a deficit.
We all know that for there to be a real surplus the debt would not rise each year — as we just saw in the budget documents.
Brian Peckford
Parksville
Fiscal restraintcaused a squeeze
Re: “Low surplus, lack of priorities hurt this budget,” editorial, Feb. 19.
Today’s editorial criticizes the NDP government for spending the large budget surplus ($2.8 billion in 2016/17) that it inherited from the former B.C. Liberal government.
However, that is precisely one of the reasons that the NDP were elected: while the B.C. Liberals were focused on fiscal restraint and racking up large budget surpluses, government services were being squeezed in a way that particularly hurt middle- and low-income people.
Compare that to the situation when the B.C. Liberals came to power in 2001. They inherited what at the time was the largest surplus in B.C. history from the NDP government ($1.5 billion which was certified by the auditor general), and immediately blew it all on massive tax cuts that primarily benefited high-income earners and large businesses.
By 2002, the Liberals were running the largest deficit in B.C. history, and were “forced” to make big cuts to government programs, disproportionately impacting lower-income residents.
Steven Murray
Victoria
Carbonated drinks can be sugar-free
I would like to counter the statements made that the new tax on carbonated sugary drinks is for future health benefits.
I could agree with it if the no-sugar diet carbonated drinks were not included in the tax. As a diabetic I drink diet carbonated drinks that contain no sugar.
Natural juice drinks are not a choice as they contain too much natural sugar. A healthy caffeine-free diet Pepsi is my drink of choice.
Tax my sugar-free carbonated drink — if you must, but do not hide behind the pretence of future health benefits.
The government is doing it for the tax money it will receive. It still can change the new tax to not include diet carbonated drinks that contain no sugar — something I am sure many would appreciate.
Dennis Sorensen
Brentwood Bay
New income tax just misses Horgan
B.C. has a new income tax applicable to anyone earning $220,000 per year and more.
Premier John Horgan earns $210,945.96 per year. Setting the new amount at $210,000 would increase the tax rate for Horgan.
By setting the new rate at $220,000, Horgan’s earnings were eliminated from it.
Joe Sawchuk
Duncan
Blockades fine if they don’t blockade me
Re: “Three arrested after protesters gather outside Horgan’s home,” Feb. 19.
Premier John Horgan states that protesters crossed the line by appearing at his home. Now the premier knows first-hand what thousands of people across Canada are living with daily.
Thousands of Canadians are being prevented from going to work, to support their families and to make Canada prosper, because the rail lines are blocked.
How does the premier now feel about blockades?
Roger Cyr
Victoria
The hypocrisy of our political leaders
Finally! Relief is at hand!
Police in B.C. are doing something about protesters.
They arrested three protesters at our premier’s house. The protesters were arrested for causing mischief.
But as for causing problems for ordinary citizens by blockading railways, highways and ferries, thereby delaying the travels of thousands of people and costing those people untold amounts of money and time?
That’s still OK.
Eco-radicals just gotta learn to abide by the rules.
Jim Farrell
Oak Bay
Simple measures ignored in protests
Many protesters in our city and around our country have as a goal to lower our carbon output.
There are measures that would contribute to this goal immediately, for example:
Lowering the speed limit.
Limiting engine size to two litres, for example.
Raising the price of gas.
Why are the protesters ignoring these simple measures?
If they chanted their support of these ideas I might join them.
But more remote measures that have no immediate impact on their lives are being offered. Why?
David Clarke
Sidney
They’re trying to get out of poverty
I can understand the young following the protesters because they follow their hearts and not their heads, but for the mature protesters to follow these people is embarrassing.
You have 20 elected chiefs and communities relying on good jobs to help raise them out of poverty, and it’s almost racist to deny thousands of Canadians a chance to improve life and that of there family.
Dennis Bourne
Victoria
B.C. should lead in climate policy
Our government’s actions against the Wet’suwet’en people are especially egregious in the context of the global climate emergency.
B.C. is using tax dollars to subsidize climate-destroying corporations and using our police force to violate Indigenous rights in the name of corporate profits.
This is not necessary — take subsidies from fossil fuel corporations and apply them to green energy, sustainable agriculture, and social services to create jobs that won’t destroy our climate and the economy, which are inseparable.
The logic behind subsidizing a dying industry subject to a volatile global market is fatally flawed. The urgency of the climate crisis makes the use of the RCMP to support the fossil fuel industry against Indigenous land defenders even more absurd.
It is important to note that putting more natural gas on the global market will not displace other more greenhouse gas-intensive forms of energy.
That would be convenient, but most countries will use any and all sources of energy in the absence of strong international emissions agreements. B.C. should account for its own emissions and be a world leader again in climate policy.
Our government is using our tax dollars to sell out our future and deploying the RCMP to forcefully trample Indigenous rights. Protests and disruptions will continue until the government stops prioritizing corporate interests over Indigenous rights and the desperate need to deal with the climate crisis.
I support the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs in asserting their rights through traditional leadership. Reconciliation cannot proceed while colonization is ongoing.
David Gill
Victoria
Send us your letters
• Email: [email protected]
• Mail: Letters to the editor, Times Colonist, 2621 Douglas St., Victoria, B.C. V8T 4M2.
Letters should be no longer than 250 words and may be edited for length, legality or clarity. Include your full name, address and telephone number.
