Smoke and mirrors budget from the BC NDP

In a year for bold moves, the BC NDP fails to read the room. Budget 2024 doesn't meet the moment we are facing, nor does it provide British Columbians with the support they need.

British Columbians are facing unprecedented calamities - in healthcare, housing, and climate - and expected a bold visionary budget going into an election. Instead, this budget offers the illusion of action and affordability but fails to provide concrete solutions.

“This budget is disappointingly familiar, it lacks innovation and forward-thinking initiatives,” said Sonia Furstenau, Leader of the B.C. Green Party and MLA for Cowichan Valley. “This government has demonstrated it’s not interested in creating a livable world for our children. Instead, they are telling British Columbians to fend for themselves.

“BC could lead with a clean energy economy, but the BC NDP's fossil fuel reliance blocks our progress and potential. Climate breakdown is here - zombie fires are currently burning around the province and drought intensifies - yet this government is more invested in dirty LNG than they are in climate action.

“This budget is based on a fantasy - one where we can tie our province to increasing pollution from fossil fuels while spending less each year responding to climate emergencies. This doesn’t add up. The cost of fighting wildfires was $1 billion last year; missing from this budget is an acknowledgement of the costs of climate inaction, or a sense that the government understands the size and scale of the problems we are facing.

“The BC NDP demonstrates that they have no interest in addressing the growing inequality we are seeing right now in the province. This government continues to rely on one-time rebates to create the illusion of affordability, rather than making bold investments that will truly help people in British Columbia: investments such as public transit, public education, public housing, public and primary health care, and a clean energy economy.

“A budget is an expression of our values. This budget puts low-income British Columbians last, at a time when our elders are being forced to homelessness, people with disabilities are unable to meet their basic needs, and 100,000 households are spending more than 50% of their income on rent.

“This budget fails to explain the value that we can expect to see from these huge investments. How will this budget improve the well-being of British Columbians? This government increases their spending every year, while people across the province feel their quality of life going backwards.”