Thoughts on BC Politics and More

The challenge with many of the programs on offer in this budget is the fine print! In last week’s report I provided some highlights on the recent 2019 budget and asked citizens if they liked what they saw in the budget so far.   I also made a commitment to share my own thoughts on this budget as an opposition Member of Parliament. Most critics have labelled this budget as an ‘ election year goodies ’ budget that targets certain voting demographics that the Liberals hope will translate to votes in the October election. While I do not disagree with that sentiment, I would submit that most every sitting government in an election year tables a budget that it believes will be politically popular. My concern with this budget is somewhat different. As you may have heard, household debt levels here in Canada are at an all-time high.   Household debt as a percentage of gross income in 2016 was 166%.   In January of this year (2019) it has now increased to 17...

The Liberal 2015 campaign promise was to deliver three years of “modest” $10 billion-dollar deficits with a return to a balanced budget in 2019.   This week the Liberals presented the 2019 budget that clearly reveals Justin Trudeau not only broke his “very cast in stone” promise to return to a balanced budget but also that he made no effort to do so. The 2019/20 deficit forecast is set at close to $19.8 billion; this is on top of the $60 billion in deficits added in the first three Liberal budgets. The current budget indicates there is no path to balance until at least the year 2040, by that point racking up an additional $271 Billion in new debt.   So where is all of the money going? Program spending is a significant part with an increase of $22.8 billion in spending over the next five years.   Here’s a brief summary of some of that from the 2019 Budget: A new job retraining program for eligible workers aged between 25-64 that will provide up...