Thoughts on BC Politics and More

Okay, now that we appear to have COVID-19 under control, how will governments pay for their actions?   There is still a risk of a second wave, and more issues to come, but the bill for all of the government support is a sure thing.   British Columbia’s deficit?   We will hear a start of the telling of that tale later this month from the finance minister. My guess is that BC will be looking at a deficit somewhere between $7 and $15 billion.   To put that in perspective, that is possibly more than the c ombined total amount of income taxes and sales taxes collected in BC. There are three options (for paying that back):   First ... grow the economy at a faster rate than spending to shrink the deficit over a number of years. This is the best option but with all of the negative NDP policies, unfortunately it is not likely.   Second ... increase taxes. This would be very negative for quality of life and economic activity but it appear...

BC Finance Minister Carole James According to BC NDP Finance Minister Carole James, our province is operating debt-free for the first time in more than 40 years – this according to the Province’s Second Quarterly Report. Late last month she told all of us in the province …  “ When we formed government, we committed to do things differently. We promised British Columbians that we would take on the big challenges in our province from the housing crisis to child care ” “ …results show that our plan is working and that investing in people pays dividends. We’re tackling our province’s major challenges head on and, at the same time, eliminating BC’s operating debt for the first time in over 40 years .” When I asked about this, a spokesperson from the Finance Ministry indicated this is the first time Operating Debt has been eliminated since the 1975 / 76 budget year. So how does t he operating debt differ from governments accumulated debt you ask, as di...