Thoughts on BC Politics and More

Taking further steps, in preparation for next years General Election, the Conservative Party of BC has developed a newly agreed upon policy regarding home ownership.  The new policy would increase the threshold to qualify for Property Transfer Tax exemption for first time home buyers, and would be based on Fair Market Value in each of the regions of the province. Speaking by phone last night from Fort St. John, party leader Trevor Bolin stated, “Right now if you are a first-time home buyer in the province, have never owned a home, and have lived in BC for two years, you are waived from the tax providing you spend under $500,000! Have you seen what some of those options are, for under $500,000, in our major markets?” Doing a bit of research, it’s not hard to see why a chance is desperately needed.   For example, last May the average price of a new single detached home in Nanaimo was $689,380 -- l ate last year in Kamloops, a single-family...

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...