Image Credit: Flickr / Government of BC

By Kamloops-North Thompson MLA Peter Milobar

Sound Off

SOUND OFF: The devil’s in the lack of details when it comes to NDP spending

Mar 25, 2021 | 11:22 AM

WHEN WE TALK ABOUT BORING legislative practices — well, who are we kidding, we don’t — you can’t get any more snooze-worthy than a supply bill. Normally, the government introduces a new budget in February and a supply bill is quickly passed to allow it to begin spending some of the money while MLAs analyze and debate the budget for the next few months. Seems harmless, right?

It usually is — but not in 2021. The NDP has delayed this year’s budget until the end of April because of John Horgan’s decision to call a snap election last fall. So now the NDP are using a supply bill to ask for a whopping $13 billion to spend with zero accountability. Not surprisingly, our BC Liberal caucus has a few concerns about that.

You or I could never walk into a bank asking for a humongous loan without providing a plan for how we would spend it and proof that we would handle the loan responsibly. How on earth can the NDP expect MLAs to approve handing over this massive amount of money when we haven’t seen a budget, a recent quarterly report, or any indication of the province’s current financial position? It’s absurd.

I also don’t have much confidence in the NDP’s ability to manage those funds, should they be approved. Let’s look at this government’s track record.

They introduced a BC Recovery Grant to help British Columbians and promised it would be in people’s bank accounts by Christmas — but that didn’t happen.

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They introduced a Small and Medium-Sized Business Recovery Grant to help businesses but one year later, only a small fraction of the $300 million in funds has gone out.

They told British Columbians that ICBC rebates would be coming soon, but not only are they delayed — they’re going to the highest-risk drivers of the flashiest cars.

John Horgan and the NDP have proven time and time again that they are incapable of managing money. So why would we trust them with another $13 billion before we’ve seen their budget?

The last time this government spent public funds without a proper budget was in the 1990s — the notorious Fudge-It Budget era. We saw the NDP premier of the day claim the budget was balanced before the election, and then surprise British Columbians with the fact that it wasn’t — after the votes were counted, of course. This scandal was the reason the ensuing BC Liberal government had to bring in protections in the first place — measures that the current NDP government is currently trying to undo.

This is a government that repeatedly makes claims about its openness and transparency, yet is brazenly trying to obtain these funds without any details on how they will be spent. NDP MLAs have been standing up in the people’s House to assure us that nothing untoward is happening; that the request they are making is perfectly normal and not unusual at all. It’s simply inaccurate — and that is why you should care deeply about a seemingly boring supply bill.

That said, our Official Opposition has no desire to see government shut down because it couldn’t get its supply bill passed. That’s why we proposed a common-sense solution — an amendment that would have provided a one month’s supply of funding while we await the government’s budget on April 20^th.

We argued that once we see that budget and have a better idea of B.C.’s financial situation and the NDP’s spending priorities, we would be better positioned to approve a second supply bill if the government chose to introduce one to cover the time period when MLAs would debate the budget before approving it. Not surprisingly, the government rejected our amendment.

As always, it falls on the BC Liberals to suggest measures to improve fiscal transparency and accountability in British Columbia. Twenty-five years after British Columbians were fleeced by the NDP’s financial promises, British Columbians won’t be fooled again.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group.