Image credit: The Canadian Press

By Greg Kyllo, Shuswap MLA

SOUND OFF

SOUND OFF: NDP budget spends more, delivers less

Feb 29, 2024 | 10:30 AM

WHEN DAVID EBY BECAME PREMIER OVER A YEAR AGO, he promised to deliver results that people could see, feel, and touch.

Last week, the NDP delivered their 8th and final budget before the 2024 election, Eby’s final chance to deliver on his promises to British Columbians. Unfortunately, this budget maintains the status quo that has failed our province for the last seven years.

Not only does Budget 2024 fail to move the needle on affordability, healthcare, or public safety, but it is an economic disaster showcasing staggering fiscal incompetence from the NDP. The budget racks up an $8 billion inflationary deficit — the largest in B.C.’s history.

It took 150 years for B.C.’s debt to reach $50 billion, but the NDP has already doubled that debt in seven years to over $103 billion and it’s projected to grow to $165 billion by 2026/27.

By every economic measure, this budget is a disappointment to British Columbians. Exports are down, GDP per capita is expected to fall, and private sector job growth continues to flatline.

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Despite collecting over $22 billion more in tax revenue each year, this government continues to deliver such terrible results that people have gotten used to the NDP’s new normal of things not working the way they should.

From housing to healthcare to crime, everywhere you look life has gotten worse for British Columbians over the last seven years.

British Columbia has the most expensive housing in North America and the highest rents in the country.

We have the longest walk-in clinic wait times in the country and we are now — for the first time since the NDP government of the 1990s — sending cancer patients down to the United States.

Businesses are now forced to put fences around their property due to rising crime and parents fear finding needles on the ground at neighbourhood parks.

Never before has a government spent so much to achieve so little.

Kevin Falcon and our BC United team reject the NDP’s new normal and believe the government should take less, not more, from people during a cost-of-living crisis.

David Eby and the NDP disagree, and on April 1, David Eby’s carbon tax will increase to over 14 cents per litre — a 164 percent increase since the NDP formed a government — and will more than double it again over the next few years.

BC United will cancel David Eby’s carbon tax hikes and eliminate the provincial gas tax, recognizing that British Columbians can’t afford further NDP taxes during a cost-of-living crisis.

British Columbians deserve more than empty announcements, broken promises, and record debt and Kevin Falcon and BC United have a real plan to deliver. United, we will fix the mess David Eby has created.

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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 Pattison Media.