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By Michael Reeve

BC BUDGET 2025

‘NDP walking away from the Interior’; Kamloops MLA Milobar reacts to 2025 provincial budget

Mar 5, 2025 | 5:15 PM

KAMLOOPS — The provincial budget, unveiled on Tuesday (March 4), has B.C. projected to reach just shy of an $11 billion deficit.

Looking into the Kamloops area, the Tournament Capital was mentioned by name eight times in the budget document, most of which were connected to the previously announced Kamloops cancer centre. There was no mention of Kamloops receiving dollars for any new school sites.

“No movement at all. In fact, you are hard pressed to find any significant capital spending for any project north, basically, of even Kelowna,” said Kamloops Centre MLA Peter Milobar. “It’s pretty much the NDP walking away from the Interior and north of British Columbia with this budget when it comes to capital projects and trying to actually do the improvements that communities desperately need — be it on highway safety improvements or schools.”

The budget also had no dollars for certain NDP election promises, including a $1,000 grocery rebate. The government did, however, announce an ICBC rebate for eligible drivers, set to hit bank accounts this spring.

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“Once again, overcharging for ICBC, then giving you your money back and tell you you should be thankful. The reality is there were no promises fulfilled from the campaign, there was supposed to be teacher assistants in every classroom from Kindergarten to Grade 3. That is not in the budget. There was supposed to be free transit for seniors. That is not in the budget. There was supposed to be a $1,000 grocery rebate. That is not in the budget. There was supposed to be a lot around health care that the Greens signed off on as part of the agreement to let the government cling to power. That’s not in the budget,” listed Milobar.