Dealing with a deficit in the Best Place on Earth
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Brace yourself, looks like we're in for a bumpy ride in the so-called Best Place on Earth.
Finance Minister Colin Hansen announced this week that his previous assertion on what the provincial deficit would look like fell a bit short.
I believe the actual quote was: "not optimistic at all that a $495-million number is anywhere near possible." And he apparently reached that conclusion when the federal government said B.C. revenue from personal and corporate income taxes was set to drop sharply this year.
Now I know I had it drilled into my head when I was young that talking about money, or a lack thereof, is tacky but I think this case would have been an exception and a more reasonable estimate should have been possible.
I mean, for all the complaining government and business types do about what Negative Nellies the media are we, at the very least, have been quite on top of things like business closures, employment losses, new housing market decline and bankruptcy rates. You know, the things that indicate what that tax revenue will look like.
So by my estimates, either this oopsie isn't legitimate or the guy in charge of the books has his Beautiful B.C. blinders on.
While neither of those options make me swoon over the government, my biggest concern is what this will mean to average Janes like me. Because the last time we were digging out of a hole, things got a bit dicey.
Back when I was in university, Campbell and his posse of Liberals rolled into power with promises of economic recovery and a snazzy new campaign to position B.C. as the place to be.
That all came at a cost, of course.
Trying to recoup their losses from a previous shortfall, the government ravaged our social safety net and those who were generally disadvantaged started to fall through the holes. At that time all I cared about was the fact my tuition was going up, but if I was less of a narcissist I would have been a little more worked up about cuts that averaged about 25 per cent across the board—save for the sacred cows of education and health care.
Those in the know about what these cuts would mean down the road raised a big enough stink about it, but their cries were muffled by screams of jubilation over the financial windfall that came to be.
Opiated by enhanced purchasing power, issues like child poverty—something B.C. has excelled in increasing over time—were scuttled to the side as new roads, bridges and Olympic dreams took over. Oh, and we mustn't forget all those tax cuts.
But now that we've come full circle, and the party is over what's the cleanup going to look like and how will the government replenish its shrinking reserves?
Hansen said this time around they're looking to cut grants for organizations that provide duplicate services.
While I'm curious what they missed during the last round of cuts, I have just one hope. They get rid of the great mind that came up with that Best Place On Earth business. It's too much to live up to.
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