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Finance committee recommends B.C. stay on track to balance budget
VICTORIA/CKNW (AM980)
Sean Leslie | Email news tips to Sean
11/14/2012

An all-party standing committee of the legislature is recommending the B.C. government stay the course in its budget-balancing plan, but it has a few new ideas to spend your tax dollars.

The finance committee calls on the government to meet its target of a balanced budget in the next fiscal year – already a tough job with falling revenues to Victoria.

It also calls for streamlining the administration of the PST, due to return April 1.

But the committee also has some spending ideas, such as increased homecare services, support for addiction treatment services, and more funding for transition houses, sport, farmers' markets and the justice system.

The committee heard 800 submissions during public hearings over the last two months, but its recommendations are not binding on government.


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  1. brianp1950 posted on 11/14/2012 02:24 PM
    Guaranteed there is no balanced budget next year. This years defecit is 1.3 billion with HST so they will need to find an extra 800 million dollars to cover that shortfall. On top of that there is the shrinking dollars being collected from the PTT which will also be in the hundreds of millions of dollars. If the budget is balanced they will be lying to us.
    1. WilliamS_3961 posted on 11/14/2012 02:33 PM
      @brianp1950 Agreed brian !!! There still is no real political will to have a balanced budget nor to begin paying off the 60 Billion, or so, that we already owe......... NDP or Liberal will just continue kicking the can down the road.
  2. ObeseRedneck posted on 11/14/2012 06:04 PM
    Health care is the biggest waste of money, you guys need a PRIVATE OPTION IN HEALTH CARE for us rich people

    Also tax FAT AND SUGAR to pay for health care, too many fatties in BC and not the good smoking ones.
  3. bctaxpayer posted on 11/14/2012 07:46 PM
    When has the BC liberal party ever kept their word or balanced the budget,NEVER.Remember the BC lie beral party has increased the Prov. Debt by over 60 Billion$$$$$$$$ to a total of over 90Billion$$$$$$$.Yes we have been lied to tooooo many times.
  4. joes_2868 posted on 11/15/2012 09:59 AM
    Nothing in comparison to NDP premier Dave Barrett. After defeating WAC Bennett and the Social Credit Party, WAC Bennett had one request. That was for Dave Barrett to build another 3 lane span next to the present Lion Gates Bridge. He told Barrett that there was funding in treasury strictly for this project to proceed. Barrett did not listen and went on to bankrupt the province. Today in 2012, the Lions Gate bridge is still only 3 lanes.
    Barrett will always be remembered for his spending, quickly taking the government from SURPLUS TO DEBT. Barrett reformed the welfare system making it so popular as to say why work when NDP welfare benefits are fantastic. Also brought in union and union wages to all government employees. Bought the Ocean Falls pulp mill that never amounted to anything. Within two weeks after the purchase, the smoke stack fell down to the ground.
    Crown Zellerbach who owned the mill said the mill was old and obsolete and not worth putting money into, but the good old NDP had to do the opposite. Barrett brought in ICBC. In 1975-76, B.C. taxpayers had to bail out their government run insurance company in the amount of $181 million just two years after it begun operations. The money has never been repaid. At the same time, ICBC had been so mismanaged, with insurance being sold significantly underpriced, that the government was forced to increase rates by at least 25%. Is known for passing a bill on average every three days during his term of government.
    Did a major public sector expansion. Highest number of government employees in history for a provincial government. His Human Resources Minister, Norman Levi, got out of hand, and ran up that ministry to 40% of the total government budget and at one time, had the ministry at $100 million over budget. Very quick to add programs regardless of cost with no business plans. So preoccupied with a bankrupt government, Dave Barrett did not even consult with his cabinet about calling a provincial election. His ministers found out about the election watching the television news. Alex MacDonald, NDP former attorney general, watched the announcement on the TV news at home, much to his surprise.
    Lost three provincial elections in a row to Bill Bennett of the Social Credit Party. On October 6, 1983, Barrett, as leader of the New Democratic Party of B.C., was forcibly removed from Chamber by Legislature Serjeant-at-Arms for failing to abide by the Speaker's ruling. This was the first incident in the legislature history where security staff had to intervene and remove a member from chamber.
    When Dave Barrett and the NDP formed government, it is believed they were in "minority party syndrome" and did not have the knowledge or expertise to operate as a government Lost soles with a huge responsibility.
    Then came Mike Harcourt, Glen Clark, and Ujjal Dosanjh. These people cannot be blamed for the mess they all did. Blame the taxpayers that voted them in. TAXPAYERS STILL HAVE THE FINAL SAY!
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