The other day I was talking
with a media friend, and had mentioned I was thinking of taking a look at how BC's debt
has climbed over the years. Well I did
indeed do that, and now I am sorry I did. If you decide to read on, make sure
you have some Tylenol, and an antacid, handy.
NDP elected
in 1991
Total provincial debt … $9.82 billion
NDP
re-elected in 1996
Total provincial debt … $19.53 billion
During
the 5 year period of 1991 to 1996, the provincial debt increased by $9.71 billion ($1.95 /
year)
BC
Liberals elected in 2001
Total provincial debt … $33.9 billion
BC
Liberals re-elected in 2005
Total provincial debt … $35.9 billion
BC
Liberals re-elected in 2009
Total provincial debt … $37.5 billion
BC
Liberal Budget for 2011 … provincial debt
of $45,154 Billion
And
from the official Budget and Fiscal Plan of February 21st, 2012 …
for the years 2012 / 2013 to 2014 / 2015 comes the following figures:
UPDATED
total provincial debt (2011 / 12) … $50.985 billion
ESTIMATED
total provincial debt for 2012 / 13 … $57.603 billion
ESTIMATED
total provincial debt for 2013 / 14 … $62.714 billion
ESTIMATED
total provincial debt for 2014 / 15 … $66.354 billion
In a
decade and a half, the BC Liberals will have taken the debt from a level of $33.9 billion
in 2001 … to a mind-boggling expected level of $66.354
BILLION in 2014 / 2015!.
THAT’S
A DOUBLING OF THE DEBT … by a government that claims to be fiscally responsible.
Well
it seems that neither the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, or the Fraser Institute,
seem to think so!
The
following is an excerpt for a media release by the Fraser Institute in March of
this year entitled “BC's
2012 budget fails to lay foundation for the future”:
… the most troubling aspect of the budget,
however, is the alarming increase in government debt. Mainly as a result of
increased capital expenditures, the BC government’s debt will expand by $15
billion (or 30 per cent) to $66 billion over the next three years. As a
percentage of the province’s economy (GDP), the provincial debt will increase from a low of 18 per cent in 2007/08 …
to 28 per cent by 2014/15 … approximately the same debt level the Liberals
inherited from the previous NDP government back in 2001.
And
from a release by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, “BC
Taxpayers Need To Sweat About Government Debt”, in March of this year:
… the real shame of it is that in 2007, BC’s debt was $33.4 billion … eight years later, the debt will have doubled.
… the real shame of it is that in 2007, BC’s debt was $33.4 billion … eight years later, the debt will have doubled.
… this
year, BC taxpayers will pay more than $2.5 billion just in interest payments.
Our debt is causing us to go further in debt. If we didn’t have to pay interest, we would have a $1.5 billion surplus
this year.
That $2.5 billion payment means six cents out of
every dollar you send to Victoria is being wasted paying interest on the debt. And the payment keeps
going up: next year it will be $2.66 billion, the year after $2.89 billion—just
in interest.
This
government claims to be fiscally accountable … claims to be fiscally prudent …
claims to be fiscally accountable.
THE
FACTS SAY OTHERWISE ... and that kind of crippling debt is a ticking time bomb!
I’m
Alan Forseth in Kamloops, with the thoughts of one conservative.
5 comments:
It may have taken the Liberals 8 years to double the debt, but it only
took the NDP 5 years to more than double it.
Jim Saunders
Why quibble over a few $BILLION dollars. These figures actually show the NDP increased the debt by $25 billion in ten years ... meantime the Liberals will have increased it by $33 BILLION in 14 years, if they get to stay around till the end of the 2014 / 15 budget year. All this shows is that NEITHER party can claim the moral high gound in fiscal prudence
This comment is posted on behalf of K.M. who was unable to get her comments added:
Christy Clark's attempts to re-brand and portray her BC Liberals as a "free enterprise coalition" are meaningless in the face of the deficit/debt figures you presented in your blog post. I hope that fiscally responsible BC voters will take note, when they mark their ballots.
Some of those numbers may be apples and oranges, and do they include or omit the off-book and deferred debts racked up by Campbell and hidden from view as the Auditor General found re deferral accounts inside BC Hydro, and delayed debts in IPPs. Concern about rising debt is fair but it also needs to be seen as a proportion of GDP, as a cousin of inflation and as a function of what the debts were for - and especially in Campbell's case: what spending was slashed in order to artificially reduce the deficit.
JTwigg
These figures are simply what is listed by the government, in the actual budgets, as released by the Finance Ministry.
We all know government can play with the numbers, however they look bad enough as it is, regardless of any fudging or hiding that may be going on.
While I saw the rising debt as disturbing, what I found most telling, were the comments of the Taxpayers Federation and the Fraser Institute. In my opinion, they speak directly to a government that is NOT making wise use of finances.
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