Tag Archive: bc budget

The problem with tax cuts: The promise doesn’t match the reality

Feb 15, 2017
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The big news item in yesterday’s BC throne speech was that the Premier’s plan to relieve affordability pressures for families will include tax cuts of some sort. The problem with this plan: the inevitable flip side of tax cuts is lost public revenues. And while most governments—including Clark’s—promise that tax cuts won’t affect public services, the reality… View Article

What you need to know about BC Budget 2016

Feb 16, 2016
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“The measure of any society is reflected in the degree to which it is willing to help the most vulnerable.” Mike de Jong in the BC Budget 2016 Speech If this is the measure we apply to Budget 2016, then BC is failing miserably. What this budget offers to BC’s most vulnerable is a drop in the bucket…. View Article

What you need to know about BC Budget 2014

Feb 18, 2014
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Today’s 2014 BC budget contained very little news, as expected. Despite a significantly weaker economic picture for BC than what was projected in the June 2013 Budget Update, there are no new measures to help British Columbian families struggling with economic insecurity in the weak job market. Five years after the recession officially ended, BC… View Article

Much ado about the provincial debt

Feb 16, 2011
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If you read Vaughn Palmer’s online budget analysis in the Vancouver Sun, you’d be forgiven thinking that deficit hysteria is making a comeback in BC. The title of his online piece, Debt Hits Historic High, disappoints with its blatant sensationalism. Yes, it is technically true that in straight up current dollars debt hit a historic… View Article