BC Liberal Budget proves deceitfulness and incompetence beyond a reasonable doubt

For Immediate Release Sept 02 2009 B.C. Conservatives

Kelowna - The B.C. Liberal government released their September Budget Update for 2009, and are asking for more money from British Columbians hard hit by a recession. BC Conservative Deputy Leader, Mark Thompson, says they are raising taxes, raising the cost of living, and ultimately making it more difficult for families to make ends meet.“Rather than make the important decisions necessary to help British Columbians during this difficult time, B.C. Liberals have continued to build on their legacy of reckless spending and more debt. Premier Gordon Campbell would have you believe that all of this was unforeseeable, that it's all due to the circumstances of the global economic downturn, and that they can explain away their extravagant spending on the unexpected revenue shortfalls,” said Thompson. Thompson invited British Columbians to examine the history of what this government has said. On October 21, 2008, Gordon Campbell told the people of BC that his government would not run deficits: The premier said, “We’ve been financially prudent as we’ve gone through this in British Columbia.”
Thompson continued, “As we all know, the Liberals failed to bring down a balanced budget when Gordon Campbell amended the legislation to allow for a "temporary" budget deficit in 2009. Then as recently as April 23, while on the election campaign trail he said: “I can tell you this: the deficit for 2009-2010 will be $495 million, maximum.” ”

“It was a convenient number to get reelected, but the truth is that Gordon Campbell is either totally incompetent, or deliberately deceived the voters of this province. How else is one to explain that a "temporary" deficit of a half billion dollars has ballooned into four years of structural deficits totaling a behemoth $5.4 billion? And that's under fairly optimistic estimates.”
Thompson pointed out, "This is a near 700% increase in the deficit. Heads roll in companies that mislead their shareholders to this degree. How is this any different than Enron?" The Budget has a number of feel-good ideas, but the Liberals have thus far not indicated where the money is coming from to pay for them all. The Liberals confidently announce that they've created 480 construction projects worth $3.4 billion that will directly create 21,600 jobs. That works out to $157,000 in taxpayer money being spent for each "job" created. “Wouldn't it be much simpler to lower the tax burden on B.C. residents and companies in order to create a natural stimulus for the economy, rather than this continued waste of taxpayer dollars?” asked Thompson.The tax burden on residents is also going to go up in the years to come. The government's own estimates show the new tax will increase the costs of people in this province by as much as $355 more per year. The Liberals are also treating the one-time HST implementation federal payment of $1.6 billion as general revenue.“Such a trick goes against all standard accounting principles, and is very deceitful because it doesn't give residents a true indication of just how badly this government has mismanaged finances,” said Thompson.

“Although this government seems to have limitless funding and bureaucrats to assist VANOC, the budget shows that it's coming at the expense of health care and education in this province. While cutting health services the Liberals are increasing taxes on residents by upping the costs for Medical Services Plan premiums by 6%, placing a huge burden on seniors and working people. Additionally, there will be no new education funding, meaning BC children will be facing cuts that will have to be made by school boards. Classroom sizes will increase, support for special needs children will be eroded, and student aid for post-secondary education will be greatly reduced.”

“The BC Liberal budget proves the deceitfulness and incompetence of this government beyond a reasonable doubt. As a result, your taxes will be going up, your cost of living will be going up, but services and quality of life will decline. This is a budget that nobody voted for on May 12, when they elected Gordon Campbell to his current mandate,” concluded Thompson.
-30-

For further information please contact:
Wayne McGrath 250.542.7744 nwmcgrath@shaw.ca