B.C. Election: Conservatives in no rush to balance budget

Vaughn Palmer: Like the B.C. NDP, the Conservatives plan even more spending in the short term

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Published Oct 15, 2024  •  4 minute read

B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad unveils his election platform at UBC in Vancouver, B.C., on Oct. 15, 2024. Photo by NICK PROCAYLO /PNG

VICTORIA — After several days of delay and two changes of venue, Conservative Leader John Rustad finally released his full election platform on Tuesday.

The main document, touting “common sense change for British Columbians,” runs for more than 100 pages of promises.

Even true believers might find it a chore to wade through and digest all that with just four days remaining in the campaign. Those who’ve already voted didn’t have the chance.

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However, the gist can be grasped from a two-page summary up front, while the financial implications are in a six-page appendix at the end.

The latter begins with a statement that is no less shocking for being lifted from the NDP’s own budget documents.

“With Budget 2024, David Eby gave B.C. its largest deficit and debt load in history.

“Then in the six months since the budget was released, the NDP managed to add $1.1 billion to the deficit — for a total of $9 billion. B.C. is drowning in a sea of red ink.”

Rustad was on point with his sea of red ink. Right, too, in saying the current rate of growth “is just not sustainable.”

Nevertheless, a Rustad-led Conservative government would be in no rush to bring the books back into balance.

Rather, it would increase spending over the next year or two, pushing the deficit even higher, before turning the corner.

Overall, a Conservative government “will return the B.C. budget to balance in its second term.”

Some five to eight years down the road.

The budget balancing would be accomplished in large measure by “getting our economy growing again.”

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The Conservatives forecast a 5.4 per cent growth as opposed to 3.1 per cent from the NDP.

Rustad plans to do “a revenue growth review to identify the economic growth policies and economic development opportunities most likely to raise incomes for workers and grow net revenues for B.C.’s public finances.

“We need to get our finances on a sustainable footing, and to do that, our economy needs to get working again.”

The Conservatives would also review government spending and capital plans, looking for savings and targeting “NDP pet projects that haven’t delivered results for people.”

One example could be B.C. Infrastructure Benefits, established by the New Democrats to administer their union-favouring hiring practices on roads, bridges, hospitals, transit lines and other government-funded projects.

It has grown to employ more than 1,200 people, with a $110 million payroll and a budget approaching $300 million. It has also imposed a major increase in construction costs, estimated at between seven and 25 per cent, depending on the source.

For now, Rustad won’t estimate the cost of capital projects like his proposed new hospital for children in Surrey.

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Nor have the New Democrats estimated the hospital tower they promised to Nanaimo.

Rustad also says that the budget-balancing drive — make that Rustad’s leisurely stroll toward balancing the budget — will not mean any cuts in funding for “front-line services including health, education and public safety.”

From that, you can take it that Rustad and his platform-building team were spooked by NDP attack ads saying he would cut spending, including $4.1 billion from the health budget alone.

The $4.1 billion claim is an outright “lie,” says Rustad.

It was, at the very least, a malicious misreading of the facts by a premier and a party that never hesitates to proclaim their moral superiority in such matters.

In any event, the Rustad platform projects a $2.3 billion increase in health-care funding over two years.

So, the Conservatives intend to balance the budget over many years by promoting economic growth, managing spending and cutting waste, and without cutting funding for front-line services like health care.

That is almost exactly what Eby said in his platform released earlier in the campaign: “We will balance the budget through a combination of internal efficiencies and economic growth, without compromising front-line services or hiking taxes or fees on people.”

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Eby, like Rustad, is first proposing to add to the size of the current deficit with several billion dollars worth of spending and tax cuts.

Like Rustad, Eby is also talking about savings through internal management. The health authorities are an early target. Rumour mill says Victoria will order the five regional authorities to cut as much as $1 billion, without reducing services.

Unlike Rustad, the premier didn’t name a target year for bringing the books back into balance. But given how revenues fluctuate, any target would be to some degree wishful.

The disturbing thing is how quickly provincial finances got out of line.

In taking office two years ago, Eby inherited a surplus of almost $6 billion from John Horgan. He has since taken the province to a $9 billion deficit, a $15 billion turnaround with no end in sight.

Both Rustad and Eby say that B.C. can get out of the financial hole with a combination of economic growth and better management.

But I doubt it can be done without greater restraint in program spending than has been seen under Eby.

But you won’t hear either leader acknowledge that possibility before all the votes are cast.

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