After ten years of NDP government, this budget confirms what British Columbians already know.
We are living through a Lost Decade.
A $13.3 billion deficit this year.
Nearly $37 billion more in deficits over the next three years.
Debt racing toward $235 billion.
Over the last decade, this government has spent hundreds of billions of dollars.
And here we are.
Their solution?
Higher income taxes.
Expanded PST on professional services.
And now PST on everyday items like landlines, cable television, clothing repair materials, even yarn.
Yes. Yarn.
After ten years in power, the answer is simple.
You pay.
Working families pay.
Seniors trying to stretch a dollar pay.
Small businesses already struggling with rising costs and crime pay.
Young people trying to get ahead pay.
And what do you get?
You still cannot find a family doctor.
Long term care wait lists have ballooned.
Housing remains out of reach for a generation.
Crime and disorder continue in communities across our province.
Groceries cost more.
Confidence is lower.
The Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses calls it an entrepreneurial drought.
More businesses are closing than opening.
Nearly two thirds of business owners would not recommend starting a business in British Columbia today.
That is the Lost Decade.
Hundreds of billions spent.
Debt at record levels.
And life is harder.
Interest on that debt is climbing toward more than 8 cents of every dollar government collects.
Before we build a hospital.
Before we hire a nurse.
Before we fix a road.
More of your money goes to servicing debt.
After ten years and hundreds of billions of dollars, British Columbians are asking a simple question.
What exactly got better?
This budget does not fix affordability.
It does not restore safety.
It does not rebuild confidence.
It simply hands the bill to working people.
Ten years.
Hundreds of billions spent.
And they are taxing seniors on yarn.
If that does not sum up the Lost Decade, I do not know what does.
As Premier, this recklessness will end. We will get BC back to balance and build a province we can be proud of again.
