With 11 months to redefine itself for voters, Premier Christy Clark鈥檚 B.C. Liberal government has dialed back its boasting about four consecutive balanced budgets, and has begun creating the impression of a minor spending spree.
It picked up with a series of education funding announcements. First Education Minister Mike Bernier unveiled an increase to the province鈥檚 鈥渇ix-it fund,鈥� as he calls it.
This is not to be confused with the annual 鈥渇acilities grant鈥� provided to school districts each year, or the carbon tax collected from schools and hospitals that is then doled out for approved energy upgrades.
The 鈥渇ix-it fund鈥� was $20 million last year, but this past March, Bernier announced it was increased to $40 million, and called for districts to propose roof, electrical, heating and other projects that could be done by March 2017.
After going through the submissions, Bernier announced in mid-May that the fund is up to $45 million. The increase is not new money, he assured reporters. That means it鈥檚 taken from the next two years of the three-year education budget.
Hence my reference to 鈥渃reating the impression鈥� of a spending spree. Or perhaps Cowichan Valley NDP MLA Bill Routley鈥檚 favourite expression captures it best: 鈥渏iggery-pokery.鈥�
Then Bernier found another $25 million for struggling school district operations, by returning 鈥渁dministrative savings鈥� his ministry had required from districts for the second year running. With some school districts charging for bus service or cutting it out entirely, the 鈥渁dministrative savings鈥� argument wasn鈥檛 doing so well.
The B.C. NDP ran its last election campaign on the assertion that the 2013 budget wasn鈥檛 going to be balanced, despite a run of land sales to stop the flow of red ink left from buying the province out of the harmonized sales tax.
But B.C. Liberal Finance Minister Mike de Jong did balance the books, with the help of a temporary tax increase on incomes of $150,000 and up.
Then came last year鈥檚 federal election, and balanced budgets got a bad name. Justin Trudeau鈥檚 Liberals insisted the Stephen Harper Conservatives were running a hidden deficit and starving us into recession. Trudeau promised 鈥渕odest鈥� deficits of no more than $10 billion a year to stimulate the economy.
Federal NDP leader Thomas Mulcair promised to balance the budget while still providing national daycare and other big-ticket services. He lost, and his party turned away from him and from 鈥渁usterity,鈥� as borrow-and-spend enthusiasts like to call paying for public services as you go.
NDP leader John Horgan took note of the apparent shift in public mood to tolerate borrowing. The NDP under Adrian Dix promised deficit spending four years ago, but wrapped it in a claim it would only spend the B.C. Liberals鈥� alleged hidden deficit. That didn鈥檛 work very well.
In 2017, will Horgan follow Mulcair鈥檚 path or Trudeau鈥檚? He is careful not to commit himself now on specific positions, but in a recent interview with The Vancouver Sun, Horgan did question the need to account for the costs of every promise.
鈥淛ustin Trudeau didn鈥檛 cost a damn thing,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd Donald Trump鈥檚 not costed a damn thing, nor did Bernie Sanders, and I don鈥檛 imagine Hillary Clinton will either.鈥�
Actually, Trudeau did cost his platform for voters. Then, after winning a majority, he threw those estimates out and tripled the forecast deficits.
Canada spent itself into a huge hole in the 1970s, and it took until the 1990s to get out of it. We鈥檒l soon find out if that lesson is lost on a new generation of voters.
Tom Fletcher is B.C. legislature reporter and columnist for Black Press. Email: tfletcher@blackpress.ca Twitter: @tomfletcherbc
