Last month the Canadian Taxpayers’ Federation took its “Debt Clock” on a tour of British Columbia to draw attention to the province’s mounting debt. The debt is currently $112 billion and rising by $53 million per week – faster than any other provincial government’s. That’s $20,000 for every British Columbian. The NDP-run province’s credit rating is “plummeting,” according to outside experts, driving up the interest rate it pays on new debt. It is spending $4 billion a year on interest and will soon pay more.
The NDP’s uncontrolled spending is a big part of the problem. In 2002, Campbell’s Liberal government forecast operational spending of $25.6 billion. Horgan’s first budget forecast spending of $53.6 billion. Eby’s government forecasts spending of $92.7 billion in 2026-2027, a 73 percent increase in only a decade. The NDP will have nearly tripled B.C.’s debt in only a decade – from $45.2 billion in Horgan’s first budget to a projected $126.5 billion in 2026-2027. Including Crown corporations, total provincial debt will have more than doubled from $69.4 billion to $165 billion.
Not to mention the insane cuts to healthcare and education that started with the Gordon Campbell government that are largely responsible for putting us in the situation we are now in for this province. It is going to take decades to fix the damage they did even without covid.