Liberals ready to do some spending

VICTORIA (CP) — British Columbia’s finance minister says five consecutive surplus budgets and a nation-leading economy have the government prepared to spend money after years of penny-pinching.

Mike de Jong said Monday that broad tax relief for residents and small business operators is part of the budget he tables today, just months ahead of May’s provincial election.

The budget comes a week after Premier Christy Clark said her Liberal government will pay back taxpayers for financial sacrifices of recent years.

“We are trying to ensure the benefits of our nation-leading economy are shared by the widest possible group,” de Jong said during a news conference at a Victoria shoe repair shop. De Jong skipped the budget tradition of buying new shoes again this year and had an old pair of black Bostonian brogues shined, stitched and re-soled.

B.C. leads Canada in job creation, but RBC forecasts economic growth will slip below the national average for the first time in six years.

De Jong said B.C.’s Children and Family Development Ministry can expect a budget increase.

The government has been on the defensive over recent tragic deaths of children in its care and scathing reports of child welfare system failures.

He deflected questions about calls to cut the provincial sales tax and medical services premiums: “We’ll see.”

The right-leaning Canadian Taxpayers’ Federation and left-leaning Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives both want the government to dump the health-care premium that ranges from $11 to $75 per month for those making over $24,001 a year.

“We should eliminate the MSP in B.C.,” said Alex Hemingway, a centre for policy alternatives analyst.

“No other province has it. It’s the most unfair tax we have.”

A one percentage cut to B.C.’s seven per cent PST would cut annual revenues by $900 million, while the MSP raised $2.5 billion for the government last year.

“I’m very comfortable. We’re in a position now, unlike any other province in the country, to begin to address priority areas, leave more money in citizens’, taxpayers’ pockets and not incur deficits to do it,” said de Jong.

Known as a tight-fisted money manager, de Jong said the time is right to start spending.

Ministry of Finance reports projected the budget surplus to be about $2.2 billion, but other than say the new budget will be balanced, de Jong has not provided a surplus estimate.