Horgan steering careful course
The provincial government has delivered its first set of public accounts, and it appears to have avoided both major disaster and startling triumph. Those who were gleefully hoping to see an NDP financial train wreck will be disappointed. Those who were praying to avoid that wreck can breathe again. The numbers released on Tuesday show a surplus of $301 million, which is not a big number when talking about a budget that spent $52 billion, but is solidly in the black. It’s $55 million more than was forecast in the update for this year, so the government has stayed pretty much on budget.
The government says it increased spending on health care, education, housing and social services by about $3 billion.
Revenues took a hit thanks to the problems at ICBC, which suffered a $1.3-billion loss, and a $950-million “adjustment” to reduce B.C. Hydro’s deferral accounts, about which the auditor general frequently complains.
Revenues from natural resources remain sluggish, and are still below the levels they were at before the financial meltdown of 2007-08. This in spite of the fact that the economy overall grew by an estimated 3.9 per cent in 2017, and is expected to continue outperforming most other provinces.
Over the past 16 years, the B.C. Liberals have effectively painted past NDP governments as wastrels who ruined the province’s economy.
These accounts show Premier John Horgan’s government steering a careful course.