No more holes in his budget shoes
B.C. Finance Minister Michael de Jong picks up his repaired shoes from Olde Towne Shoe Repair owner Mike Waterman on Monday. It’s all part of the preparations as de Jong gets ready to table the provincial budget today.
The B.C. budget will contain significant tax relief measures, help for small business, and $140 million over three years for mental health and addictions programs, the B.C. Liberal government said Monday.
In a pre-budget session with reporters, Finance Minister Mike de Jong side-stepped questions about whether the government will increase welfare rates or reform Medical Services Plan premiums when he tables the budget today.
Instead, he said two themes will emerge from the budget.
“On the one hand, capitalizing on our fiscal strength, we are going to make some additional investments in areas that we think warrant it and where it’s required — Children and Families being an example of that,” he said.
“And, where we can, we’d like to leave a little more money in the pockets of British Columbians, and so that speaks to issues around taxation. I think you will see significant developments on both fronts.”
De Jong did not say what form the tax relief might take, though he did say that small business will get a break of some kind.
“We’re going to try and ensure that small business also benefits from the strength of our economy.”
The government, meanwhile, continued to roll out spending announcements in advance of budget day, pledging $140 million in mental health services for adults and youth.
The Ministry of Children and Family Development will use some of the money to hire more than 120 workers to help link 7,000 children and youth to mental-health and substance use services.
The money will increase the number of children served to 34,000, but the government itself states there are 84,000 children and youth aged four to 17 who suffer from significant mental health issues.
“We do know that there are kids and youth waiting for services in the province and we want to reduce that as much as we possibly can,” Children’s Minister Stephanie Cadieux said.
The NDP, however, accused the government of waiting until just before an election to tackle issues that it neglected for years.
“From my perspective, it’s too little, too late,” said NDP finance critic Carole James. “It’s too late for the premier to pretend she cares when she has a record of not caring. So I’ll expect they’ll throw everything at trying to convince the public to forget about their record, but I think the public sees through that.”
James said a number of the announcements fail to even make up for money that the B.C. Liberals took away. She noted, for example that the $50 increase in disability rates announced Friday fell short of covering the $52-amonth disability bus pass fee that the government imposed last year.
As for the investment in children’s mental health services, James said she thinks of all the young people who have lost their lives because they failed to get help when they needed it.
“I think of all of those families who come into my office heartbroken, because they’ve tried everything to get support for their young person with mental health issues and can’t find it,” she said. “Now, at election time, the premier thinks it’s important? That’s not good enough.”
De Jong said he’s ready for the criticism.
“There will be no shortage of commentary and criticism about: Why didn’t you do more here? Or why wasn’t the tax relief greater? Why wasn’t there more money for particular ministries?” he said.
“We try to make these choices as best we can. We make them within the context of a balanced budget and what we can afford and we are trying to ensure that the benefits of our strong economy — our nation-leading economy — are shared by the widest possible group.”