NDP challenge: manage wisely

Perhaps the B.C. Liberals should have read A Christmas Carol right through to the end. They did such a good job of playing Scrooge that they missed the message of the story. They scrimped and saved on the backs of ordinary British Columbians until Christy Clark and Mike de Jong were left huddled in front of the fire, with bags of money and no one to love them.

Now those miserly Liberals are out in the cold, and Carole James is running her fingers through the bags of cash and thinking she will manage Scrooge’s counting house in a different way. The NDP finance minister wants to begin her tenure with what she calls a “more balanced” approach to budgeting. For “more balanced,” we can read: “less heartless.” James has confirmed that the Liberals left her with a surplus of $2.74 billion for the 2016-17 fiscal year. That’s a departure from the traditional lament of incoming governments, who moan that they have finally looked at the books and discovered their predecessors bequeathed them a financial disaster.

But her disappointment at not being able to score political points through complaining will be offset by the pleasure that comes from loosening the purse strings.

Of course, the money bags James is caressing are already spoken for. Much as she might wish to slap down some cash to fulfil campaign promises, the law says the surplus has to pay down the province’s operating debt.

That will be a relief to those who feared the NDP would immediately fritter away the money on bread, circuses and fast ferries.

The books do suggest, however, that in the coming years, the new government can afford to undo some of the policies that gave the old government a reputation as callous bean-counters.

“The public accounts for 2016-2017 show that B.C.’s economy is strong. We’re growing faster than was forecast and we certainly have revenues that were higher than projected,” James said.

“That’s a surplus that doesn’t reflect the reality for many British Columbians. It’s really tough for people out there to see a surplus this size, when they’re struggling day to day to manage.”

The poor, disabled people, seniors and parents who couldn’t afford child care dropped further and further behind.

The Liberals were successful at controlling spending and were fortunate to ride an economy that has grown stronger as it recovered from the downturn in 2008-09. However, they became so fixated on pinching pennies that they missed the changing mood in the province.

They could have spread more of the wealth, but didn’t see the light until after the voters slapped them in the face with a ballot box in May. Clark’s abortive final throne speech, in which she stole ideas shamelessly from the NDP and the Greens, showed that she got the message too late.

When they deliver a budget update on Sept. 11, the New Democrats will reap the benefits of those years of careful Liberal economizing. But expecting the good times to keep on rolling would be a mistake.

A lot of the growth in the province comes from a hot housing market, and problems ranging from forest fires to ICBC’s financial woes are likely to squeeze the budget.

James’s commitment to “balance” suggests that compassion for those who were left behind during the Liberal years will be tempered with caution. It would be easy to swing the spending pendulum too far.

The NDP inherited a strong economy. They must manage it wisely.