Should the NDP form government, it will inherit a treasury from the BC Liberals that is even more flush with cash than expected.
The BC Liberal government has managed the B.C. economy so well that it can count on an additional $1.3 billion in surplus revenue to help pay for the $2.6 billion in additional spending for new child-care spaces and other NDP promises.
That was the gist of Finance Minister Mike de Jong's June 28 fiscal update given one day before his government is expected to be defeated by the NDP and Green Party in a non-confidence vote.
"We are in far better shape today than we were and thought we were in February," de Jong told reporters at a press conference Wednesday.
Citing unaudited financials, De Jong attributed the increase in government revenue to GDP growth in 2016, which the Liberal government had conservatively budgeted at 2.4%, but which the Economic Forecast Council projected at 2.7%. It came in at 3.7%, de Jong said, which means more revenue, mostly from income taxes.
"GDP growth in 2016 dramatically – dramatically – outstripped forecasts," de Jong said. "We're almost three times the national average."
When released in February, the provincial budget projected a $1.5 billion surplus. When new spending and forgone revenue were factored in, it gave the province a $295 million operating surplus.
But in Wednesday's fiscal update, de Jong said the surplus is now estimated to be $2.8 billion – a $1.3 billion increase.
De Jong’s government has been criticized for last week’s throne speech, which essentially jettisoned the Liberal platform for NDP planks, including $1 billion in additional spending on child care.
In total, the throne speech commitments would increase spending by $2.6 billion over three years. That includes $1.9 billion in additional operating budget spending, $300 million in additional capital spending and forgone bridge toll revenue of $400 million.
De Jong acknowledged that his government will likely not get the chance to implement the spending it laid out in last week's throne speech, because it faces a non-confidence vote tomorrow that is expected to result in an NDP minority government.
"This is not a budget," de Jong said, "and it seems unlikely that I will have an opportunity to table a budget in the aftermath of tomorrow's vote."
