Finance Minister Katrine Conroy answers questions from reporters following a photo opportunity at the Fernwood Community Centre in Victoria, B.C., on Wednesday, February 21, 2024.The B.C. government rolled out its election budget with financial relief for families and businesses, and record spending on health and education. The voter-friendly largesse will be financed by what is expected to be the highest deficit the province has ever recorded, and soaring taxpayer debt.
With a provincial election due no later than Oct. 19, the budget includes a number of measures designed to ease cost-of-living pressure on low- and middle-income families, as well as small business. And across the board, electricity customers will receive a 4.6 per cent credit on their bills, starting in April. The majority of customers rely on the Crown corporation, BC Hydro, which has just had a 2.3 per cent annual rate hike approved by its regulator.
The total provincial debt will have doubled since the New Democratic Party formed government in 2017. The finance minister said the province’s debt load is favourable compared to other large provinces.The province’s interest costs as a percentage of government revenue are less than half of that paid by Ontario and Quebec, she said.Bridgitte Anderson, CEO of the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, said the debt numbers are troubling.
The province is also offering new support to help people facing fertility barriers to starting a family, promising to pay for one round of in-vitro fertilization, a program that it expects will cost $68-million.
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