The BC Government’s Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services has set out on their annual pre-budget consultation tour of B.C., hearing from stakeholder groups about what they want to see in the 2016-17 BC Budget. Spoiler alert: most groups want to see a lot more of your money spent.

Many of these causes and ideas are wonderful, but governing is about priorities. Fiscal restraint is absolutely vital. Over the next few weeks, we will post a running tab of the amount of requests this committee receives. Some cost estimates will come from the groups themselves; others will be guestimates.

Your CTF, by the way, is scheduled to present to this committee at 11:50 a.m., Tuesday, October 13, at the Sheraton Guildford Hotel in Surrey. Rest assured we WON’T be asking government to spend more money.

• After 4 days, the grand total: $9,869,225,000 in requests.
• NEW! On Day 4, they received $6,288,000,000 in requests.
• In the second half of their meetings on Day 3, they received $719,425,000 in requests.
• In the first half of their meetings on Day 3, they received $384,500,000 in requests.
• In the second half of their meetings on Day 2, they received $937,500,000 in requests.
• In the first half of their meetings on Day 2, they received $1,234,800,000 in requests.
• On Day 1, the committee had already received $305,000,000 in funding requests.

Here’s the Day 4 breakdown:

Day 4 - Monday, Sept. 21, Vancouver

• The Chartered Professional Accountants of BC want more skills training programs (let’s ballpark $5 million for that), data on foreign investment in the housing market (let’s put that at $1 million), mobile business licence program expansion ($1 million), forums for businesses across BC to collaborate ($1 million), & a school economic literacy program ($2 million). Total ask: $10m.
• The Capilano Students Union wants more housing on campus. Let’s put this at $20 million.
• The Retail Council of Canada wants to limit kids’ clothing PST exemptions to kid sizes and no provincial pension plan (strengthen CPP instead).
• The Pacific Association of Artist Run Centres want to double their funding through the BC Arts Council – this was previously requested and already counted.
• The Pulmonary Hypertension Association of Canada wants a certain drug included in Pharmacare coverage. No pricetag, so we’ll guestimate $2 million.
• The Independent Media Arts Alliance wants more money for the BC Arts Council. Already counted. They also want a capital program for theatres – let’s put that at $25 million.
• The Research Universities Council wants more student spaces, especially at the graduate level. They also want scholarships for grad students. We’ll put that at $10 million.
• The Douglas Students Union wants adult basic education restored. Already counted.
• The Alliance for Arts and Culture wants more gaming funds. Already counted.
• The BC Chamber of Commerce wants carbon tax revenue neutrality tools to be broader tax cuts – not boutique credits (we agree!). They want an HST-style tax. They want a dialogue on local government taxation. They want broader exemptions for the PST – let’s put that at $25 million. They want a smoother transition between small business and corporate tax rates.
• The David Suzuki Foundation wants the government to spend another $3.799 billion on a provincial transit plan. They also want a carbon tax hike that would work out to at least another 2.5 cents per litre gas tax (they actually suggest it should be more than tripled – which would mean another 15 cents or so per litre in gas tax, although they claim this is an aspirational goal, not a recommendation for this year). They want that increase to be spent – meaning spending of another $400 million. And they want another $11 million spent on carbon reduction in the public sector. Total Suzuki price tag: $4.21 billion. YOWZA!
• The Vancouver School Board wants more money for a Pre-K programming (let’s put this at $2 million), and more per-student funding generally ($143 million is their pricetag – previously counted).
• The Canadian Diabetes Association wants a tax on pop and to spend that money on healthy living programs. Let’s ballpark that at $50 million.
• Langara College wants the ability to run a deficit. They want higher per-student funding. These have been previously counted.
• The Association for Mineral Exploration BC wants a permanent flow-through tax credit (Budget has that at $4 million). They want a renewal of the exploration credit (ballpark $5m), they want to be able to writeoff environmental studies (ballpark $5m), funding for mineral mapping ($2 million). Total $16m.
• The Canadian Mental Health Association wants more funding. Already counted.
• Families Against Cuts To Education wants more education funding. Already counted.
• The Confederation of University Faculty Associations of BC wants more grad student funding. Already counted.
• The Georgia Strait Alliance wants more money to prepare waterfront cities to handle oil spills. Let’s put it at $5 million.
• The Western Convenience Stores Association wants fewer regulations.
• The Emily Carr Students Union wants cheaper tuition fees, more grants, and no interest on student loans. Already costed.
• The Canadian Federation of Independent Business wants a better PST and less red tape.
• First Call: BC Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition wants “significant investments”, including $10 a day childcare (this is generally estimated to cost $1.5 billion), cutting waitlists for children with challenges for assessments and therapies (ballpark $2 million), support program expansion ($2 million), aboriginal children access to programs ($1 million), more school funding (already counted), more college spending (already counted), more for youth mental health (ballpark $3 million), a child poverty plan (ballpark $10 million), higher income assistance rates (a 10% increase in the Ministry budget comes to $259 million), more MCFD funding (10% hike there comes to $138 million). TOTAL: $1.913 billion.
• Central 1 Credit Union wants their tax credit saved. Already counted.
• Stephen Bohus wants a property transfer tax loophole closed, and the tax kept.