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 7 days, the grand total: $10,523,005,000
• NEW! In the second half of their meetings on Day 7, they received $245,080,000 in requests.
• In the first half of their meetings on Day 7, they received $133,100,000 in requests.
• On Day 6, they received $205,400,000 in requests.
• On Day 5, they received $70,200,000 in requests.
• 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 7B breakdown:

Day 7B - Wednesday, Sept. 30, Abbotsford

• Literacy Matters Abbotsford wants more money for literacy. Already included.
• Speakbox wants $80,000 for their mental health activities.
• FIOSA-MIOSA Safety Alliance of BC wants more funding for occupational health and safety training programs, and more money for the job grant training program. Let’s peg this at $15 million.
• The Langley Teachers Association wants more money for education. Already counted this in the BCTF’s presentation. LTA wants a new high school too – we’ll peg that at $50 million.
• Terry Robertson of Prince George wants more service from Community Living BC. A 10% increase to CLBC’s annual budget would cost $80 million.
• Innergex Renewable Energy wants a new clean infrastructure fund. No dollar figure attached, but $75 million sounds right.
• Abbotsford Community Services wants more funding to address affordable housing, mental health and child poverty. Some of these have been included elsewhere, but we’ll add $25 million for their ideas.
• The Kwantlen Faculty Association wants more money for post secondary education. Already counted.