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 3 days, the grand total: $3,581,225,000

• NEW! 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 3B breakdown:

Day 3B - Thursday, Sept. 17, Nanaimo

• The Kuterra Limited Partnership wants an aquaculture research program similar to one in Norway. That’s $3.125 million per year.
• The Gabriola Bridge Society wants a bridge. A feasibility study is already underway by government. They claim it would save money in BC Ferries subsidy; I’m skeptical until I see a business case and won’t put a cost on this one.
• The Island Coastal Economic Trust wants more money, as its original $50 million envelope is nearly depleted. Averaged over several years, it looks like their annual grant would be $6 million or so.
• The Coastal Community Credit Union wants to keep its preferential tax rate. Already factored in (they say it would hit them for $1.5m).
• The North Island Students Union wants reduced tuition fees. This has already been included in our running total.
• PacificSport Vancouver Island wants more funding –100^th of 1 per cent of the health care budget. That would be $1.75 million.
• The Parksville and District Chamber of Commerce wants the PST cut from machinery and equipment purchases and the carbon tax relaxed on exports. No costing, but a 1% reduction in PST revenue would come to $26.3 million.
• Shore Energy Solutions wants BC Hydro incentives for energy audits restored and the government to mandate that any house sold has to be energy audited (BC Hydro spent $17.5 million per year on that and other savings programs – let’s peg this at $5m). He claims it wouldn’t cost anything, but it’s fair to say policing such a program would cost at least $2 million annually. Total: $7 million.
• The Vancouver Island University Students Union wants tuition fees cut and student loan interest rates cut. Both these have been previously included in our running total.
• The Aboriginal Sports, Recreation and Physical Activity Partners Council, Vancouver Coastal Regional Sport and Physical Activity wants continued support for aboriginal sports. Let’s guesstimate $250,000.
• The BC Teachers Federation wants more money, more teachers, more assistants, and wants to cut all independent school funding. Last year, the BC Government spent $5.5 billion on education. I suspect the BCTF would likely never be happy, but a 20% budget increase would likely cover much of what they want. We previously counted a 5% increase. Another 15% would be another $675 million.
• The Canadian Federation of Students wants more post sec funding, lower tuition fees, more ESL and ABE funding. We’ve counted this before.
• The Vancouver Island University Faculty Association wants ABE funding restored. Already counted.