KELOWNA, B.C.: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) today presented Rein in the Crowns, its 2014-15 B.C. budget plan, to the province’s Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services.

CTF B.C. Director Jordan Bateman was in Kelowna to make the presentation to the committee of MLAs charged with making recommendations to Finance Minister Michael de Jong. The CTF’s top priority is simple: balance the budget without raising taxes.

“Balancing the budget should be the goal of every MLA,” said Jordan Bateman, the CTF’s B.C. Director. “A balanced budget means we can slow the steady wasting of taxpayer cash on paying interest on our provincial debt. The ongoing core review will help government get to balance, but the review needs to be extended into crown corporations and other government agencies.”

Among the CTF’s 22 recommendations to the committee:

• Reducing government dividends from BC Hydro and ICBC over several years
• More competition for crown corporations
• Selling off B.C. liquor stores
• Eliminating the Pacific Carbon Trust
• Reforming PavCo by improving transparency and reducing board size

“Crown corporations are getting out of control – gouging taxpayers for more and more money while padding the salaries and bonuses of a select few executives at the top,” said Bateman. “It’s time for government to make a decision: either open these monopolies up to competition and see how they fare in the real world, or rein them in with direct political accountability. Right now, we have the worst of both worlds.”

Over the past few years, several of the CTF’s recommendations to this committee have been adopted by the government, including a core review of government programs, eliminating the Childhood Education Fund, keeping B.C.’s Balanced Budget and Ministerial Accountability Act, suspending increases in the carbon tax and holding the line on government employee wages through net zero and cooperative gains mandates.

Click here to view the CTF’s 32-page 2014-15 submission.