VICTORIA, B.C.: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is criticizing the provincial government’s 2023 budget for turning a big surplus into years of deficits.

“The government is mismanaging provincial finances with big deficits and no plan to balance the budget,” said Carson Binda, B.C. Director of the CTF. “The budget shows Premier David Eby wants to run a credit card government.”

Despite ending 2022 with a $3.6-billion forecasted surplus, the budget is projecting a $4.2-billion deficit in 2023.

The debt is expected to reach almost $108 billion by the end of this year. Debt interest charges will cost taxpayers $3.3 billion this year.

“Interest charges on the government credit card will cost British Columbians more than $3 billion this year,” said Binda. “That’s billions of dollars that can’t be used to hire more nurses or lower taxes because it’s going to the bond fund managers on Bay Street.

“Taxpayers deserve a balanced budget so we can reduce the debt on future generations, waste less money on interest charges and avoid future tax hikes.”