VANCOUVER, B.C.: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is criticizing the B.C. government’s financial planning following the release of the first quarter report for 2023-24. 

“If the provincial government had been prudent with last year’s surplus, we would have been better prepared for unforeseen challenges,” said Carson Binda, B.C. director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. “Instead, the government blew almost all of last year’s surplus and budgeted a deficit for this year. Now the quarterly financial report shows that the projected deficit has ballooned by $2.5 billion after the first quarter alone.” 

B.C. finished the last fiscal year with a $704 million surplus. This year, the province is planning to run a deficit of $6.7 billion, which is $2.5 billion more than projected in budget 2023-24. 

Budget 2023-24 resulted in a credit rating downgrade for B.C. Rating agency S&P Global cut the province’s rating from AA+ to AA with a negative outlook. 

“Premier David Eby should have saved the surplus we had in 2023 for a rainy day like today, instead of spending it on handouts for B.C. Ferries and Translink.” Said Binda. “When you wrack up a big credit card bill when things are good, there’s less money left when times are bad.” 

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