VANCOUVER, B.C.: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is releasing a list of priorities for the government of British Columbia ahead of the 2024 legislative session:  

1. Pay down the debt
2. Reduce government spending
3. Cut the carbon tax

“Premier David Eby’s government is barreling into 2024 with massive debts, sky high taxes and a bloated bureaucracy,” said Carson Binda, CTF B.C. Director. “Eby must focus on getting the government’s finances in order as the legislative assembly reconvenes this winter.”   

The provincial debt will reach $102 billion by the time the finance minister tables the 2024 budget. This year alone, interest payments on the debt will cost $3.3 billion – more than the province will spend on the ministries of transportation and infrastructure, public safety, housing and agriculture combined.  

“B.C.’s debt spiral is driven by excessive government spending,” Binda said. “Eby needs to find savings and the bloated bureaucracy is a great place to start.” 

By the end of this year, the bureaucracy will have grown by 31 per cent since the NDP took power. 

Total government spending has increased by almost 10 per cent in the past year alone, from $74.4 billion in 2022-23, to $81.5 billion this year. Inflation has risen by 3.12 per cent in the same time period, according to the Bank of Canada. Population growth has also sat at around three per cent. 

The provincial government must control spending so that it can cancel the increase to the provincial carbon tax hike scheduled for April 1. When the tax hike takes effect, drivers in the lower mainland will be paying about $52 in taxes when filling up a mid-sized sedan. 

“The government needs to rein in out-of-control spending, so it has room to cut taxes,” Binda said. “Eby should take a page from the NDP in Manitoba and cut fuel taxes, or do what Scott Moe is doing in Saskatchewan and cut the carbon tax on home heating regardless of Ottawa’s objections.”

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