B.C.’s NDP government has released its second fiscal update, and it shows the province’s surplus has shrunk by $56 million.
B.C.’s surplus now sits at $190 million.
But Finance Minister Carole James says she feels “comfortable with the numbers in the budget.”
“If you look at the economic indicators in our province, our economy continues to be strong,” said James. “The difference between the previous government and our government is that British Columbians are seeing the investment of that strong economy.”
James said some of the big challenges this quarter included a record-setting firefighting bill, $643 million less in federal income tax and a $139 million loss at ICBC.
“My intention is to make sure that we have a comfortable surplus to make sure that we have prudence built into the budget for unexpected things that occur – like you saw in this second quarter report – and that we balance the budget. And that the resources are then used to invest in British Columbians,” said James.
She said accruing massive surpluses are a thing of the past, adding that it doesn’t make sense to hold money when you don’t need to.
To keep the books balanced, the NDP used two thirds of the budget’s forecast allowance, something James said the previous BC Liberal government did to balance the books in 2012 and 2013.
James promised February’s budget will be balanced.