Last week, the NDP introduced Budget 2023, their plan for investing in our province over the next few years. Despite their flashy fanfare, it became clear that there is little to celebrate — particularly for rural B.C.
It was disappointing to see so little bravery from new Premier David Eby after he promised bold action for our current crises. Instead, he left British Columbians with record-high spending on record-low results.
Despite government’s rhetoric on health care, it’s clear the outcomes have never been worse. One in five British Columbians don’t have a family doctor. Hospitals are in chaos and emergency rooms see repeated closures. People have lost their lives because of ambulance delays and B.C. has some of the worst walk-in clinic wait times in the country. But there is nothing in this budget to give people confidence that any of this is going to change.
This budget also revealed the long-awaited upgrades to Cariboo Memorial Hospital are almost 70 per cent over budget and nearly three years behind schedule.
We also saw disappointments in the area of mental health. While it’s good to see this government allot dollars for addiction treatment, the NDP’s commitments are sorely lacking when compared with our Official Opposition’s Better is Possible plan. The NDP has made no mention of eliminating fees for treatment and has set no money aside to expand the innovative Red Fish Health Centre model of recovery.
Additionally, there is nothing in the NDP’s budget that talks about growing the economy, generating more revenues, and supporting small businesses.
The resource industry also appears to be left behind. Natural resource revenues are projected to fall by 33 per cent over two years — reflecting the NDP approach of managing a decline in the resource sector rather than planning for a sustainable future. This is deeply concerning, particularly for our struggling forest industry. How many more mills can we expect to close?
Adding stress to families, the NDP will triple the carbon tax. And while previously every single cent would be returned to people and businesses, that no longer happens, ever since the NDP abandoned the revenue-neutral component in its first year in government.
I wish I could say there was more in Budget 2023 for the people of Cariboo-Chilcotin, but unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be the case. Rural B.C. has once again been left without the support it needs and deserves.
newsroom@100milefreepress.net
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