To the editor:
The B.C. Liberals have recently been blabbing away about their so-called balanced budget.
I would like to point out a couple of items they don’t seem to like talking about.
First, total provincial debt, now at $63.8 billion, is projected to rise to $70.4 billion by 2017/18.
The projected figure is more than double what it was in 2007/08. What happened to Debt-free B.C.?
Second, total contractual obligations are $102.8 billion.
This is for contracted expenditures into the future, up to 2020 and beyond. This is for things like hospital and highways public-private partnerships (P3s), policing, etc.
The biggest item on this list is BC Hydro’s contracts to purchase power from independent power projects, at $56.4 billion owed.
Adding first and second equals a total of $173.2 billion total British Columbia government debt and future contractual obligations.
Sources: p. 35 of http://bcbudget.gov.bc.ca/2015/bfp/2015_budget_and_fiscal_plan. pdf and
http://www.fin.gov.bc.ca/ocg/pa/13_14/Contractual_Obligations.pdf
Hugh Thomas
100 Mile House