On the heels of an economic forecast showing B.C. weathered the storms of the pandemic, fires and floods better than expected in 2021, Finance Minister Selina Robinson delivered a budget Tuesday that opted to build on the glimmer of optimism and spend its way to economic recovery.
Saying it was a budget of choices that played heavily on the theme of building the province back stronger and leveraging the collective strength of the population, Robinson delivered a $71-billion budget with a built-in deficit of $5.5 billion.
“We know that we are at our best when we work together and look out for each other,” Robinson said. “The scale of the problems we have seen recently — from the ongoing pandemic to the devastating effects of climate-related disasters — require government leadership and collective action.
“We know that the strength of our economy is intertwined with the well-being of people, communities and the climate.”
To that end, the budget includes billions earmarked for infrastructure upgrades, health care, climate change, childcare and housing.
Robinson defended the massive swing from the $483-million loss in the 2021-22 fiscal year to a projected deficit of $5.5 billion in the coming year, saying while there were some improving revenue numbers, there was also one-time federal relief funding sent to the province that added to the bottom line.
Last fall, Robinson forecast a budget deficit of $1.7 billion for the 2021-22 fiscal year, down from an original projection of $9.7 billion.
For the coming year the finance minister is forecasting four per cent economic growth.
She said expected increases in the public service reflect the need for more doctors, nurses, care workers, paramedics and wildfire fighters, and that the province simply needs new schools, hospitals, urgent care centres and a significant investment in the province’s aging transportation infrastructure that took the brunt of natural disasters last fall.
Robinson told reporters not only does the government have to repair the roads and bridges, it has to ensure they are built to be able to withstand future disasters and whatever climate change has to offer.
The budget includes $2.1 billion for disaster recovery efforts and future response to the threats posed by wildfires, floods and heat waves.
Robinson said the budget does not include a total estimate of the recovery costs of last year’s natural disasters, but she included a $1.1-billion contingency fund to cover future costs.
She also included $633 million to address homelessness primarily through providing more secure housing and support options for vulnerable people.
To build a stronger economy, the province has earmarked $27.4 billion over three years for infrastructure improvements, which means thousands of jobs as new schools, hospitals, transit and roads are built and rebuilt.
The budget also includes $185 million in funding to help people in communities affected by the deferral of old growth logging, $289 million over the next five years to expand high-speed internet access throughout B.C., $67 million in skills and jobs training and an accelerated $100 million to fund mixed-income rental housing earlier than expected.
The province has created a new Declaration Act Secretariat, with a $12-million budget for the next three years, to ensure provincial legislation is aligned with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Robinson said reconciliation is a process and that it would take time and she hopes the secretariat and a new Land, Water and Resource Stewardship Ministry will support reconciliation and address how government works with First Nations on land and water.
On the environmental front the budget includes an additional $1 billion over three years to fight climate change and implement new initiatives like $9 million to expand the Low Carbon Fuel Standard and to develop a new emissions cap on natural gas utilities.
For the province’s drivers, there is a PST exemption for used zero-emission vehicles and a higher threshold for luxury surtax on passenger zero-emission vehicles up to $75,000 as well as $79 million to provide rebates for electric-vehicle charging systems, fund hydrogen refuelling infrastructure and support commercial vehicle pilot projects.
