YOUR PERSPECTIVE: Inflation relief measures fall short

This week, the NDP government revealed a projected $706 million surplus as part of their First Quarterly Report, up from a $5.5 billion deficit. It’s difficult to celebrate this positive number when one considers that while inflation has been good for the NDP’s budget, it continues to hurt British Columbians.

The NDP’s lack of meaningful action to help people with rising costs also continues to sting. Last week, they announced their long-promised measures to fight inflation which many people found underwhelming, too little, and months too late.

One of the major pieces of the government’s plan is a rebate through the BC Climate Action Tax Credit. It’s a solid idea, but one that our BC Liberal Caucus proposed six months ago. Since we first brought forward the suggestion, the government has let two different opportunities to get this rebate out to people pass by. It makes me wonder what the reason was for the delay. If they had taken our advice back in March, people struggling to get by could have seen savings in early April, or even early July, but now they will be waiting until October.

Instead of taking decisive action, the NDP spent the spring and summer dithering and delaying, while British Columbians watched it get increasingly difficult to make ends meet. Groceries got more expensive, high gas prices cost families thousands of dollars, and yet government still delayed significant action.