Image: BC Liberal Party / Facebook

By Kevin Falcon, Official Opposition Leader

OPINION

YOUR PERSPECTIVE: Budget 2023 delivers all rhetoric, no results

Mar 1, 2023 | 2:03 PM

In Premier David Eby’s first budget, the NDP has once again proposed record-high spending while delivering record-low results for British Columbians.

Despite what the NDP may argue, Budget 2023 offers nothing new for everyday people. This budget may come with glossy new packaging, loud fanfare, many uses of the word “record” and a new Premier, but it isn’t fooling anyone. This is the same old NDP rhetoric and the same old NDP priorities that have left our province in concurrent crises and with some of the worst results in the country.

Life has never been more unaffordable for British Columbians, with the highest housing costs in North America — and in their budget, the NDP is no longer promising 114,000 housing units over ten years.

People are literally dying because they cannot access basic healthcare, and emergency rooms are shutting down in every corner of the province — and there’s nothing to suggest that yet more funding will lead to different results.

Violent prolific offenders are committing vicious random assaults daily due to the catch-and-release justice system overseen by David Eby while serving as the NDP’s Attorney General — but there’s nothing of substance in this budget to support victims of crime.

INCLUSIVE WORK PROGRAM

New contract to help employ recycling depot workers facing job loss in Mission

10h ago

FATAL CRASH

1 dead after single-vehicle collision at Lougheed Highway Saturday

10h ago

Surrey Police Service say a nine-year-old has died after collision with large vehicle

12h ago

While people struggle to access mental health and addictions support, there is no target to reduce wait times for care. People across our province desperately need complex care supports, but despite NDP rhetoric there is no money behind building regional care centres like our BC Liberal plan calls for.

Despite schools bursting at the seams, too many students in portables, and hospital builds behind schedule — the NDP’s cost overruns on their Community Rip-off Agreements mean there are no new major capital projects in this budget. Commuters have no promise of getting home faster or safer, with no promise of widening Highway 1 all the way to Whatcom Road — something we have promised.

People are exhausted, anxious about the future, and tired of waiting for this government to deliver on the vision they promised six years ago. Do you feel like your life has gotten any better since then? People in every corner of our province struggling with the costs of living, a crumbling health care system, and serious public safety concerns would certainly answer ‘no’ to that question. Sadly, Budget 2023 is pessimistic and uninspiring. It provides no reassurance to British Columbians that this government has finally figured out how to address the problems they face every day.

From housing, to affordability, to health care, and crime, never before has a government spent so much money to achieve so little. And according to the NDP’s own budget documents and forecasts — it only gets worse from here.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of Fraser Valley Today or Pattison Media.