Oh, promises, their kind of promises can just destroy a life
Oh, promises, those kind of promises take all the joy from life
Dionne Warwick 1968
The above is a rather prophetic lyric if there ever was one.
Deceitful promises do, indeed, suck the joy out of life and the B.C. Liberals have demonstrated this fact many times during their 11-year tenure. I’m sure many of you can recall that dark day in 2002 when the B.C. Liberals terminated lawful, in force, contracts.
What did the B.C. Liberals say before the election?
“First of all, I don’t believe in ripping up agreements… I have never said I would tear up agreements, former premier Gordon Campbell told the Hospital Employees’ Union Guardian newspaper.
During the 2001 election, the B.C. Liberals promised not to sell BC Rail. Not long after the ballots were counted, BC Rail was on the market.
Then prior to the 2009 election, the two biggest whoppers were told. The Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) was not on the government’s radar and the province’s deficit would be a trifling $495 million and not a penny more.
When September rolled around after the election, the government announced its accountants weren’t wearing their glasses when they were tabulating the deficit and that, in fact, it would be $2.8 billion. It soon grew to 3.8 billion.
Then they announced the “not-on-their-radar” HST, which quickly turned into one of the biggest debacles in the province’s history. This regressive tax ended up costing the average B.C. family about $340 annually.
Now, here are some facts and figures that suggest that six-year-old kids selling lemonade on the sidewalk are likely better fiscal managers than the current government. In December 2012, Moody’s Investors Service downgraded B.C.’s credit rating from AAA stable to AAA negative.
At the end of fiscal year 2003/04 (March 31, 2004), total provincial long-term debt was reported to be $37.735 billion and total liabilities $52.951 billion.
By fiscal 2012, the two values were $50.193 billion and $70.358 billion, respectively. That’s a 33 per cent increase over the past nine years.
These are big numbers, but they pale in comparison to what the province’s long-term liabilities are when it comes to IPPs (Independent Power Projects) and P3s (Public Private Partnerships). In 2011, the province’s liability for these projects stood at $80 billion. This is over and above the province’s $50-billion debt.
When Attorney General Shirley Bond was asked to comment on the province’s credit downgrading, she said, “The downgrade will inspire the provincial government to strengthen spending control and says the province will have to demonstrate even more discipline to control spending.”
Bond is quite right – it makes one wonder why the government decided to spend 15 million taxpayer dollars on TV and print ads that at best can be described as misleading and self promoting.
Richard Vollo is the vice-president of the Cariboo-Chilcotin New Democrats.
