It has been more than 40 years since Vaughn Palmer became part of the The Vancouver Sun’s Legislative Bureau. He is still there, and BC journalism is all the richer for that.
At a time when today’s “political” reporters are increasingly dwindling in number and too many of those remaining have basically become political “messengers” … delivering the scripted spins of the day … Palmer still directs his bright light into those dark places politicians would prefer remain in the shadows..
This past week, BC’s media reported the numbers/projections of Finance Minister Brenda Bailey’s Budget update this past week … and her spin: that BC is “undoubtedly” feeling the pinch from American tariffs, and the government is focusing on new trade partners, major projects and reducing inefficiencies as B.C.’s economy is expected to grow at a “measured pace.”
Palmer didn’t buy it.
“Donald Trump not to blame for BC’s financial woes, David Eby is,” shouted The Vancouver Sun headline above Palmer’s column.
And he too produced numbers … evidence to back his contention that, under Premier David Eby, BC’s financial state (as I have also pointed out on this blog) has gone severely downhill.
Palmer pointed out that when Premier John Horgan left office in 2022, BC had a $6 Billion Budget surplus; now, under Eby, the deficit is now $11 Billion.
“The $17 billion turnaround in just three years ranks as the most dramatic reversal in the B.C. government bottom line in the more than 40 years I have been covering provincial finances,” Palmer told Sun readers.
“Note, too, that Bailey only managed to cap off the deficit at $11 billion by bringing forward almost $2 billion in future payments from the settlement with Big Tobacco.” (And some of that tobacco settlement won’t accrue to BC for another 18 years!)
That’s a horrible financial record that deserves some ongoing very hard questioning from BC’s “working” media! Yet, I suspect Eby’s feet barely feel warm.
And Palmer delivered more revelations of how/why BC got into such a mess … not just clips outlining the government’s list of “accomplishments”.
By the way, Palmer also noted that under Horgan, BC’s total debt stood at $90 Billion.
“Eby has already boosted the debt to $155 billion, up 75 per cent, and again, he’s done so in a mere three years.”
“New Democrats would have one believe that Eby’s debt loading was mostly undertaken to pay for schools, hospitals, roads, bridges, transit lines and other capital projects,” Palmer wrote.
“In fact, the budgetary fine print shows that about half of the increase ($32 billion out of $65 billion) was to cover successive operating debts from program spending, not capital projects. Eby is outspending revenues at a record pace, making for record deficits,” the veteran Sun columnist revealed.
(You can read Palmer’s full analysis in The Vancouver Sun here: https://vancouversun.com/opinion/columnists/donald-trump-not-to-blame-for-bc-financial-woes-david-eby-is. )
British Columbians owe Palmer …and the few others who still keep politicians’ feet to the fire … a great debt, as they shine the light on the truth, and don’t just parrot their spin.
Meanwhile, BC’s debt soars and our international credit rating has taken a hit, yet NDP has increased the size of BC’s public service by 50% .
Yet, hospital Emergency rooms keep being closed; urban streets remain unsafe; homelessness mounts; child care and affordable housing goals continue to lag
Now, I realize some blog readers feel I’m to hard, too critical of our current Premier.
So for the closing words of this blog, I’ll yield to those my esteemed colleague from The Vancouver Sun used to conclude his own:
“A comparison of this year’s books with the results from three years ago shows that the main perpetrator of B.C.’s fiscal fiasco is a fellow named David Eby.”
Harv Oberfeld
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