THE BC Liberals said on Tuesday that 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 David Eby and the NDP may argue, Budget 2023 offers very little for everyday people,” said BC Liberal Leader Kevin Falcon. “This budget may come with glossy new packaging, loud fanfare, many uses of the word “record” and a shiny new Premier, but it isn’t fooling anyone. This is the same old NDP rhetoric and the same promised NDP priorities that have left our province in concurrent crises and with some of the worst results in the country.”
The BC Liberals said that in the NDP’s seventh budget, they have failed to deliver on their promises to British Columbia:
* Life has never been more unaffordable, with the highest housing costs in North America — and 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 more funding will lead to better results.
* Violent prolific offenders are committing vicious random assaults daily due to David Eby’s catch-and-release justice system — but there’s nothing of substance in this budget to support victims of crime.
* While people struggle to access mental health and addictions support, there is no target to reduce wait times for care.
* People desperately need complex care supports, but there won’t be enough staff available to open and operate these facilities once built.
* Despite schools bursting at the seams, too many students in portables, and hospital builds way behind schedule — the NDP’s cost overruns on their Community Rip-off Agreements mean there are no new major capital projects in this budget.
“People are exhausted, anxious about the future, and tired of waiting for this government to deliver on the vision they promised six years ago,” Peter Milobar, Official Opposition Critic for Finance. “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 — today is as good as it gets. It only gets worse from here.”