Vancouver: As the economic impacts of COVID-19 increase every day, BC Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson is calling for the NDP to immediately provide a budget update that gives British Columbians an accurate picture of the state of the province’s finances.
“The NDP’s budget from earlier this year isn’t accurate anymore — people deserve the truth about this budget,” said Wilkinson. “The NDP added $5-billion in extra spending in April to deal with the pandemic. Where did that money go? As we continue to reopen, people need to know where and how their money is being spent by the NDP. We don’t need more surveys – we need more certainty and answers.”
Wilkinson says the NDP government is surely getting weekly, if not daily, financial updates so there’s no reason they can’t tell British Columbians where the budget stands and their plan to get our economy back on track.
“People across the province have made massive sacrifices to fight the pandemic and deserve to know exactly how much government revenues have gone down and how much spending has gone up,” said Wilkinson. “British Columbians shouldn’t have to wait to find out just how hard our economy has been hit by COVID-19 — we need to see the numbers now so we can plan accordingly before it’s too late to fully recover.”
The BC Liberals have been actively reaching out, listening and bringing forward common-sense ideas to the government to help with B.C.’s economic recovery. Since March, twelve letters outlining more than 40 suggestions have been sent to the Premier. Recommendations like a 90-day PST and EHT tax holiday to help get businesses open and people back to work, WorkSafeBC PPE funding to keep people safe on the job and immediate supports for the bar and restaurant industry are just a few of the solutions that have yet to be acknowledged by the NDP.
