Business leaders urge B.C. parties to focus on economy in campaigns

Go back a decade and one of business leaders’ biggest asks of politicians was that governments balance their budgets.

B.C. Finance Minister Katrine Conroy earlier this year tabled the province’s second consecutive record deficit of $7.8 billion for the 2024-25 fiscal year. She then updated her assessment and said that shortfall was likely to reach $8.9 billion. “Both federally and provincially, we’re headed into deep waters, and whoever comes in—whether it’s still David Eby or whether it’s still Trudeau , whomever is there is going to have to start doing the hard stuff, and that’s never popular, and nobody wants to do it, so it’s often left to a future government.”

Efficiency in the economy is the key to wealth British Columbia Business Council CEO Laura Jones’ message for politicians is that the economy needs to be government’s top priority. “The best way to get out of is to stimulate economic growth and to have higher growth levels,” she said. “The painful way to get out is to have to start cutting, but we do know that today’s deficits are tomorrow’s taxes.”

Rustad has also said he wants to repeal B.C.’s carbon tax. Eby said he also supports getting rid of the tax if the federal government removes its requirement that all provinces have one. A problem with that approach is the immediate impact of lower taxes could be to push the budget deficit even higher, Jones said.

The province has a wealth of minerals and other resources and there are about 17 proposed projects that plan to potentially unearth those commodities, but getting a new mine approved can take 12 to 15 years, he said.Proponents, he said, find themselves punted back and forth between government departments, such as the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation, the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change and the Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship.

“When we do decide to make the decision, what’s happening is the costs are coming in wildly over budget, and the projects are years delayed,” he said.

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