Finance Minister Mike de Jong provided what he says will likely be his final update on BC’s finances today.
The Minister pointed to a rosy economic outlook for the province, saying BC is expected to be one of the country’s top performers in 2017. Economic growth in 2016 is estimated at 3.7%, which would be BC’s second consecutive year at the top of the provincial heap.
While the numbers have not been verified by BC’s Auditor General, de Jong expects the surplus for 2016-17 to be $2.8 billion – $1.3 billion more than Budget 2017 projected. Government spending is also expected to increase by $1.9 billion.
De Jong also spoke to the Liberal’s fiscal legacy.
“There are way more people working, there is more opportunity, the balance sheet is a stronger, we are on the cusp of eliminating are operating debt for the first time in 45 years, which isn’t to say that all things are perfect.”
However, he believes the Liberals have achieved the goal of public office – to leave the province in better shape than it was when they were elected.
“The Throne Speech is an acknowledgement that there are areas where, now that we have additional fiscal resources, there need to be investments made. But we can do so without further burdening our children and grandchildren with additional debt.” 
The Liberals are unlikely to get the chance to make those investments. The confidence vote that will likely oust them from government is expected to take place tomorrow.
De Jong shed some light on how a Liberal opposition might operate.
“We’ll be looking for consistency, as an opposition, between what the government has said today and what they purport to do in the future. In part, this represents a bar against which a new government will be measured in terms of the performance.”
He says his job will be to critique and analyze whether the new government’s policies put BC’s sound fiscal footing at risk. He also warned that altering the province’s economic foundation, could erase the gains made by the Liberals.
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