Prince George-Valemount BC United MLA Shirley Bond says yesterday’s (Tuesday) Throne Speech from the NDP provided very little hope any relief is coming to ease the financial pressures people are facing in this province.
Bond added the vast amount of spending shown by David Eby and his government has put people in a tough spot and that the taxpayers shouldn’t be expected to foot the bill for everything.
“The NDP government has been part in parcel for the reason that British Columbians are facing the challenges that they are facing. We just learned that when you look at the numbers, this government is going to amass more debt in the next three years than what was accumulated during the past two recessions in BC.”
“When you think about a rent-to-own program, for example, there are several steps we have laid out that would make a difference from that perspective. We also know this, that you can’t rely on taxpayers in terms of funding all of the spending in this province.”
In addition, Bond hopes ahead of tomorrow’s (Thursday) budget that the NDP lists Prince George in the right area of the province and not the northwest as it read in the Throne Speech.
“We are in the Central Interior, we are part of driving the economy in British Columbia. I would suggest that we better figure out where Prince George is on the map and then we better start thinking about this government is going to acknowledge that Northern British Columbians and rural communities are facing significant challenges.”
Furthermore, Prince George-Cariboo North MLA Coralee Oakes echoed Bond’s sentiments stating the NDP was essentially doing victory laps for things that are not occurring in BC.
“They kept talking about how healthcare is improving and about how many new doctors they have in the system. Well just take a look at what is happening in Quesnel, we’re losing doctors. They talk about how they are increasing nursing staff. Well again talk to our healthcare providers on the front line. They talk about what a great job they’re doing around bringing the costs of things down but look at your heating bill and your groceries and your rent.”
“By every single metric things are not better in British Columbia and you look at the fact that they’re been in government now for 7 years things are not better than when they formed government in 2017.  My concern is that they have such a big government approach to everything, whether it’s housing, the public service, you are increasing taxes, you are increasing red tape and regulation and that just makes things more unaffordable for the average British Columbian.”
Budget Day in BC is set for tomorrow (Thursday) in Victoria.
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