February 15, 2002

A Valentine from the Auditor General
Another blow to the government's credibility

BC's Auditor General, Wayne Strelioff, presented a valentine to the government with his February 14th report (pdf) and news release on monitoring government finances.

The release says:

"Mr. Strelioff shows in his report that in the five-year period ended March 31, 2001 the economy in BC grew more than did the government's net liabilities. Net liabilities refer to the obligations we leave for our children to pay or finance."

"In the same five-year period, provincial revenues increased by 37%, expenses by 31%, capital assets by 7% and total debt by 18%."

Commenting on the more than 19% increase in revenues during the five year period, Strelioff observed that the trend will not continue "with the current year's drop in energy prices and the reduced provincial income taxes."

At a time when the Campbell government is attempting to blame others for its reckless cuts, it must be particularly galling to read the Auditor General's news release where it says:

"Looking at the last five fiscal years ended March 31, 2001, Mr. Strelioff examines the extent to which the economy has been able to sustain the demands placed on it by the BC government compared to other provinces and to Canada as a whole. Based on this comparison the Auditor General concludes that BC's economy has been the second most able to support its government's past revenue raising and spending practices."