Soon Finance Minister Gary Collins will release a report on provincial government finances from April 1 through September 30, 2004.

In 2001, Collins released the Second Quarter Financial Report on November 22nd; he slipped in week in subsequent years, releasing it on November 28th in both 2002 and 2003. The Budget Transparency and Accountability Act gives Collins until November 30th to make his report public.

The Second Quarter report is the last scheduled economic statement by the Finance Minister before his budget is tabled on February 15, 2005. In normal times, the release of the Second Quarter report would be an opportunity to do some minor tweaking of assumptions based on updated economic data. These aren't normal times; the election is less than six months away. The message of good times ahead is unlikely to be tempered by caution even if there is reason for concerns, a rising dollar (up 10% since the First Quarter Report was released in September), and falling exports. Voters need to keep in mind that the figures for this year's budget and the one that will be presented in February will not be tested by an audit until well after the May 17th election.

Before the Surrey - Panorama Ridge by-election, the Campbell government announced the elimination of the half point it previously added to the sales tax. That was followed by spending announcements at the Liberal Convention. In order to be credible, the Second Quarter Financial Report should incorporate costing of those announcements and update the projections for the next two years.