The
November 30th release of BC's Second Quarterly Financial
Report 2006-07 was marked by Finance Minister Carole Taylor
spreading more scare stories about demands for increased
health spending. Unlike the graph which accompanied the
release of the First Quarterly Report in September, showing
that under unrealistic
assumptions health could reach 71% of government spending
by 2017, Taylor's November scare stories cannot be found
in the Report, news release or slide show. Her
claim that the province faces $4 billion in additional
spending pressures from the health authority was made in
her remarks to the news media covering the release of the
report. Taylor couldn't produce any specifics to support
her claim, nor could she answer why her imagined health
pressure doubled between the First and Second Quarterly
Reports. She told the media that it is difficult to know
what the health authorities are doing because they have
so many different systems. That doesn't make sense. The
health authorities are not independent of government. The
provincial government appoints their boards and can fire
them whenever it chooses; hence, it can control absolutely
everything the authorities do. In a court case involving
the failure of the Provincial Health Service Authority (PHSA)
to meet in public, The Honourable
Mr. Justice Macaulay wrote: "In my view, the Minister
has not delegated any of his duties. The functions of the
PHSA are administrative and advisory. The Minister remains
legally and politically responsible."
The
hard data contained in the Second Quarterly Report shows
that spending by the health authorities is expected to exceed
their budgets by $66 million (Table 1.1), but the Report
also states that health and social transfers from the federal
government are up by $51 million. Would Taylor divert that
increase in federal transfers for health and social services
to some other purpose if she could? While $66 million is
a lot of money, it is less than one half of one percent
of the annual health budget. That doesn't appear to support
Taylor's claims about out-of-control cost pressures. Could
it be that Taylor is prepared to sacrifice her credibility
in order to assist the
Premier's spin in his conversation on health care?
The
bottom line is that in February Taylor told British Columbians
to expect a surplus of $600 million, or $1.45 billion before
the forecast allowance; when reporting on the first six
months of spending and revenue she said she expects a surplus
of $2.15 billion, or $2.70 billion before the forecast allowance.
It is immoral that Premier Campbell announced at the BC
Liberal Convention that people on welfare can wait until
February 2007 before his government says what it will do
about inadequate housing allowances. As a cold winter begins
and the Campbell government finds itself swimming in money,
it tells the most needy to wait four months or more.
The
next deadline is December 6th for the government to respond
to my freedom of information request on information contained
in the First Quarterly Report on "own-source revenue"
for health authorities and school boards. I won't hold my
breath that they will comply with the Act, but there is
a little more information on the matter in Table A.5 of
the Second Quarterly Report. It shows that own-source revenue
for school districts is up again, from $432 million in February's
budget, to $488 million in the First Quarterly Report, and
now to $502 million in the Second Quarterly Report. Own-source
revenue is also up for colleges and universities. It is
up for health authorities relative to the February budget,
but down by $28 million for the authorities relative to
the First Quarterly Report. Perhaps Taylor can explain some
of her figures and forecasts when the Legislature next sits
in February; in the meantime further efforts will be made
to extract explanations through the use of the Freedom
of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
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