It has been quite the summer for revelations about political expense accounts and the pay and perks of politicians.
government spending
August 18, 2014
6:00AM
July 16, 2014
6:00AM
The City of Vancouver is the only municipality in B.C. that can directly take on debt without permission from the provincial and regional governments. Perhaps not surprisingly, it is also the only municipality in the Metro region with liabilities (debt, employee pension obligations, etc) consistently greater than financial assets (cash, investments, etc).
June 6, 2014
6:00AM
Finance minister Mike de Jong recently issued a flurry of press releases touting the high credit rating of the BC government by various rating agencies. In one release he said: “The judgment of the rating agencies is an objective confirmation that by balancing our budget and keeping our debt affordable for British Columbians, our finances are on the right track.” Statements like these can mislead British Columbians about the actual state of BC’s finances, which may not be as rosy as the minister lets on.
June 2, 2014
2:00AM
Premier Couillard's government will table its first budget on June 4 and early signs suggest it's not going to be business as usual.
May 31, 2014
2:00AM
Question: If someone made $62,000 last year, had $187,000 in their bank account, and yet sought a $5,360 subsidy from government, what would the common sense response be?
May 27, 2014
2:00AM
A new report on provincial debts and deficits by Moody's, the international credit rating agency, is another piercing reminder of Ontario's serious fiscal challenges.