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This week’s provincial budget, as presented by Gordon Campbell, to the Surrey Board of Trade February 18, would have been received as a good news budget for bad times had it not been overshadowed by the events precipitated by the gang violence sweeping the lower mainland.  Despite a press conference on February 13, where the Premier outlined a seven point plan to address the gang violence, the budget did not address these dramatic events.  Instead it actually listed cuts to the Attorney and Solicitor General’s budgets, ministries both critical to any effort to combat gang violence leading many to suspect that the government missed this menace entirely until events and public outcry demanded their attention.

In addressing the unprecedented world-wide economic crisis, the budget presented a $14 billion dollar package to mitigate the economic impact on the economy of the province.  Basing their premises on financial outlooks from a number of credible commentators, the budget is a mix of stimulus spending and belt tightening which will take the province into deficit territory for the next two years.

“We felt that the budget was a responsible approach to dealing with a very difficult situation,” said Eric Wilson, Chair of the Surrey Board of Trade (SBoT) Finance & Taxation Team.  “In this case, running a deficit through these times was the right thing to do. Another very positive signal was that the government also brought forward spending controls and savings from non-critical programs and ministries, to redirect into the stimulus effort.  On the whole we endorse their actions and support the budget as far as it goes.”

It was noted that including the projected deficits, the debt to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio, the means by which credit worthiness is determined, remains lower than it was when BC’s “Triple A” rating was awarded initially.

The whole team expressed concern that the studies and outlook documents, upon which the planning actions are predicated, may be overly optimistic. There was strong concern that the economic crisis was much worse.  That is something which can only be determined as events unfold. 

The SBoT team was very pleased with the commitments to spending on education, particularly the K-12 infrastructure, efforts to expedite the enrolment of apprentices, and post secondary access.

“We are anxious to see what funding will be directed to our two universities, SFU and Kwantlen Polytechnic,” said Anita Huberman. CEO of the Surrey Board of Trade. “There are funding issues in Surrey’s post secondary community which we hope to see addressed. We are hopeful.” 

As well, the team was pleased with the province’s commitments to health, particularly the long overdue expansion of services and facilities at Surrey Memorial Hospital.

On it’s own, the Surrey Board of Trade considers this a reasonable effort at stimulating the economy, however, confidence that the government is paying attention to critical issues such as the criminal gang activities has taken a great deal of the bloom off the rose.

Contact:  Anita Huberman, CEO
               Surrey Board of Trade
               604.581.7130
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Surrey Board of Trade