VICTORIA — British Columbia's finance minister has painted a rosy picture of the province's finances one day before his government is expected to be defeated in a confidence vote.
Mike de Jong released an unaudited fiscal update today that says a higher-than-expected $2.8-billion surplus in the last fiscal year helped reduce the province's taxpayer-supported debt by $1.2 billion, while its operating debt decreased by $3.4 billion.
The Liberals criticized the NDP for making costly promises ahead of an election on May 9, but in a throne speech last week adopted many of the New Democrats' proposals, totalling $2.6 billion in new spending over three years.
De Jong says the Liberals based their campaign platform on projections from the economic forecast council, which at that time had an "abiding pessimism," and he only learned of B.C.'s stronger finances on June 6.
The NDP and Greens, which won a combined 44 seats in last month's election, have agreed to bring down the Liberals, with 43 seats, in a confidence vote on Thursday.
De Jong says he expects the NDP to be pleased to inherit the province's fiscal situation if it forms a minority government, but predicts the party would "quickly lose sight" of the policies that allowed the economy to flourish.
