XPost: bc.politics, van.general, vic.general   
   From: 40%®Çonned@cda.ca   
      
   The were promised $1.6 billion by Harper to foist the HST onto British   
   Columbians.  Only $1   
   billion was actually transferred from Harper to the Campbell government of the   
   time.  Yet   
   somehow the repayment of that $1 billion has translated into "tripling of the   
   BC deficit" by the   
   lying buggers we've come to know and hate as the BC 'Liberals'.   
      
   When they come clean on just how much we're in a deficit due to the   
   overspending and losses   
   associated with the 2010 Olympics, we'll see the real picture.  Until then,   
   it's enough to know   
   we need this government gone.   
      
   ______________________________________   
   CBC News - Posted: Sep 8, 2011   
      
   B.C. deficit triples with rejection of HST   
      
   B.C.'s finance minister says the province's deficit has tripled because of the   
   rejection of the   
   HST and that is going to mean cuts to government spending in the years ahead.   
      
   In his latest quarterly report, Minister Kevin Falcon says scrapping the HST   
   will cost the   
   province $2.3 billion over three years but the government still intends to   
   balance its budget by   
   2014.   
      
   "People need to understand it is going to be a government that is going to be   
   run very, very   
   tightly from a fiscal point of view," said Falcon.   
      
   The minister says it's a sober assessment, but he intends to protect health   
   care and education.   
   Other ministries and agencies will be looking for ways to cut costs, he says.   
      
   In August, British Columbians voted to scrap the province’s controversial   
   harmonized sales tax   
   in a province-wide referendum. Falcon has said the transition to reinstate the   
   PST is expected   
   to take at least 18 months.   
      
   Revenues also below forecasts   
   The message is a sharp departure from Falcon's earlier forecasts. The   
   projected deficit has   
   grown from less than a billion dollars to $2.8 billion.   
      
   "While B.C. has seen moderate improvement in some economic indicators through   
   the first half of   
   2011, the province is maintaining its prudent forecast of two per cent real   
   GDP growth in 2011   
   and moderating its 2012 forecast to 2.3 per cent due to the worldwide   
   deteriorating economic   
   climate," said Falcon.   
      
   "Revenues are forecast to increase by an average of just 2.8 per cent annually   
   over the next two   
   years, compared to the Budget 2011 projection of 3.3 per cent," he said.   
      
   "Lower natural resource revenue and commercial Crown corporation income,   
   partly offset by   
   improvements in taxation and other revenue sources, mean cumulative losses   
   projected at $537   
   million over the three years of the fiscal plan before the impacts of   
   returning to the PST are   
   factored in. "   
      
   "The decision to extinguish the HST and revert back to the PST is forecast to   
   increase the   
   cumulative losses to more than $2.3 billion by 2013-14, with further losses   
   anticipated in the   
   following year not covered by the current fiscal plan."   
      
   "This includes $1.6 billion in 2011-12 associated with reimbursing the federal   
   HST transition   
   funding and a more than $700 million loss from lower tax revenue and increased   
   spending over the   
   three years ending 2013-14."   
      
   Previous forecasts revised   
   In July, before the results of the HST referendum were released, Falcon   
   announced the B.C.   
   government finished the 2010-11 financial year with a much smaller deficit   
   than it forecast and   
   said the province was on track to balance its budget in 2013-14.   
      
   The province ended the 2010/11 fiscal year with a $309-million deficit — about   
   $1.4 billion less   
   than forecast last year. The deficit is the amount the government is spending   
   each year more   
   than the revenue it takes in.   
      
      
   *******************************************************   
   "We CAN look after each other better than we do today.   
   We CAN have a fiscally responsible government.   
   We CAN have a strong economy; greater equality; a clean environment.   
   We CAN be a force for peace in the world."                      - Jack Layton   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)