Does BC need a Parliamentary Budget Officer?

In his weekly column - Ind Cariboo-North Bob Simpson talks about the BC Liberals using taxpayer money to promote the fact that we are doing pretty well considering the financial state of other jurisdictions, like Ontario, Greece and the United States as examples

MLA Simpson also makes the argument as to why BC, like the Federal House of Commons, should have its' own Parliamentary Budget Officer or PBO.  Read his column here

For myself - given the arguments over the role of a PBO in Ottawa, I would if a majority gov't in BC would do the same sort of acts that we see Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his government engaged in, thus requiring the PBO, like the Auditor-General of BC right now, to engage the government in litigation to get the information he/she needs to do their statutory job.... thus costing BC taxpayers' even more $$$ plus I wonder what the overall benefit to provincial legislators would be, given it hasn't had a huge impact on how the Federal Conservatives' passes their budgets

On somewhat the same subject - BC Conservatives' Kamloops Regional Director Alan Forseth blasts today's announcement by BCs Finance Minister Mike De Jong that the current deficit for the financial year ending March 31st, 2013 will end at $1.47 billion.  Read Mr. Forseth's blog post here while you can read the updated 2nd Quarter Financial Results for the Province of BC here

SBF