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Governments at all levels must make difficult choices to find fiscal balance. Now, one year into their mandate, BC Premier David Eby and BC Finance Minister Brenda Bailey have presented a budget that claims that B.C. is open for businesses. But the real story comes from what is — and is not — in the details.
Half a decade of post-pandemic challenges have stacked up, including global supply chain issues, heightened demands on housing, and complex health-care needs. These challenges, combined with the rising cost of living, and unfair economic threats and sanctions from the administration of our southern neighbours, has put B.C. in a difficult financial position. These are challenges our residents know all too well — too much money going out, and not enough revenue coming in.
When higher levels of government reduce or freeze spending, the costs don’t go away. They shift to local governments, property taxpayers, and neighbourhood-level services. Local governments have been quietly absorbing extra responsibilities for years, from housing and health care to social services and public safety. A lack of early provincial investment forces municipalities into “crisis-response” mode, which is an expensive way of doing business. Last year, the B.C. Urban Mayors’ Caucus presented data to the public demonstrating that local governments are absorbing millions of dollars in costs related to policing, fire response, and housing provision. These costs are passed on to local taxpayers.
This year’s provincial budget focuses on leveraging B.C.’s economic opportunities, and we recognize that the government is ensuring that B.C. is a centre for investment and business. They are making key investments in the B.C. prosecution service, children and youth services, and health-care staffing. But we’re waiting for action on issues such as ballooning municipal policing costs, and adequate shelters and supportive housing.
Long-term care, child care, and transportation infrastructure are key examples of areas that have been paused or cut in the provincial budget, each of which will have a significant impact on urban residents.
This provincial budget also eliminates the Community Housing Fund, which supported communities to build affordable housing. This will hurt local governments’ ability to deliver on community needs, and get people into safe, affordable housing. This program was paused and reallocated, despite the fact that many communities are waiting to receive this crucial funding.
In 2023, the premier inherited a budget surplus, $1 billion of which was given to local governments to invest in community infrastructure needs. While welcome, this one-time funding was not enough to compensate for decades of downloading.
Now, the projected deficit continues to grow, with little plan to manage it.
The words “local government” or “municipality” did not appear once in the minister’s budget speech. British Columbians value the relationship and cooperation between their local government and the provincial government, and we were surprised that the province appears to be dismissing the importance of our shared work.
As outsiders, it is easy to criticize the budget when you aren’t responsible for the tough decisions. But as mayors of major cities, we’re making the same tough decisions that the province is making — and we’re doing it while balancing our budgets, as required by the law. So, how should the province respond to these challenges? The provincial government must be willing to do business differently, and work side-by-side with partners, and local governments, to find ways to generate revenue and work collaboratively on problems. Instead, we have a bigger deficit that still underdelivers on key issues such as community safety and addictions care.
Governments at all levels must make choices about balance, and we invite the provincial government to engage with local governments to talk about ways we can make it easier for local government to do business, without putting extra costs on the backs of taxpayers.
Ken Popove is mayor of Chilliwack, BC and Marianne Alto is mayor of Victoria, BC. They are co-chairs of the B.C. Urban Mayors’ Caucus, which represents mayors from 16 of the province’s (of British Columbia) largest communities. This op-ed is written on behalf of the group, and expresses their collective thoughts.
In 2023, the premier inherited a budget surplus, $1 billion of which was given to local governments to invest in community infrastructure needs. While welcome, this one-time funding was not enough to compensate for decades of downloading.
Now, the projected deficit continues to grow, with little plan to manage it.
The words “local government” or “municipality” did not appear once in the minister’s budget speech. British Columbians value the relationship and cooperation between their local government and the provincial government, and we were surprised that the province appears to be dismissing the importance of our shared work.
As outsiders, it is easy to criticize the budget when you aren’t responsible for the tough decisions. But as mayors of major cities, we’re making the same tough decisions that the province is making — and we’re doing it while balancing our budgets, as required by the law. So, how should the province respond to these challenges? The provincial government must be willing to do business differently, and work side-by-side with partners, and local governments, to find ways to generate revenue and work collaboratively on problems. Instead, we have a bigger deficit that still underdelivers on key issues such as community safety and addictions care.
Governments at all levels must make choices about balance, and we invite the provincial government to engage with local governments to talk about ways we can make it easier for local government to do business, without putting extra costs on the backs of taxpayers.
Ken Popove is mayor of Chilliwack, BC and Marianne Alto is mayor of Victoria, BC. They are co-chairs of the B.C. Urban Mayors’ Caucus, which represents mayors from 16 of the province’s (of British Columbia) largest communities. This op-ed is written on behalf of the group, and expresses their collective thoughts.
