Carole Taylor's first budget, Growing with Confidence, missed the mark completely. Instead of announcing measures that would help grow the economy and the incomes of average taxpayers, this year's budget focused solely on growing the bureaucracy, government wages, spending and worst of all, the debt. The only bone thrown to taxpayers-an increase in the homeowners' grant--- will surely be eaten up with higher property tax bills.

Gee thanks!

Time and time again, the government proudly boasts the performance of the economy and yet most British Columbians are not reaping the benefits. Over and over the calls to increase the wages of government employees are being championed while at the same time the average weekly earnings of British Columbians are not even keeping up with inflation. Government unions are calling for a "fair wage increase"-what about a "fair tax cut"

Minister Taylor had that opportunity but choose a different course.

Meanwhile, the debt is skyrocketing en route to $40 billion by 2009 and the government is just fine with that. Taylor says the credit agencies she consults with believe the debt is manageable and is, in fact, affordable. The problem with relying upon the advice of credit agencies is that their interests don't jive with that of taxpayers.

The budget revealed a whopping $2.3 billion will go down the drain this year in debt servicing costs. Just five months ago that number was $1.2 billion! That's right, debt costs have almost doubled in less than five months and finance is happy with that. Credit agencies are happy with that too. But taxpayers shelling out $6.3 million in interest payments are anything but.

The government's oft cited defense, new debt or no infrastructure is baloney! The government has a budget of nearly $34 billion, a debt of $36 billion and claims there is no room for infrastructure needs The government is taking on new borrowing to meet its infrastructure needs, hamstringing the choices for future generations. At this rate, debt servicing costs will be rivaling education spending in no time!

Legislate a debt elimination plan and start preparing for tomorrow instead of squandering today's economic prosperity.

Finance should go back and review a key section of this year's Throne Speech: "The comfortable course of complacency is not a path for long-term prosperity. It is the dead-end route of inevitable decline."

An economic engine needs to be fed to keep moving. In other words, being competitive means being proactive. Unfortunately, the government failed to provide anything to keep the economy moving in this budget.

As part of looking forward, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) recommends the creation of a Tax Review Committee, similar to the one used in Alberta in 1997/8. The committee should have economic leaders, chamber representatives, MLAs, taxation and industry experts. The goal of the committee should be tied to one of the government's five great goals "to create more jobs per capita than anywhere else in Canada."

The committee would have two phases: the first focusing on personal taxation and the second on business and corporate taxation. The recommendations would then be made to finance. The goal of the committee's recommendations: simpler, lower and flatter.
If British Columbia is to remain competitive and ensure that the benefits of a healthy economy are shared, then it is necessary to overhaul our tax system and adopt a legislated debt retirement plan.

This year's budget was not made for taxpayers, but perhaps next year's will be. The CTF has provided two concrete measures that if adopted would go a long to give the province a competitive advantage while at the same time ensuring everyone enjoys the benefits of a booming economy.