Will I obliterate the national debt? [long pause] Sure, why not?
– Pat Paulsen for President (1968)
Remember Christy Clark’s promises of a debt-free BC enabled through wealth created by natural gas production? The reality is revealed in Finance Ministry documents that provide this information.
Unfortunately, the fiscal year ended March 31, 2016 is even worse than indicated because government allows “infrastructure credits” that can be deducted from future royalty payments. It does not record the almost $2 billion liability because government can make its own accounting rules and it prefers good news to bad. Plus, this little trick creates a problem the next Premier can deal with.
Oh, shall we look at the debt-free promise made a few years back?
People as ancient as the writer will remember Pat Paulsen, a political satirist from Washington State who gained wide attention on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in the late sixties.
Categories: Debt, Natural Gas
IN-SIGHTS 
He never had his own show but Pat Paulsen was the 1960’s version of Jon Stewart, quite funny for those days
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I recall Pat Paulsen performing at UBC in the mid sixties, before he gained fame. I recall him doing a promo that involved being suspended upside down. The student response was, “Who is this weirdo?”
He was back for a show at UBC in 1971, after Smothers Brothers. Tickets were $2 each.
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thank you for the laugh. I remember him from the Smother’s brothers show. I loved him. He was funny. Now lets put him in one of those outfits Christy wears and some cotton in his cheeks and I think we’ve got it.
I’ve been referring to this province as Detroit North for some years. Your information, just confirms my opinion. geeze, this is bad, you’re making el gordo look good and I always thought he was a crook out gouging the province.
It is hard to say where this will all end, but we do know one thing. the MSM isn’t going to be telling the voters of this province what is going on and will work hard to re-elect the photo op queen.
thanks again for the laughs and the article.
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Campbell was the agent of private power producers. They owe billions of dollars of wealth to Campbell’s policies. Clark is simply continuing, following the template while shifting new benefits so her particular sponsors are included.
Where Clark is truly different from Campbell is in taking direction from the natural gas industry through their proxy, Rich Coleman. Campbell’s refusal to to give much larger rewards to this group of Liberal pals contributed to his removal.
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Speaking of Proxy Coleman (ugh), what ever happened to Gordon (Flip) Wilson? Is he still collecting his $150,000 stipend for flogging LNG? Did someone forget to haul him in for retraining?
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Christy’s 15% foreign ownership tax (over and above the property transfer tax that everybody has to pay) is a windfall for the Libs. Just think how much money would be in BC coffers as a result if she had acted, oh, say…a few years ago.
And have you ever heard of a tax that, after a while, didn’t extend to everybody? All in the interest of non-discriminatory *grin*
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