Retired economist Erik Andersen presented a paper about contractual obligations to the legislative budget committee 2 years running and was met with stony silence from all MLA committee members.
To count or not to count…
Recently, economist Erik Andersen circulated a paper discussing government liabilities and the games played by governments to disguise unconscionable growth of debt during non-recessionary times. I’ve expanded Erik’s words and we hope the following discussion will be understandable and helpful.
Surprise is surprising – UPDATED
$101 billion in contractual obligations is breathtaking? What is really surprising is that Toronto Globe and Mail’s BC political reporter didn’t notice before February of 2017. On one hand, I applaud Ms. Hunter for daring to mention the subject now. On the other hand, I wonder why she previously avoided this huge issue and did not report it fully in her newspaper?
Mumbling and fuzzifying
It cannot be taken for granted that PPPs are more efficient than public investment and government supply of services. One particular concern is that PPPs can be used mainly to bypass spending controls, and to move public investment off budget and debt off the government balance sheet, while the government still bears most of the risk involved and faces potentially large fiscal costs.
Liberal bus needs new paint job
We suggest a new paint job for the Liberal campaign vehicle: In case you don’t remember the old livery, here it is: Christy “I never tell a lie, but I may use alternative facts” […]
Have they lied to you before?
George Orwell: Political language …is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind. Although BC’s debt and obligations increased $99 billion in ten years, Liberals claim the province is “on track to be free of any operating debt by 2021.”
Designed to mislead
The British Columbia Liberal 2001 election platform had 37 references promising improved democracy, increased accountability or more open government. Its 2013 platform had none, because the party had lost interest in the goals, not because they had been attained. If ever any party strayed far from principles that first got it elected government, it is the one led today by Christy Clark. If you doubt my assertion, read through A New Era for British Columbia. That document was prepared by Gordon Campbell and his associates. Some will believe that it was a pack of lies from the start. Others would argue — excepting the page 9 promise to “not sell or privatize BC Rail” — that the Liberal Party started with good intentions and lost its way, corrupted by wealth and power…
What’s another billion or twenty?
Moody’s Investors Service issued a warning this week about rising debt at B.C. Hydro. In the first six months of fiscal year 2017, term debt increased $1.3 billion to $19.5 billion. That number is up $7.8 billion during Christy Clark’s time as Premier, which is an increase larger than the total term debt incurred in the utility’s first 48 years of operation. Of course, debt has been rising quickly despite current consumption being the lowest in the preceding 12 years.
Saying no to the Forces of Know
At The Gazetteer, RossK and friends are commenting about reports that Petronas does or does not aim to bail from the land of Sparkle Ponies. In my opinion, discussion of what’s been said or not said […]
Truthiness
truthiness n. informal the quality of seeming or being felt to be true, even if not necessarily true.
Christy Clark inspired by Pat Paulsen?
“Will I obliterate the national debt? [long pause] Sure, why not?” Remember Christy Clark’s promises of a debt-free BC enabled through wealth created by natural gas production? Reality is much different, revealed in Finance Ministry documents that provide this information.
Appearance of profit, when there is none
BC Hydro has been announcing profits each year and that enables it to pay a dividend to the province, although it has to borrow the money to make the transfer. I argue […]
Erik Andersen on BC Hydro debt
This devastating information from Erik Andersen, an economist and widely recognized expert on government and Crown Corporation financing: You will note the unbelievable increase in BC Hydro’s debt since Christy Clark took […]
Farrell with Jessop, CFAX1070 August 13, 2015
The audio file below is a recording of my time with Ian Jessop August 13. We talk about bcIMC, provincial debt and other matters. .
Horgan speaks to the Premier
Hansard, May 28, 2015 The notion of a Debt-free British Columbia — hard to imagine when you’ve seen $135-billion increase in debt and contractual obligations under the B.C. Liberal watch. But somehow, […]
"You cain’t pray a lie" – H. Finn
Canadian Press, April 7, 2013: [Premier Christy] Clark told a Vancouver Island economic summit her government’s highly touted September 2011 jobs plan — with its focus on increased trade with China and […]
Getting what you pay for
Isn’t it true that almost none of the fraud that’s swallowed Wall Street in the past decade could have taken place without companies like Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s rubber-stamping it? Aren’t they guilty, too? Man, are they ever. And a lot more than even the least generous of us suspected.
Setting priorities
I’ve written about politics influenced by a captured and compliant press. This is from a Canadian Press article that Liberals found helpful, published by Macleans Magazine weeks before the last BC election: […]
Performance short of promise
During the 2013 BC election, Liberals talked frequently of “Debt-Free B.C.” The party platform included this: No conscious person will be surprised when I state the performance has fallen short of the […]
A few billion here, a few billion there…
Growth in long-term debt at #BCHydro. #bcpoli pic.twitter.com/27grtfWv7g — Norm Farrell (@Norm_Farrell) January 22, 2015 In addition to growth in long-term debt, #bchydro obliged to pay over $50 billion for private energy. […]
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