B.C. budget deficit jumps to $11.6B, upward trend now expected to continue : r/ilovebc - "And Eby started w a surplus too lol. Brutal."
The mystery of B.C.’s darkening debt outlook - The Globe and Mail - "The finances of British Columbia have taken a stunning turn in recent years. The province’s debt load, which had been relatively stable, is soaring, outpacing economic growth. As the accompanying chart shows, the dollar value of the province’s debt is projected to more than double over a half-decade, rising to $208.8-billion from $89.4-billion. And the ratio of debt to the province’s gross domestic product will surge as well, nearly doubling over that same span. Unsurprisingly, the province’s credit rating has been downgraded repeatedly. What happened in Year 5 to trigger this fiscal calamity, you might ask? Perhaps the economic crisis sparked by the pandemic? Or maybe it was Donald Trump’s global trade war? Neither – the answer is the arrival of David Eby as Premier in the fall of 2022, succeeding John Horgan. That year, fiscal 2022-23, was the last year of the relative fiscal sobriety of Mr. Horgan’s BC NDP government. Now, British Columbia is on a dangerous fiscal path, as last week’s release of the fiscal 2025 public accounts makes clear. Under Mr. Eby, the NDP has lost its hard-won reputation as a competent fiscal manager. Under the late Mr. Horgan, the NDP most certainly spent but did so with an eye to fiscal stability, a sharp contrast to the big-deficit ways of 1990s NDP governments. The pandemic, of course, resulted in a big deficit in fiscal 2021-22, but the provincial government returned to surplus the very next year. Mr. Horgan bequeathed a solid fiscal record to his successor, including what should have been a substantial surplus in fiscal 2023. But Mr. Eby has squandered that inheritance, beginning with a reckless decision within months of taking office to hurriedly spend $3-billion in the spring of 2023. Otherwise, horror of horrors, those billions would have had to gone to paring down the province’s debt... In response to the dismal fiscal picture emerging from the public accounts, the Eby government essentially shrugged... Even worse is that the government has no plan, at least not one shared publicly, to reverse course."
Left wingers keep voting left wing and blame things getting steadily worse on the right
B.C.’s biggest deficit ever is nothing to brag about - Business in Vancouver - "There was precious little to brag about in the province’s year-end financials Thursday, not that it stopped the NDP government from trying. “It's our approach that we are focusing on protecting services for people, the services that are most important to them, while still bringing down costs,” said Finance Minister Brenda Bailey. The largest deficit in British Columbia history. Debt up 50 per cent in two years. A structural deficit no one’s even pretending to control. Emergency funds raided for day-to-day spending. And multiple credit rating downgrades... The 2024-25 fiscal year closed with a $7.3-billion deficit. That’s a tad less than budgeted, mainly due to investment earnings in places like ICBC. Yet it’s still the largest ever—blowing past the $5.5 billion in red ink the province ran during the height of the global emergency caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s a wild turnaround from just two years prior, when a departing John Horgan left Premier David Eby a $6-billion surplus that fuelled an Eby-style spendapalooza. The numbers show it hasn’t stopped since. The resulting overspend on programs and services is now baked into the annual budget, leaving it decoupled from the realities of the provincial economy. To illustrate that point, look no further than the $3.9 billion in contingencies the government set aside for 2024-25. Typically, contingencies are used to fund emergencies, like wildfires, as well as case pressures in areas like social assistance and child welfare. Just $769 million went to wildfires. A staggering $3.4 billion quietly kept ministries afloat after they overspent or underbudgeted, with no debate in the legislature, no vote by MLAs and no real explanation. The Ministry of Citizens’ Services ate up $20 million for “enterprise services funding model” and $14 million for “government wide information technology costs”—core functions of the ministry that should be in its budget. The post-secondary ministry spent $48.5 million on its “Future Ready Action Plan” while the public safety ministry needed $65.5 million extra for “policing and security programs,” but neither were explained to the legislature because contingency funds are just dispersed in secret by cabinet. And then there’s Government Communications and Public Engagement, the most bloated and hyper-partisan corner of the government, which somehow managed to blow through its $31.6 million budget and snag another $8.8 million from contingencies. The 28 per cent budget overrun was buried in public accounts as vague “staffing pressures” and “operating pressures.”... The contingency fund reads like a fever dream from the premier’s office, where political promises, panicked backtracks and policy pivots are all funded with zero scrutiny. Bailey at one point pinned the blame on U.S. President Donald Trump... Trump was only president for the final 10 weeks of that fiscal year, ending March 31. The damage was already done through government decisions in the 42 weeks prior. The financial situation is only going to get worse for the Eby government. The first quarter update for the current 2025-26 budget is set to land in September, where a projected $10.9 billion deficit is expected to balloon due to a $2.8-billion revenue hit over eliminating the carbon tax, a collapsing real estate market, and actual U.S. tariffs. Bailey said she’s on track to find $1.5 billion in efficiency savings in the budget over the next three years, during which time she’s also budgeting $31 billion in deficits. It’s like bailing out a flooded bathtub with a shot glass while the tap is still running full blast... At this rate, the BC NDP doesn’t just need multiple years. It needs divine intervention."
Rising debt interest adds $11.8B burden for B.C. residents - "Government debt is draining thousands of dollars from British Columbians each year—in interest alone, warns a Vancouver-based think tank. B.C. will spend nearly $4.4 billion in interest on provincial government debt in the 2024–25 fiscal year, or 5.3 per cent of its revenue, according to the Fraser Institute’s Federal and Provincial Debt Interest Costs for Canadians, 2025 edition, published last week. On top of nearly $7.4 billion in federal interest costs, the combined total reaches $11.8 billion, the third highest in the country... The report noted that B.C.’s provincial interest costs exceed the province’s planned 2024–25 spending on child welfare ($4.3 billion), and that the combined federal and provincial costs surpass what the province expects to spend on social services this year ($10.8 billion)."
Vaughn Palmer: BC debt skyrockets in first two years of Eby government | Vancouver Sun - "John Horgan faced no small challenge through the pandemic. He still managed to get the budget back into balance and leave behind a $6-billion surplus, which Eby promptly spent. Bailey suggested that much of the debt went to building schools, hospitals, roads, bridges and transit lines, as well as other capital infrastructure. The public accounts told a different story. The New Democrats projected a $14-billion capital plan for building infrastructure. They spent only $10.4 billion. The debt went in the other direction, up $10 billion more than what was forecast at the beginning of the year. How was it possible to borrow and spend less on infrastructure and end up with more debt? The answer was on the operating side... Well-managed ministries would have anticipated those costs and covered them out of their annual budgets by setting priorities and reallocating funds. But you don’t need to spend much time with the financial statements to realize that managing spending is a foreign notion for the Eby government... In the first budget introduced by Horgan’s finance minister Carole James, there was $550 million for contingencies. Over this year and the next two, Eby has budgeted $12 billion in unallocated funds. Sounds like a job for the auditor general — examining this level of unallocated and undisciplined spending, and reporting on any abuses."
Debt Accumulation by Premier: British Columbia (aka "Per-person (inflation-adjusted) provincial government debt increased faster under Premier David Eby than any other B.C. premier over the last 50 plus years")
Geoff Russ: First Nations let down by David Eby's anti-oil dogma - "Anybody claiming or celebrating that First Nations are some sort of obstacle to resource development is ignorant, ideological, or both. Indigenous communities and leaders are among the most enthusiastic backers of natural gas facilities and oil pipelines in B.C., and they are as badly let down by this provincial government as anybody else. The NDP have been in power since 2017, and have long abandoned any pretence of vision, direction, or adaptability, which has resulted in real economic and social harm. This tendency was on display again last week when Eby and his ministers refused to endorse another oil pipeline to the coast at a meeting of the premiers and Prime Minister Mark Carney. Until 2025, resource development had been a fraught and fiery topic in Canada. Debates over costs, consultations, and climate goals slowed down and killed major projects like Energy East, Northern Gateway, and more. Then U.S. President Donald Trump embarked on his quest to use tariffs to remake the global commercial order and threatened to escalate a trade war against Canada. Suddenly, every government in Canada, conservative or progressive, began admitting or alluding to the necessity of diversifying the trade of Canadian energy, our single largest export. Even Quebec Premier François Legault signalled that he was open to the possibility of building new natural gas facilities and pipelines in the province. It is rare that Alberta, the federal government, and Quebec agree on energy, and it would be a historic and actionable opportunity if the B.C. NDP were not so determined to scuttle it. A quick overview of the B.C. NDP’s anti-pipeline history will make it very clear that this government has no love or desire for such undertakings. Under Eby’s predecessor John Horgan, the B.C. NDP fought tooth and nail to stop the twinning of the Trans Mountain pipeline. Despite the clear economic, social, and political advantages of expanding TMX, the NDP had to be crushed in the courts in 2020 before waving the white flag. To Horgan’s credit, he accepted the defeat with grace... From Horgan, Eby inherited a burgeoning energy industry built on natural gas and the transport of oil from Alberta. The results speak for themselves: thousands of jobs , new and powerful Indigenous economies, and a huge boost for the provincial and national economy. It is a strong foundation for B.C. to become an energy powerhouse among the provinces. Instead, Eby appears content to rest on Horgan’s laurels and drag his feet on the building of new energy projects that the rest of the country is begging for. He could not even make an appearance at a critical meeting in Saskatchewan between the premiers and the prime minister. Instead, he delegated that task to his deputy premier, who signalled that the province would not support another pipeline through northern B.C... Beyond doubling down on disastrous safe supply programs and record debt spending, Eby’s government seems to have no further ambitions beyond ballooning the province’s bureaucracy. Indeed, the provincial government has turned itself into a sort of welfare program for the urban and educated, with the public sector doubling in size, which has done nothing to halt the decline of education and health care in the province. Eby’s refusal to endorse transformative projects like new pipelines is indicative of the B.C. NDP’s shift from a genuine workers’ party into a vessel for managers and bureaucrats. Constructing energy infrastructure is one of the most reliable ways to keep northerners and rural British Columbians employed. The NDP’s neglect of the wider resource sector led to them losing many of their blue-collar ridings in the 2024 provincial election. The consequences of this change in the party’s culture now expand beyond provincial considerations, and could cripple the rest of Canada’s ambitions for a stronger economy."
Almost losing the last election hasn't dissuaded him from pushing the left wing agenda ceaselessly. He thinks voters will either forget or are too partisan to ever not vote for him
John Rustad: It's time to end David Eby's nation-building blockade - "The Canadian Pacific Railway, as it eventually would come to be known, was Macdonald’s path to quelling American settlement desires in the west, expanding the dominion, and entrenching Canadian sovereignty. Today, we sit at a crossroad that is eerily reminiscent of those times. The American president continues to openly muse about the annexation of Canada. There is a desperate need to build projects of national interest that grow infrastructure, trade corridors and access to international markets. And collectively, we are facing grave internal threats to preserving the sanctity of Canadian independence, national unity and social cohesion. I am sorry to report that the B.C. government now stands as the country’s largest impediment to tackling these dire challenges. More specifically, Premier David Eby is openly demonstrating that he and his cabinet are more concerned with playing divisive politics than doing what is best for the country as well as British Columbians desperate for an economic buffer to their gross fiscal negligence. More concerningly is how they are speaking out of both sides of their mouths in doing so. The prime minister and all of Canada’s thirteen premiers just wrapped up a summit in Saskatoon, concluding with a joint statement that committed to “work urgently to get Canadian natural resources and commodities to domestic and international markets, such as critical minerals and decarbonized Canadian oil and gas by pipelines” which are “crucial for driving Canadian productivity growth, energy security, and economic competitiveness.” B.C. was a signatory to the communique. Yet two days later, Eby trotted out his Energy and Climate Solutions Minister Adrian Dix to assert that the idea of a pipeline “doesn’t make sense to us.” Dix went on to declare that “we have a different view” and emphatically confirmed that “The premier has expressed very clearly his view of non-support for that.” So, in front of a national audience, the government formally agrees to engage with the rest of the country in fast-tracking energy projects of national significance. Yet when speaking in B.C., the premier has his lieutenants march forth with messages of staunch opposition to any pipeline being built to the province’s northern coast. When reached in Japan, where the premier is visiting as part of a trade mission, Eby doubled down on his agenda of division, stating that it was “not (his) job to come in and tell (Alberta) Premier Smith that her vision for a North Coast pipeline is many years off and there is no proponent at this point.” This stunningly petulant response perfectly encapsulates the downward spiral of project-killing brinkmanship that Canada has experienced over the past decade. Building energy infrastructure takes time, investment, and political will, and in spite of Eby’s glibness, he is well aware that private-sector proponents will not step forward when faced with the kind of obstruction his government now embodies. It must also be noted that, in spite of his rhetoric about the importance of tearing down interprovincial trade barriers, Eby hasn’t made any tangible progress on this initiative since being elected in October. Meanwhile, provinces like Ontario, Alberta, Manitoba and Prince Edward Island are actively signing agreements that will increase cross-Canada market access for businesses within their respective jurisdictions. Which is why B.C. is about to be bypassed in national discussions on implementing the distinctly different aspirations of new Prime Minister Mark Carney. He is in support of establishing a trade and energy corridor that sees provinces, territories and Indigenous partners come together in support of expanding Canada’s domestic and international economic footprint. This is an approach that is long overdue, and the fact that B.C. now stands as the country’s lone outlier to this vision is beyond comprehension."
Eby's CleanBC initiative a greater hit to economy than Trump's tariffs - "Open any book on politics and you will find that, in Canada, the NDP stands for the New Democratic Party. In British Columbia under David Eby, the acronym needs to be updated to — Not Delivering Prosperity. Since Eby and his government took over in 2022, British Columbia has been an economic basket case. The deficit projection for 2025 was revised upwards in March to $10.9 billion, a record, which followed hot on the heels of the 2024 deficit of $9.1 billion — also a record until 2025 stole the deficit crown. The result in April was a downgrade to B.C.’s credit rating from AA to A+. By any measure, the outlook is grim, as total debt for the province is predicted to soar by 70 per cent over the next three years. The ruling NDP and Premier David Eby have been quick to blame economic woes on Donald Trump and his tariff policies. While tariffs are no doubt hurting B.C. — as they are all of Canada — this tactic is already tired. In truth, the damage appears to be mostly self-inflicted, caused by poor budgeting and economic policy driven by ideology rather than actual economics. At the B.C. Chamber of Commerce AGM on June 4, Ken Peacock, the former chief economist at the Business Council of B.C., presented analysis indicating the NDP’s CleanBC initiative has actually been a far greater hit to the province’s sputtering economy than any tariffs. From 2019-2024 it cost B.C. $29.3 billion in lost GDP and is projected to cost the province a further $109.7 billion between now and 2029. That’s David Eby’s economic leadership in action: ideology torpedoing economic prosperity for hard working British Columbians... Bill 15 does not reignite B.C.’s economy by streamlining regulation for private enterprise; it merely allows cabinet to pick and choose which projects it will decide to ram through without any further regulatory oversight. This is ripe for abuse and political interference. It is a pay-to-play system where randomness and arbitrary decisions based on cabinet’s whims, without clear process, will become the norm. Eby’s NDP claim the bill brings investment clarity, in fact, it does anything but. The vague backroom modus operandi of the NDP is, however, consistent in one way. They echo the closed-door decision-making attempts and history of the NDP when deciding how the province’s crown land will be used; something essential for investment and resource development. This important process has been shrouded in secrecyon multiple occasions. The latest announcement in this regard covers all of Northwestern B.C. including the mineral-rich Golden Triangle. As a result, nearly a third of British Columbia is now subject to a one year pause on new mining-tenure registrations. This is the exact of opposite of what attracts investment to the province and will send the critical dollars B.C. needs to friendlier investment regions. David Eby’s NDP has bankrupted the province and has no plan back for the simple reason that they cannot trust the free market to do its work."
1 in 3 Metro Vancouver workers don't earn enough to cover basics : r/ilovebc - "“Every night I sit in my 100 sq ft bedroom in my house with 6 roommates, I eat my ration of 1 ramen pack per night , look out the window at a junkie ODing on the street and I thank god I’m not in a Conservative province. Just paid 1.80 for a litre of gas, life is good“"
"Look at this guy, he can afford a car, obviously we aren't taxing enough, we need to raise taxes! (/s if it isn't obvious)"
"You know, I’ve battled with this thought. 45% of my income goes to taxes, which means I’m keeping most to myself. I feel selfish"
Clearly, this is proof that the BC NDP is really a conservative party and that BC needs even more left wing policies
1 in 3 Metro Vancouver workers don't earn enough to cover basics : r/ilovebc - "If a plurality of Metro Voters keep voting for status quo with Team Red federally and Team Orange provincially, do they really have a problem with it?"
"anecdotally it seems that people do have a problem with it but are under the belief that the alternative would be worse and this is just the price they have to pay for living in a "civilized" culture."
Retreat brings 'tough' decisions, tariff relief and 'diet' government - "A day after Carney promised an austerity budget, the head of the largest federal public service union finally responded. And she was mad. ““Let me be clear: Prime Minister Carney’s austerity agenda is lazy, reckless and short-sighted and puts everyone in Canada at risk,” said Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) President Sharron DeSousa. “Carney’s government has a choice — it can be forward-looking and a model employer that creates good jobs to strengthen our economy and build a resilient Canada, or it can continue to use old-fashioned, ineffective and lazy approaches like austerity that just don’t work.”"
Time to increase government payrolls, because that's the way to grow the economy
Ontario gas prices climb, erasing consumer carbon pricing repeal savings : r/ontario
The comments are mostly left wingers who didn't read the article and claim it's due to corporate greed and that there was no point in ending the carbon tax because gas prices are now the same as they would've been with it, and they're worse off because there's no rebate cheque. These people are really unable to consider counterfactuals - they don't know how they'd feel if they hadn't had breakfast today
Now that the price has fallen again they need to look for a new cope
Ontario gas prices climb, erasing consumer carbon pricing repeal savings : r/ontario - "I for one will sleep well tonight knowing some obscenely rich group of fucks are getting even richer because we got rid of the carbon tax. Lets face it folks, they work so hard and they deserve it. /s (in fact, heavy /s...)"
A left wing motivation for carbon tax - to destroy the economy so rich people become less rich
Canada's budget will focus on austerity and investment, says PM Carney : r/worldnews - "This is a tired argument. Investment occurs where there is a market for it. It’s no more complex than that. Corporations will pack up and leave the moment there is no market for them. They are not our friends, and as such, should at the very least pay the same taxes as us. Nothing is trickling down, and they’ve been laughing at us for decades while they stuff their pockets."
"You are scarily uninformed on how this works. Canada is famously prohibitive to business investment. We have cartels running each major industry, 2-5 of them per industry more or less, and they are protected from competition via legislation which creates the environment where business investment does not occur. Increasing taxes on corporations exacerbates the issue by increasing the barriers to entry for any foreign business or even your own Canadian startup, and it’s also a relatively small cost to pay for a Canadian legacy corp who already owns a massive market share and therefore has no incentive to add value to Canada. So bottom line, if you want to make money, one of the last things you will do is start a business in or move operations to Canada with our current economy. Increasing taxes makes this already dire issue even worse. By your own logic, there is no market for investment in Canada, because there is essentially no investment at the moment. So I don’t think you even understand what you’re trying to say lol."
"I work in Mineral Exploration. We wouldn’t exist without foreign/domestic investment. The red tape, government oversight and Native land disputes is whats dragging the industry and scaring further investment."
Canada's budget will focus on austerity and investment, says PM Carney : r/worldnews - "If you’re unwilling to respect environmental laws and the rights of our First Nations, this would make you the problem. Pedal your self entitlement elsewhere."
"You can think what you want but im actually in the industry experiencing it first hand. You will be pleased to know there is an unbelievable amount of environmental regulation, of which all has a purpose. Its the filing and administrative requirements that I have a problem with. The government oversight is their inability to secure permits in time for us to actually raise money for the summer field programs. Their red tape and lack of transparency means your guessing when you will be able to work and cant make commitments for investors. As for First Nations land use. They all have overlapping claim boundaries. The property I work on has 4 different bands saying its theirs. Do you know how complicated that is? These bands wont talk to each other or recognize the govt. So, you have to message each one in writing, create agreements and hope thoes bands dont have historic feuds(Which is often the case in the arctic). Its is extremely complicated to get projects going in non Treated provinces. We actively scare investment with how poor our system is operating."
"Just hang in there and wait for it to trickle down… Any day now…"
"You seem desperate to create some sort of Strawman to argue against."
The amount of wealth leaving Canada would be eye-opening for many Canadians - "More and more successful Canadians are continuing to leave this country. Many tax practitioners have long been aware of this phenomenon. For example, in the first 23 years of my career, I worked on about a dozen tax cases involving Canadians leaving this country. But the number of files that my colleagues and I have worked on in the past 10 years has skyrocketed to almost one thousand. In 2015, 68,945 people permanently left Canada, according to Statistics Canada estimates. The next year (the first of the new Liberal government), it was 97,473 — a staggering increase. In 2017, it increased again to 104,013. Departures dropped to a low of 60,407 in the COVID-19 year of 2020, but it has been increasing ever since. For 2024, departures were at a 10-year high of 106,134, and 27,086 left in the first quarter of 2025... The amount of wealth leaving Canada that I’m witnessing would be eye-opening for many Canadians, even to those who seem to love bashing the so-called rich and are not shy about telling them to not let the door hit them on the way out... Economic policies set by governments matter. In the past 10 years, there is little doubt that it has had a negative impact on retaining successful Canadians. With skyrocketing federal spending currently happening, it appears that Canada is headed down a further economic path of increased taxation that will be inevitable to pay for such spending. The C.D. Howe Institute recently predicted the federal government’s cumulative deficits over the next four fiscal years could be a staggering $311 billion. That is fiscally irresponsible, and future generations will pay greatly through higher taxation loads and a poorer standard of living. One way to deal with this is to develop tax and economic policies that make it enticing for successful Canadians to stay in Canada and to risk their capital for the benefit of all Canadians. This would also help attract new successful Canadians as well. Canada’s future prosperity depends on policies that reward ambition rather than punish it. We don’t just lose tax dollars when we drive away successful Canadians; we lose innovators, job creators and the very people who can help build a better future. It’s time for leadership that sees this clearly and acts decisively."
DeepDive: Canada’s natural resources are a long-neglected ‘golden goose.’ It’s time to change that - "Her basic insight is that a combination of economic forces and policy-induced harms have undermined what her colleagues Philip Cross and Jack Mintz have characterized as the country’s “golden goose” and that this has significant explanatory power for the overall decline in business investment, productivity, and economic activity... The natural resource sector is a major driver of Canada’s economic activity. In 2019, according to estimates by Cross and Mintz, natural resources accounted for 14.9 percent of Canada’s gross domestic product. This percentage has fallen in recent years, after peaking in 2008 at 19.5 percent, when the commodity cycle crashed in 2014-15... Overall, what is clear is that notwithstanding the 2014-15 drop in commodity prices and the harms to the sector from government policy, natural resource development continues to be a major source of economic output in Canada... Not only is the natural resource sector a major source of total employment, but the distribution of its employment is highly advantageous too. The geographical distribution of natural resource jobs diverges from the concentration of employment in a small number of major Canadian cities. In fact, a 2021 Natural Resources Canada report found that in more than 1,800 rural and remote communities across Canada, most of which have populations of 10,000 or less, an average of 30 percent of jobs in those communities were dependent on the natural resource sector. Mineral deposits, managed forests, and oil and gas reservoirs are dispersed across the country and generally located near rural and remote communities... Natural resources also employ people across the skills distribution, including large numbers without post-secondary credentials. In fact, more than 40 percent of those employed in the sector in 2021 had a high school diploma or less... the natural resource sector has protected Canada from middle-class erosion experienced elsewhere... Incomes are higher in the natural resource sector than most other parts of the economy. The average gross weekly pay in the mining and oil and gas sectors has been consistently the highest in Canada since 2007... The natural resource sector’s wage premium has been especially beneficial to Indigenous Canadians... According to the Indigenous Resource Network, the Indigenous workforce in forestry, mining, and oil and gas is higher than its overall share of the population and quite a bit higher than the percentage in the federal government... Natural resources also dominate Canadian overall business investment. In 2023, capital investments in the natural resources sector were estimated to amount to $109.0 billion or 43.6 percent of all business investment in tangible assets such as structures, machinery, and equipment. At the height of the commodity cycle that coincided with a large upswing in the sector’s capital expenditures, natural resources accounted for as high as nearly 60 percent of all business investment in 2014... Although Canada is in the midst of a productivity crisis in overall terms, the natural resource sector is something of an outlier... Energy products alone are Canada’s most lucrative export sector, outearning every other subsector, including, for instance, commercial services and motor vehicles (see Figure 4). Added together with mining and forestry, these three natural resource subsectors have made up about 30 percent of total exports since 2017. They are critical building blocks of a stable Canadian economy. Additionally, they offer a unique geographic-based value proposition because they cannot be outsourced to other countries... Even as it has faced headwinds (discussed below in more detail) it has generally outperformed other parts of the economy. It stands to reason, therefore,that if Canada has a more hospitable policy environment for natural resources, then they can play a key role in boosting overall economic output... resource investment actually fell between 2014 and 2022 by as much as $52 billion. Today annual investment in mining and oil and gas is about half the level that it was during the Harper government... since 2015, Canada has seen nearly $670 billion in natural resources projects suspended or canceled... the Trudeau government has enacted a series of policies that have harmed the investment climate for resource projects. These include: The Impact Assessment Act, which further inserted the federal government into resource project approvals, the oil tanker moratorium, the moratorium on offshore Arctic oil and gas licensing, industrial carbon pricing, the UNDRIP Action Plan, rejection of the Northern Gateway pipeline, methane regulations, Clean Fuel Regulations, the proposed Clean Electricity Standard, and now the proposed emissions cap for the oil and gas sector. Evidence from the Fraser Institute’s latest survey of energy sector executives indicates that these policies have had a deleterious effect on the investment climate by raising costs and contributing to policy uncertainty. The emissions cap is a good example. This is a policy that specifically targets Canada’s biggest source of exports with greater regulatory stringency than any other part of the economy... At a time when policymakers are concerned with boosting economic growth and Canadian living standards, it stands to reason that one of the most impactful steps that they could take is unleashing the natural resource sector."
Time to tax companies more to pay for a bigger public service, and for even more regulation to protect the environment and indigenous peoples
