Minister Colin Hansen tabling the provincial budget at the B.C. Legislature in Victoria, B.C., on Tuesday March 2, 2010.Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press
The Liberal leadership race to replace Premier Gordon Campbell could have an impact on the province's bottom line, Finance Minister Colin Hansen said Thursday.
There is the possibility the province will table two budgets next year, with the first due as legislated on Feb. 15 and the second coming some time after the B.C. Liberals elect a new leader on Feb. 26, he said.
Mr. Hansen suggested the new Liberal leader may want to put his or her financial stamp on the government, which could include tabling a second budget.
The possibility of two budgets drew immediate criticism from the Opposition New Democrats, who suggested the last time the Liberals tabled two budgets in one fiscal year, the second came with a record deficit.
NDP finance critic Bruce Ralston said the Liberals tabled a budget in February, 2008, that projected a meagre deficit of $495-million, but after winning a third-straight election in the spring of 2009, the Liberals tabled a second budget in September, 2009, that projected a record deficit of $2.8-billion.
"Is that what's in store for us?" asked Mr. Ralston.
He said declining B.C. government revenues and continued economic problems in the United States have him worried about the province's financial prospects.
Mr. Hansen raised the possibility of two budgets while delivering the government's quarterly financial update, which marks the halfway point in the fiscal year.
"The new premier would certainly have options of bringing in a whole new budget if they wished," Mr. Hansen said. "The other option would be to bring in supplemental estimates if there was that kind of flexibility in the fiscal outlook."
Mr. Hansen said the Feb. 15 budget will include the government's three-year fiscal outlook, but he suggested the bottom-line numbers could receive a second look if the new leader decides there's fiscal room to move.
Mr. Campbell announced earlier this month he was stepping down as leader as soon as the Liberals elect a new party leader.
The second quarterly report indicates the projected deficit is looking like it will be lower than predicted despite slowing economic and revenue growth, Mr. Hansen said.
The projected deficit now is forecast at $1.70 billion - $20-million less than predicted.
Mr. Hansen said projected revenues were up $522-million over the forecast for the last quarter, and spending increased by $502-million.
The report stated that the private sector has downgraded its outlook for the B.C. economy for 2010 and 2011. The 2010 forecast drops to 3-per-cent growth from the earlier forecast of 3.6-per-cent economic growth.
For 2011, economic growth is now forecast at 2.6 per cent, down from 3.3 per cent.
Mr. Hansen said he is meeting next month with the economic forecast council - leading economists - to develop a revised economic forecast.
The Liberal government forecasts a return to surplus budgets for the 2013-2014 budget.
The Canadian Press