There are also sizeable increases for K-12 and post-secondary education, as well as money earmarked to respond to the opioid crisis and for increased mental health and addictions services.
At the same time there’s a $2-billion drop in revenue, a big part of which is a drop in corporate income tax (down $1.4 billion) that’s partially offset by increased revenue from the carbon tax (up $300 million) and property tax (up $646 million).
There’s also a big drop in projected transfers from the federal government, mainly because of one-time pandemic-related support year that isn’t being repeated.
The bottom line is a projected deficit of $9.7 billion this year, with smaller but still large deficits to follow in the next two years. Including capital spending, by 2024 the province’s total debt is projected to grow to $127 billion, about double what it was a few years ago.
BC Budget 2021: Social spending, COVID recovery yields $9 6b deficit
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Surrey hospital plan braces for impact as COVID-19 cases set to explode Bookmark Please log in to listen to this story. Also available in French and Mandarin. Log In Create Free Account
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Rafal Gerszak/For The Globe and Mail
Surrey has been Ground Zero for the pandemic in B.C. almost since the start. And Surrey Memorial Hospital is at the centre of it.
Last week, the hospital began to cancel a small number of surgeries as a record number of patients were taken into critical care. This is British Columbia’s second-largest hospital, with the busiest emergency department in the province, and while the beds are not all full, the capacity to treat patients is at the limits. It is a forewarning for B.C.’s health care system.
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The B.C. government is following Saskatchewan’s lead by taking the first step to ensuring workers who get a COVID-19 vaccine during work hours are not docked their pay.
Labour Minister Harry Bains on Monday introduced amendments to the Employment Standards Act that, if passed, would require employers to give workers up to three hours paid time off to get vaccinated.
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Try refreshing your browser, or COVID-19: Proposed B.C. law will ensure workers get paid time off to get vaccinated Back to video
“Many workers, we understand, are on paycheque to paycheque and they cannot afford to lose pay to go get vaccinated,” Bains told reporters on Monday. “People should not have to make this decision, to choose between pay or getting vaccinated.”
In Fraser Health, the highest number of cases were reported in manufacturing, restaurants were second
A union leader says workers at these places need paid sick leave, paid time off to get the vaccine
VICTORIA (NEWS 1130) New information about workplace clusters of COVID-19 is shedding some light on which sectors have been hardest hit in Metro Vancouver recently, and a union leader says the data underscores the need for true paid sick leave amid the pandemic.
The information provided by provincial health officials Thursday shows restaurants, bars and lounges reported the highest number of clusters and individual cases in the Vancouver Coastal Health region in February and March with more than 50 clusters, and 450 individual infections. In the Fraser Health region, restaurants and bars were number two on the list, with 50 clusters and more than 250 cases between Feb. 1 and April 12.
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