All-party B.C. finance committee reaffirms goal to balance books next year

VICTORIA – The British Columbia government’s all-party finance committee wants the Liberals to stay on course when it comes to keeping their promise to balance the budget next year.

The six Liberals and four New Democrats on the Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government say the balanced budget promise is among the top priorities of the report’s 75 recommendations.

The committee held 19 public hearings across the province earlier this fall and received more than 800 submissions and will submit its report to the Finance Ministry to help prepare the February budget.

The committee’s chairman, Liberal Douglas Horne, says the committee unanimously supports the goal of balancing the budget, while suggesting ways to improve economic competitiveness for when the province prepares to return to the provincial sales tax system after rejecting the HST.

The committee’s recommendations include working with industry and schools and colleges to train more skilled workers, capping carbon tax increases at the July 2012 rate and forming a group to examine modernizing the PST.

The committee’s report serves as a suggestion list to the Finance Ministry, with the recommendations reflecting the concerns and wishes of British Columbians from all walks of life.