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Letters: Time to stop the partisan bickering

A Richmond News reader believes Richmond deserves better than what it's getting from the BC government
david-eby
BC Premier David Eby

Dear Editor,

Re: " BC Premier Eby Uses Surplus Budget Cash For One- Time Billion - Dollar Growth Fund," Richmond-News.com.

I believe that BC Liberals recently voted for the people in Richmond and for all taxpayers throughout BC. For the NDP Richmond MLAs to say that the BC Liberals do not support building infrastructure and the $20 million funding from the NDP government for Richmond is categorically false.

As the opposition party in the legislature, they have a responsibility to ensure that money taken from taxpayers' pockets is used wisely. It would only be wise to put some of the surplus to pay down the debt, so we are in a stronger fiscal position as interest rates remain high.

The NDP believes that your money is for them to spend. And if they need more, they simply raise taxes. The NDP asked for last-minute spending of $3 billion dollars (supplemental estimates), but was unable to answer basic questions about what measures are in place to ensure dollars are well spent and, in some cases, ministers didn’t even know where the money was going and who, if anyone, was being held responsible for the spending. That shows a lack of transparency and accountability in the government's spending practices, and it is unacceptable.

I would also like to point out that it is not uncommon for opposition parties to vote against government budgets as a way to express their dissatisfaction with the direction of the government. The NDP voted against every single BC Liberal budget that included spending on hospitals in Surrey, New Westminster and North Vancouver. That doesn’t mean they didn’t support the actual spending on these hospitals but rather they were making a point, as are the BC Libs. 

So, let's stop the partisan bickering and get on with delivering projects and services Richmond needs.

Wendy Yuan

Richmond