For the third time in three years, the province (arguably) boasts a balanced or surplus budget.
As expected, there’s give and take in all directions.
Monthly MSP premiums are going up for the sixth time in five years. At the same time, a higher tax on those making more than $150,000 per year is being rolled back to 2013 levels. Families on disability or income assistance will no longer have their payments clawed back, if they received child support.
(However, it should be noted that ending the clawback for single parents on income assistance translates into a $13 million loss in tax revenue. While reducing taxes for the top two percent of income earners will mean there’s $227 million less in government coffers.)
And though the total dollar amount going into health and education is going up, we can say right now that in 2015/2016 both sectors will continue to feel the strain as demand on the system grows.
It’s important to remember the human costs here. News of a balanced budget will be cold comfort for someone struggling to get access to mental health care. The same goes for school boards, which will have to find $29 million in “efficiencies” to keep the lights on.
But our current government did not campaign and win on making sure it met the needs of every disadvantaged group, or that every public service was funded to the liking of its staff.
All in all, it’s a status quo budget, which is good for those benefiting from the growing disparity between rich and poor. Perhaps not so great for the rest of us.
