US EditionB.C. budget eyes staffing but finance minister says no big service cuts or tax hikes
British Columbia’s 2026 budget aims to reduce the $11.2 billion deficit year over year while maintaining key investments in health, education, and public safety, officials said.
- On Tuesday, B.C. Finance Minister Brenda Bailey presented Budget 2026, saying it will protect core services including health care and education while confronting a projected $11.2 billion deficit.
- Rising debt — more than doubled and projected to top $155 billion — underpins the budget's restraint, along with public-sector labour costs near 60 per cent, about $53 billion.
- Bailey highlighted staffing restraints, noting attrition and a hiring freeze as the provincial public service shrank by over 1,500 since 2024, and said a contingency fund exists for unexpected needs.
- Bailey said contingencies or education budget adjustments could aid Tumbler Ridge, while Conservative finance critic Peter Milobar demanded accountability, saying `When the government is previewing cuts and new difficulties for families in the upcoming budget, it’s a question that must be asked.'
- With an A-plus credit rating and a negative outlook, B.C. officials say the months-long efficiency review has yielded little, while public-sector wage agreements and a 3-per-cent increase add more than $150,000 annually.
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21 Articles
B.C. budget to drop as Tumbler Ridge shooting puts focus on mental health services
B.C.'s finance minister has warned of a “tough budget” that will make her the “least popular person in the province for a while.” But the mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge has many calling for the province to boost investments in mental health resources, especially in rural communities.
Media calls it ‘mental health,’ Rick Burgess calls it demonic: Unpacking the Tumbler Ridge shooting and the transgender agenda
Not that long ago, people who struggled to accept their biological gender were diagnosed with a mental health disorder called gender dysphoria. But radical tolerance pushed by the left has ushered us into an age where transgenderism is so embraced, and even popularized, that advocacy for it continues even as transgender-perpetrated violence increases.On February 10, 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar, a biological male who identified as a woman, a…
The Hamilton Spectator
Health, education, public safety to be protected in B.C. budget, Minister Bailey says
VICTORIA - British Columbia's finance minister describes the government's budget being unveiled today as disciplined, focused and serious.
A few days before the B.C. budget was tabled, the provincial Minister of Finance plans to gradually reduce the deficit
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