REMINDER to BC Finance Minister Mike de Jong: Moody's examines budget projections ... BUT do not verify them as balanced ... or not balanced

'Let me make this perfectly clear ...'

So BC Liberal Finance Minister Mike de Jong says that Moody's assessment concludes that BC's debt remains manageable during the CURRENT low interest-rate environment. 

Lets take a look at what Jordan Bateman (British Columbia Director, Canadian TaxpayersFederation) has had to say however ... and I quote:
"By the end of the 2012-13 budget year, it will hit $57.6 billion. And in 2015, it will rise to $66.4 billion --DESPITE two years of planned surplus budgets."

So what happens WHEN (not if) interest rates go higher?

Mike de Jong also stated today that BC taxpayers 'will pay lower interest rates' ... but NOTHING could be further from the truth.

We will continue to pay the 'going rate'! 

That means the resources of government will be reduced, by nearly $7 million EVERY DAY, for debt service costs (interest the government pays on roughly $60 billion in debt).

Again ... that's $7 million EVERY DAY just to make the interest payments on that debt. 

That's $7 million EVERY DAY that could and should be going to provide from line services in health, education, senior care and more.

And that interest payment ($7 million a day) is before this BC Liberal government even begins to start reducing the debt; something which they have been unable to do year after year.  And just to be clear, the Liberal government of BC has not even had a balanced budget since 2006! 

I think perhaps it would be wise to mention two more things ... one from a Ministry of Finance news release sent out today ... and the other from a CBC "Reality Check" with regards to what Moody's really says.

First , the news release from the Ministry of Finance makes the claim that:
"Moody’s Aaa rating confirmation follows the first quarterly report, issued Sept. 10, 2013, which confirmed that B.C. is on track to balance the 2013-14 budget."

Now to the CBC Reality Check which quoted Helmut Pastrick, the chief economist of Central One Credit Union who said:
" ... Moody's and other credit rating agencies examine budget projections, but do not verify them as balanced or not balanced."

So Mike ... but there's no thanks coming your way from me ... only wonderings why you continue to misrepresent the truth of BC finances (debt and interest), how credit rating agencies work, and how much we really pay for the overspending by consecutive governments from the NDP, right down through the BC Liberals.

I'm Alan Forseth in Kamloops, with the thoughts of one conservative.

“The expansion of gambling in BC has only hurt the non-profit sector. The greater the BC Lottery Corporation revenue, the worse it gets for charities”

I went to buy a $4.00 mini-dip (one ticket with one each of the 649, BC49, & the Extra) yesterday, and was told the price had increased over the weekend and that my regular ticket is now $6.00.

WHAT ... a 50% increase??  Did I just get a clerk that didn't know what she is doing -- or is that indeed what they now cost?  Well it didn't take long for a friend to confirm that:

Looks like they have increased the jackpots so that's why it costs more.  The BC Lottery Corporation website says the jackpot will start at $5 million instead of $3 million, and there will be an additional prize of $1million paid out each draw. Either way, you have a better chance of being struck by lightning!

And indeed, a quick look at the Lotto Corp website does indeed state:
With the new guaranteed $1 million prize and the improved odds, the price of Lotto 6/49 changes to $3 per play from $2. Each $3 play includes a unique number exclusively for the new $1 million prize that is guaranteed to be won each draw. Players are automatically entered into new $1 million prize draw from the tickets sold across Canada

A story in the Globe and Mail a few years ago stated a few comparison on your chances of winning.  You are ... three times more likely to be killed in a traffic accident driving 16 kilometers to buy your ticket than winning the jackpot ... you are about 10 times more likely to die after being bitten by a poisonous snake or lizard than to win a Lotto 6/49 jackpot ... if you want to increase your odds just buy 50 tickets a week. You are very likely to win the jackpot at least once — in 5,000 years.

I don't know if it was just me not paying attention, however I have to say the announcement of increased rates on Lotto 649 tickets seems to have been conspicuously absent.

Not to be a conspiracy theorist, but I'm just wondering if BC Liberal government will be taking an even bigger whack of profits into general revenue?  As it is, for the last fiscal year (2012 to 2013), the BC Lottery Corporation sent nearly $1.12 BILLION dollars into the government treasury

I'm sure the non-profits, that have been getting screwed big time in the amounts the were PROMISED by the government when they took over the fundraising they had been doing with soft-gambling, won't be getting anywhere near the 30 odd percent they were once promised (but never received).

A quick look at Mother Lotto Corp shows that while the government took in $1.12 BILLION ... charitable and community organizations received a mere $135 million in gaming grants.

Yes, the BC Liberal government calls them "Gaming Grants" ... however the reality is this was REVENUE for charitable organizations in BC before the government forced them out of soft gambling that community groups and organization had previously done to 'directly' fund the work they did in their communities.