Campbell keeping BC a "deficit free zone".

As the growing global economic crisis continued, BC Premier Gordon Campbell addressed the Province on October 22nd with a televised public address, where he firmly reiterated his commitment to keep the province’s books in the black. "Our province is directly impacted by events beyond our control," he said. "We will not start digging ourselves back into the hole that we all worked so hard to get out of," said Premier. Campbell.

BC will not be heading back into the deficit spending years that successive NDP governments burdened average British Columbians with back in the 1990's.

The solution to solving this crisis is to keep our economies moving forward and to safeguard our savings, ease the tax burden of average British Columbian's and to maintain BC's high standard of living.

Premier Campbell listed the following actions in his plan:

• Effective immediately, the B.C. government is lifting the ceiling on insured deposits at credit unions. The maximum was previously $100,000.


• A new private-sector pension fund will be created for individuals currently without access to a pension plan. This defined-contribution plan will be privately financed and available to employers, employees and self-employed people on a voluntary basis.


• The previously announced personal income tax cut – totaling 5% – will beaccelerated and made retroactive to January 1, 2008. This is estimated to return $144 million into taxpayers’ pockets.


• Light and heavy industry will see their school property taxes rebated by 50%, saving them an estimated $155 million over three years.


• The small business income tax rate will be reduced to 2.5% on December 1 from the current 3.5%, constituting an acceleration of the earlier plan of achieving that level by 2011. The rate has been lowered by one percentage point this past July. The savings to small businesses are estimated at $146 million over three years.


• The government will double the commission its pays businesses for collecting the provincial sales tax and hotel room tax, representing an estimated $60 million over three years.


• Capital spending on public infrastructure will be accelerated with a focus on projects with a relatively short lead time.


• Premier Campbell pledged to “re-evaluate spending priorities and focus on scaling back unbudgeted increases”.

Campbell's plan is estimated to cost $485 million dollars over the next three years however British Columbia will continue to be in the enviable position of enjoying budget surpluses due to the strong fiscal management of our BC Liberal Government.

"B.C. is in far better shape than the rest of Canada," he said, adding that only B.C., Alberta and the federal government have top triple-A credit ratings. "We will not let this economic slowdown return us to the ranks of the have-nots," said Campbell.