Will British Columbia benefit from what appears to be a remarkably new era of government slowly emerging in Ottawa?
There’s every reason to think so, on a number of policy fronts. And in many cases a large amount of federal dollars flowing B.C.’s way seems likely to happen.
A lot of attention has been paid to newly minted Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s massive infrastructure plan, which could free up billions of dollars for transportation projects in Metro Vancouver. Suddenly, building a Broadway subway line – long considered a political orphan lacking senior government support – now looks like it might actually happen. So do those rapid transit lines in Surrey.
Of course, both projects have yet to develop a coherent business plan, which is required to get the federal government’s commitment of big dollars. If the mayors of Vancouver and Surrey are paying attention, they would be wise to kick start that planning post-haste.
Presumably, the new prime minister would also provide partial funding for the proposed new Massey Bridge. This project still seems a bit iffy, as the reason the Massey Tunnel was built in the first place was because the soil at that part of the Fraser River was deemed unsuitable (too much silt) to support a massive bridge.
But it’s not just bricks and mortar that may be coming from Ottawa. What has received less attention – but involves more money over a longer period of time – is Trudeau’s promise to reintroduce a health accord with the provinces.
The last one (also authored by a federal Liberal government) was arbitrarily torn up by the Harper government, which served notice to the provinces that starting in 2017 the annual funding “lift” for federal contributions to provincial health budgets would be tied to the rate of economic growth.
This new formula would translate to a net reduction of hundreds of millions of dollars to places like B.C., whose older population (the Atlantic provinces fall into this boat as well) means health-care costs here may rise higher and quicker than in other provinces. That rate will inevitably exceed the annual economic growth increase, which usually hovers around two per cent (while health-care funding increases are closer to three per cent and higher).
If the Trudeau government revisits this funding formula and changes it to better accommodate B.C.’s position, that could translate into hundreds of millions of dollars on an annual basis.
Then there is that promise to change the marijuana laws, which could have a profound impact on the B.C. economy. But that’s a topic for another day.
Keith Baldrey is chief political reporter for Global B.C.
