Prince George, B.C. – B.C.’s Minister of Finance, Mike  De Jong,  will present the budget for  2014 to the Provincial Legislature today.

It will be interesting to see  how many of the 73 recommendations from the  budget consultation have been addressed in the  fiscal  plan, although  DeJong has  given a strong indication  this budget will be like those of the past,  as he had his shoes "re-soled" rather than buy a new pair  for budget day.

The  state of a Finance Minister's shoes can say a lot about what might, or might not  be in the budget.  There was no extravagant spending on a new pair, so  that is a reflection of what is likely to happen in the plan to be delivered later today.  Expect a recycled,  balanced budget with no surprises.

The final budget consultation report not only  presented  what it believed should be the priorities for  2014, the report also included  ideas on revenue generation, finding efficiencies, and reallocating  some resources to help speed up the  economic recovery.  Those elements all fall within the  Committee’s report  themes of  balancing the budget and reducing the provincial debt.

Here are some of the 73 recommendations from that Committee report:

Natural Resources:

• Consider a strategic, cumulative environmental assessment of LNG projects in northwest BC and the creation of a common energy corridor for successful projects.
• Work with northern and rural communities to address growth issues relating to industrial development, including timely provision of funds for community infrastructure.

Education:

• Provide sufficient funding for the K-12 system to enable BC students to become top performers nationally; and address cost increases for school districts (e.g. rising BC Hydro rates).
•  Develop a comprehensive capital plan for educational facilities that takes into account increased maintenance and aging school facility upgrades; and continue the seismic upgrading program.
• Redesign programming and direct funding to establish and strengthen trades and technology courses in K-12;
•  Review the increasing demands on school district budgets and ensure that funding is appropriately directed to meet the growing support required for students with special needs.
• Ensure that the post-secondary education and training system is adequately funded to meet the rising demand for educated and skilled workers
• Continue to support and invest in skills training initiatives and work with industry, educational institutions, and First Nations to: enhance access to technical training (e.g. Industry Training Authority and technical schools); explore ways to enhance support of apprentices (e.g. College of the Rockies’ Mining Apprenticeship Program); and improve the certification process for new Canadians and foreign tradespeople.

Health

• Create more full- and part-time positions in rural areas to retain and attract skilled healthcare workers.
•  Fund BC health authorities to support the development and implementation of rural healthcare models that meet the needs of communities in rural-remote BC.
• Continue capital investments in critical healthcare infrastructure to address local, regional, and provincial needs.
• Provide additional and targeted funding for the prevention and early treatment of mental health and addictions.
•  Work with the BC Hospice Palliative Care Association to implement expanded palliative care services throughout the province.

Community and Social Services:

• Enhance the Ministry of Children and Family Development budget to eliminate wait lists, reduce social workers’ caseloads, and support community-based agencies.
• Allocate new funding for age-appropriate services for youth with special needs aged 13 to 19.
• Look at ways to provide more affordable and accessible quality child care.
• Examine current social assistance rates, earning exemptions, and the minimum wage, and consider increases to meet rising costs of living.
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Environment

• Allocate funding for the proactive prevention and management of invasive species.
• Consider additional investment in policies and programs (e.g. LiveSmart BC) to address the to address the challenge of climate change.

Justice

•  Commit to long-term and stable funding of the Court Services Branch.
•  Incrementally increase legal aid funding.