British Columbia

Last month the Canadian Taxpayers’ Federation took its “Debt Clock” on a tour of British Columbia to draw attention to the province’s mounting debt. The debt is currently $112 billion and rising by $53 million per week – faster than any other provincial government’s. That’s $20,000 for every British Columbian. The NDP-run province’s credit rating is “plummeting,” according to outside experts, driving up the interest rate it pays on new debt. It is spending $4 billion a year on interest and will soon pay more.

The NDP’s uncontrolled spending is a big part of the problem. In 2002, Campbell’s Liberal government forecast operational spending of $25.6 billion. Horgan’s first budget forecast spending of $53.6 billion. Eby’s government forecasts spending of $92.7 billion in 2026-2027, a 73 percent increase in only a decade. The NDP will have nearly tripled B.C.’s debt in only a decade – from $45.2 billion in Horgan’s first budget to a projected $126.5 billion in 2026-2027. Including Crown corporations, total provincial debt will have more than doubled from $69.4 billion to $165 billion.

Max Paulhus says he could hear wood breaking and a roaring sound before an approaching surge of water raced down the Fraser River after breaking free from a landslide upstream.

Paulhus lives in Lillooet, B.C., and is one of several Fraser River community residents and business operators who described watching the power of water and debris churning from the Chilcotin River landslide towards British Columbia's Lower Mainland.

"You could hear an abnormal sound coming from the river," said Paulhus, the Lillooet and District Rescue Society chief. "You could hear that noise. You could hear branches breaking. It was almost like a roar."

Others downstream at Lytton and at the Hell's Gate Airtram said they could also hear the river's flow as the water and debris passed through Tuesday afternoon and evening.

British Columbia's Opposition BC United says it wants to include the party's previous Liberal name on the fall election ballot after internal polling shows up to 30 per cent of people didn't know the party changed its name.