B.C. deficit should be $73 million higher, says auditor general
B.C. finance minister Colin Hansen.
B.C.’s auditor general says the provincial deficit for the last fiscal year should have been $73 million higher than the government reported.
The finding is contained in an annual report on the province’s financial affairs released today (August 19) by auditor general John Doyle.
Finance Minister Colin Hansen announced in July that the deficit for 2009/2010 was $1.78 billion.
But Doyle’s report says that figure would have been reported to be $1.85 billion had the government not failed to meet national accounting standards in three key areas.
The report says deep-well credits and royalty credits to producers of oil and natural gas were not recorded as required under generally accepted accounting principles.
The report also says an inappropriate financial consolidation method was applied to the Transportation Investment Corp., an entity involved in the provincial Gateway Program's Port Mann Bridge project.
According to Doyle’s report, the same government accounting issues were noted last year.
In response, the government stands by its accounting approach to the Transportation Investment Corp., and the deep-well and royalty credits.
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Comments
This article must be inaccurate! (sarcasm)
No need to be concerned about the Auditor Generals Office pointing out that the deficit should be $73 million higher. But whats a measly $73 million when Olympic Games related cost over-runs were more than $1 billion.
By the way, C and H, where did all the $billions of NE gas revenues go. You know the ones you received by selling the rights to our common land for future exploration and used to brag about how big the government surplus was just before each election? Were those dollars really future revenues from non-renewables spent to prop up poor economic policies that have seen corporation taxes reduced by 40% and HST that further reduces taxes to corporations.
On July 1, 2010, the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) came into effect in Ontario and British Columbia. As well, Nova Scotia increased its HST by two percentage points.
The largest year-over-year change occurred in Ontario, where consumer prices rose 2.9% after increasing 1.6% in June. Prices for gasoline, electricity, and passenger vehicle insurance premiums went up. Ontario consumers also paid more for homeowner's replacement costs.
Consumer prices advanced 2.0% in British Columbia during the 12-month period to July after a 0.5% increase in June. In July, electricity prices rose 36.7% and prices for food purchased from restaurants increased 7.5%. As well, prices at the pump and homeowner's replacement costs went up.
In Manitoba, prices declined 0.3% in the 12 months to July, following a 0.2% decrease in June. Lower prices for gasoline, natural gas and home and mortgage insurance were recorded in this province
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/100820/dq100820a-eng.htm