B.C. budget: Victoria spends $140 million on mental health services
VICTORIA — The B.C. Liberal government announced millions for mental
health services Monday, as it continued scooping good news
announcements out of its own budget in an attempt to focus public
attention Tuesday on the premier’s expected tax cuts.
The latest announcement was $140 million over three years for mental health services, which government said will fund 120 additional youth mental-health workers, 28 treatment beds for youth with substance-use disorders, and specialized new housing for people with mental health and addictions challenges.
Children’s Minister Stephanie Cadieux called the money “very significant” and said it could clear mental health waiting lists for youth — which critics have said can stretch for months and deter some children from seeking help.
“We anticipate we’ll be able to get through wait lists by the time we’ve got all of the people hired,” said Cadieux. The $15-million annual funding for mental-health workers, for example, represents a 15 per cent increase to the ministry’s annual spending on child and youth mental health services, said Cadieux.
The funding represents just a small slice of almost $1.3 billion in spending that the Liberal government has announced in the past three weeks, in many cases pre-empting its own budget, which is set to be unveiled Tuesday.
The spending topics have been varied, including $5 million for overdose prevention, $29.4 million for school supplies, $25 million for new medical scanning, $150 million for tree planing, $417-million approval for a patient care tower at Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops, $102 million to expand operating rooms at Vancouver General Hospital, $247 million to four-lane several kilometres of highway through the Kicking Horse Canyon, and $150 million for a new Abbotsford courthouse.
Not all of that money will be directly reflected in Tuesday’s budget, because it includes a mixture of capital and operating costs, dollars spread over multiple years and in some cases funding partnerships with the federal government.
NDP critic Carole James said it’s clear the B.C. Liberals are trying to announce early spending in areas they’re most likely to face criticism for underfunding.
James pointed to government’s decision to announce a $50 a person monthly increase to disability payments Friday, knowing it doesn’t even cover a $52 clawback of disability bus passes made last year.
“They wanted that out of the way before the budget, in the hopes people wouldn’t dig too deep and realize they aren’t putting back what they took away,” said James.
Finance Minister Mike de Jong said government announced the disability rate increase early because “it was an opportunity for that to be profiled and for people to comment on it” before a busy budget.
“There will be no shortage of commentary and criticism about why didn’t you do more here, or why wasn’t the tax relief greater, why wasn’t there more money for particular ministries,” he said.
“We try to make these choices as best we can. We make them in the context of a balanced budget and what we can afford, and we are trying to ensure the benefits of our strong economy, our nation leading economy, are shared by the widest possible group.”
De Jong also hinted Monday at a tax cut for B.C.’s small businesses.
“We’re going to try and ensure that small business also benefits from the strength of our economy,” he told reporters.
B.C.’s small business tax rate is 2.5 per cent. Cutting that to 1.5 per cent by 2017 was something the B.C. Liberals promised in the party’s 2013 election platform.
A small business tax cut could cost the treasury around $100 million, based upon the cost of a two-percentage-point reduction in 2008, which was worth more than $220 million.
rshaw@postmedia.com
twitter.com/robshaw_vansun
The latest announcement was $140 million over three years for mental health services, which government said will fund 120 additional youth mental-health workers, 28 treatment beds for youth with substance-use disorders, and specialized new housing for people with mental health and addictions challenges.
Children’s Minister Stephanie Cadieux called the money “very significant” and said it could clear mental health waiting lists for youth — which critics have said can stretch for months and deter some children from seeking help.
“We anticipate we’ll be able to get through wait lists by the time we’ve got all of the people hired,” said Cadieux. The $15-million annual funding for mental-health workers, for example, represents a 15 per cent increase to the ministry’s annual spending on child and youth mental health services, said Cadieux.
The funding represents just a small slice of almost $1.3 billion in spending that the Liberal government has announced in the past three weeks, in many cases pre-empting its own budget, which is set to be unveiled Tuesday.
The spending topics have been varied, including $5 million for overdose prevention, $29.4 million for school supplies, $25 million for new medical scanning, $150 million for tree planing, $417-million approval for a patient care tower at Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops, $102 million to expand operating rooms at Vancouver General Hospital, $247 million to four-lane several kilometres of highway through the Kicking Horse Canyon, and $150 million for a new Abbotsford courthouse.
Not all of that money will be directly reflected in Tuesday’s budget, because it includes a mixture of capital and operating costs, dollars spread over multiple years and in some cases funding partnerships with the federal government.
NDP critic Carole James said it’s clear the B.C. Liberals are trying to announce early spending in areas they’re most likely to face criticism for underfunding.
James pointed to government’s decision to announce a $50 a person monthly increase to disability payments Friday, knowing it doesn’t even cover a $52 clawback of disability bus passes made last year.
“They wanted that out of the way before the budget, in the hopes people wouldn’t dig too deep and realize they aren’t putting back what they took away,” said James.
Finance Minister Mike de Jong said government announced the disability rate increase early because “it was an opportunity for that to be profiled and for people to comment on it” before a busy budget.
“There will be no shortage of commentary and criticism about why didn’t you do more here, or why wasn’t the tax relief greater, why wasn’t there more money for particular ministries,” he said.
“We try to make these choices as best we can. We make them in the context of a balanced budget and what we can afford, and we are trying to ensure the benefits of our strong economy, our nation leading economy, are shared by the widest possible group.”
De Jong also hinted Monday at a tax cut for B.C.’s small businesses.
“We’re going to try and ensure that small business also benefits from the strength of our economy,” he told reporters.
B.C.’s small business tax rate is 2.5 per cent. Cutting that to 1.5 per cent by 2017 was something the B.C. Liberals promised in the party’s 2013 election platform.
A small business tax cut could cost the treasury around $100 million, based upon the cost of a two-percentage-point reduction in 2008, which was worth more than $220 million.
rshaw@postmedia.com
twitter.com/robshaw_vansun
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