BC budget’s housing, child care measures good for business: premier

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VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – British Columbia’s premier says his government’s focus on housing and child care in this week’s budget is good for the province’s businesses.

John Horgan told the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade today that the financial plan will help attract and retain workers.

He says the province is at a disadvantage if people can’t find a place to live or child care or health care. “And when we talk about balancing budgets we have to do more than just look at the ledger and the bottom-line. We have to make sure that we are balancing the social needs in the community and I believe we’ve done a fairly effective job of doing that with this budget.”

Tuesday’s budget included $1 billion for child care over the next three years and a housing plan that expands tax on foreign buyers, taxes real estate speculation and allocates $6 billion for affordable housing over the next decade.

The financial plan included significant spending on child care and housing, and Horgan says that will help recruit and keep employees here. “These are economic issues if we’re not putting in place the social foundation for you to succeed then we are failing the economy,” adds Horgan.

BC’s premier points out his government heard during pre-budget consultations that the business community wanted to see a balanced budget, which the New Democrats delivered.

The budget forecasts a $219 million surplus for the 2018-19 fiscal year.

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