Anna Kindy on Kerry-Lynne Findlay and the BC Conservatives strength in recent polls

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Sixty percent of the respondents to a recent Angus Reid poll said the province is on the wrong track. If there were an election today, they gave the Conservatives an 11-point lead. This is similar to what 338Canada’s projections have been showing for the past month. Yet nearly 90% of the poll’s respondents also said they know little or nothing about the new BC Conservative leader, Kerry-Lynne Findlay. In this morning’s interview, we discuss these matters with Anna Kindy—MLA for North Island—and also play a clip from Kerry-Lynne Findlay’s Twitter feed. Cortes Currents: Firstly, what do you think of the BC Conservative Party’s recent surge in the polls?  Anna Kindy: "Well, it doesn't surprise me, to be honest, because we've been going in the wrong direction for a long time. When you're looking at the fiscal mess that we're in as a province right now, Premier Eby came in with a surplus, when he became premier, and here we are with $13.3 billion of deficit this year." Cortes Currents: She is referring to the province’s operating deficits. According to the Vancouver Sun, “When Premier David Eby took over in 2022, B.C. was on track to post a $5.7 billion surplus for the 2022–23 fiscal year.” Instead, the government spent that money trying to address problems like the housing crisis, homelessness, and the opioid crisis. Since then, Eby’s government has consistently prioritized issues like these over the budget. Aside from the two COVID years, B.C.’s previous premier, John Horgan, generally posted balanced budgets. Personally, I’m more concerned about total provincial debt, which is roughly five times larger today than it was in 2001. Under the BC Liberals, it almost doubled—going from about $34 billion in 2001 to around $65 billion by 2017. It has almost tripled under the BC NDP, moving from about $65 billion in 2017 to an anticipated $183 billion this year. Kindy correctly stated that most of the growth under the NDP occurred while David Eby has been premier. This year, the government expects to spend on interest charges. Apologists for government spending point out that provincial revenues have also grown— from $28 billion in 2001 to an anticipated $88 billion this year. Thus, as long as the economy remains strong, BC is in a better position to service a large debt. Comparing the government’s expenses to those of a typical homeowner: operating surpluses and deficits are like monthly cash flow, while debt servicing is like a mortgage payment—and total provincial debt is comparable to a mortgage. Anna Kindy: “We’re doubling our total deficit, and our interest payment this year alone is over six billion—and that would build a lot of care homes and hospitals and fund a lot of services that we need. That’s just the interest. The interest is the third biggest portfolio. “That fiscal mess translates to having to cut back on a lot of things. So I mentioned about care homes being canceled, Burnaby Hospital expansion being canceled. I’m seeing things in the healthcare domain getting worse. The affordability crisis is continuing—in terms of being able to afford your groceries, your rent, getting ahead—especially for young people and seniors. “Even with this budget, seniors were hard hit. Not only with the cancellation of long-term care homes, but you know how seniors can borrow against their home to survive or to live. Now if they borrow against their home, they’ll be paying 2% above prime, compounded interest. So that’s a lot for seniors. And there are going to be taxes now on landlines—which who has landlines? Seniors do, and you do, and me. We’ve got a landline too. Yeah, old school - but we’re seniors!" “Things are not going in the right direction in a lot of ways, and that’s what’s being reflected in the polls. There’s a healthcare crisis getting worse, an affordability crisis, fiscal mismanagement, and still safety issues.”