Last week in the Legislature – February 9-12, 2009
Posted February 16, 2009 by Sacha Peter - Link
Category: Legislature
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During the last week of the legislature, it considered debate with respect to Bill 48, the Finance Statutes (Deficit Authorization and Debt Elimination) Amendment Act, 2009, with the purpose of removing the balanced budget legislation for two years.
The government will take a credibility hit on this one, but it is weighed against the political expense to take the other two options – either raising taxes, or cutting spending.
The first question of question period on the four days were the following:
Olympic Games security costs
Government action on gang violence
Olympic Games contract with Fortress Investment Group
Impact of Olympic security costs on utility and transit rates
Most notable during question period was Gordon Campbell being the point man to answer questions on Tuesday’s session regarding gang violence and the shootings (the latest rash occurring in Langley).
The other obvious theme is the consistent questioning on Olympic spending – it will be interesting to see if this becomes a significant issue with traction – will people change their vote (or decide not to vote) on the province having the pick up the bill for a VANOC operating deficit?
The next week of the legislature will feature the throne speech, followed by the budget. This will be the 5th and final session of the legislature before the election. The last day of the legislature will be on April 2, 2009, assuming it is not adjourned earlier.