The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is raising the alarm after British Columbia’s public accounts revealed the province overshot its debt projections by $10.6 billion in 2024-25.“Eby keeps adding more debt charges to the taxpayer credit card,” said Carson Binda, B.C. Director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. “Every dollar of debt that the province wracks up today is a dollar plus interest that taxpayers are on the hook for in the future.”Premier David Eby’s government had originally planned to add $15.8 billion to the provincial debt. Instead, the total reached $26.4 billion for the fiscal year — exceeding the budgeted amount by 67%..“It’s hard to imagine how you accidentally borrow an extra $10.6 billion,” Binda said. “That’s not pocket change, that’s as much money as the province takes from taxpayers in the PST every year."The province’s total debt reached $133.9 billion, equivalent to roughly $23,500 per resident.Interest payments on that debt also exceeded projections. British Columbians paid $4.6 billion in interest charges, $336 million more than budgeted. That works out to $807 per person or $3,230 for a family of four.“If debt interest were a ministry, it would have the fourth biggest budget in the province,” said Binda. “Eby needs to put down the taxpayer credit card and stop blowing his own budgets.”
