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Following the deep controversy about the NDP government's promises
about a balanced budget during the 1996 provincial election campaign in
BC a Budget Review
Process Panel issued a report proposing significant changes to the
way in whicch BC provincial budgets are prepared. The most significant
relate to greater public disclosure and formal hearings to allow public
input into the up-coming budget's preparation.
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| Other changes since introduced include a Balanced Budget Act, brought in byu the NDP government in 2000, which requires the BC Government to balance the budget by 2004/5. The Act includes penalties of 20% of a cabinet ministers' salaries if they fail to keep their department expenditures within budget. Thi8s Act was replaced the following year by the new Liberal Government's Balanced Budget Act, also requiring the province's books to be balanced by the 2004/5 budget. Eight other provinces, plus the Yukon Territory have balanced budget legislation. In five of these jurisdictions, there are no direct penlaties, but the penalties range up to 40% of a minister's salary in Alberta and 50% in Ontario. |