Delta South MLA Vicki Huntington re-introduced legislation Monday aimed at preventing future elections from interfering with the provincial budget process like was the case last year.
B.C.'s fixed election date in May currently lies in the middle of the budget period and
the independent MLA says it needs to move to the fall as it is in most other Canadian provinces.
"Were B.C. to follow suit," Huntington said, "the public accounts would come out in the summer and the quarterly updates would be released in September. Political parties, candidates and media could separate political promises from fiscal realities. Voters could cast their ballot with confidence and our ministries would benefit from increased financial certainty."
While member's bills are rarely passed in provincial legislatures, Huntington remains hopeful she can spur what she considers a common sense change.
"The official Opposition is on record supporting a move to fall elections, and the finance minister says it's a debate worth revisiting," Huntington said.
"Thankfully, a simple amendment is all that is needed to move voting day to the fall, when the provincial books are ready for review."
Currently, B.C.'s fixed election date lands on the second Tuesday in May, near the middle of the fiscal year. The province prepares an interim budget that is not fully debated or passed before the legislature dissolves, and a second and final budget follows the election.
Huntington last introduced her legislation, the Fall Fixed Election Amendment Act, in June during a sitting devoted to passing the type of postelection budget update that would be unnecessary under the proposed changes.
"The fact that government ministries and agencies have no spending authority until halfway through the fiscal year is an embarrassment given the problem is so easily corrected," said the secondterm MLA.
"Ironically, the core review process orchestrated to find efficiencies in government was announced at the same time MLAs were convening for an extremely inefficient summer legislative session dedicated not to reviewing policy but to passing the second budget of the year at an enormous cost to the public purse."
