Photo: Gwen Barlee, policy director with the Wilderness Committee

“Through their hard work and perseverance, British Columbians have scored a fiscal hat trick. For the third year in a row, British Columbia will have a balanced budget.”

– Finance Minister Mike de Jong

“This budget says everything about this government’s lack of support for low- and middle-income families. If you’re wealthy … you are going to share in a $230-million tax cut that you didn’t even ask for.”

– NDP finance critic Carole James

“The principle of having a competitive tax structure is not one that ends at a certain level. That’s something we believe should apply across personal income tax rates. Secondly, I hope it’s not a novel concept, but we actually made a promise.”

– Mike De Jong, on why the government removed the 2-per-cent income-tax premium, set in 2013, for those earning over $150,000

“Despite a personal promise from Premier [Christy] Clark to make class composition her No. 1 priority and fully fund collective agreement costs, this new budget increases costs to districts at the same time it forces cuts. While there is some new money for the settlement teachers negotiated, a significant portion of it is not new funding. The government is playing a shell game. If teachers had not gone on strike, there would be no increase at all.”

– Jim Iker, president of the B.C. Teachers’ Federation

“While we are pleased to see some money set aside for implementation of the Water Sustainability Act, the budget is spineless on real protection of B.C.’s environment. What we need is an investment in our parks, conservation officers, climate action, and the Environmental Assessment Office and that simply isn’t there.”

– Gwen Barlee, policy director with the Wilderness Committee

“We believe, however, that over time it will be necessary to refocus efforts on strengthening B.C.’s competitive position through increased investments in infrastructure, further streamlining of regulatory processes and the refinement of current tax policies to spur business investment and innovation.”

– Greg D’Avignon, president of the Business Council of B.C

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