VICTORIA — The British Columbia deficit forecast has grown by $450 million to a record-setting $13.8 billion, largely because of a “calculation error” on natural gas royalties, in a situation one critic describes as a state of “fiscal crisis.”
Finance Minister Josie Osborne, who just took over the finance portfolio last month, released the first quarterly report Monday that shows almost $800 million more in revenue, but spending is also up.
The added revenue comes from income and sales taxes, but wildfire fighting costs are projected to be $614 million more.
“If we backed out the 614 million extra dollars for wildfire recovery, (if) we had a different wildfire
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