EBY GOVERNMENT - BY THE NUMBERS

 

SPENDING $14,000,000.00 PER DAY INTEREST

David Eby was sworn in as premier on Nov. 18, 2022.

The fiscal year that ended a few months later (2022/23) finished with a $0.956B surplus (i.e., essentially “balanced” in everyday terms).

Annual budget balance (surplus/deficit) since then

• 2022/23: +$0.956B (surplus)

• 2023/24: –$5.035B (deficit)

• 2024/25: –$7.347B (deficit)

• 2025/26 (forecast as of Nov. 27, 2025 Q2 report): –$11.187B

Total deficits from 2023/24 through the 2025/26 forecast: about $23.6B (and net of the 2022/23 surplus, about $22.6B).

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Total debt when Eby took over, and how much has accumulated since?

Here are the year-end total provincial debt (March 31 each year), using the Province’s debt summaries:

• Mar 31, 2022: $90.666B

• Mar 31, 2023: $89.426B

• Mar 31, 2024: $107.462B

• Mar 31, 2025: $133.877B

• Mar 31, 2026 (forecast): $155.086B

So, depending on what you mean by “when he was elected”:

• Using the last year-end before he was sworn in (Mar 31, 2022 → forecast Mar 31, 2026):
  $155.086B − $90.666B = +$64.4B added.

• Using the first year-end after he took over (Mar 31, 2023 → forecast Mar 31, 2026):
  $155.086B − $89.426B = +$65.7B added.

Total Provincial Debt Under Eby

Provincial Operating Surplus/Deficit Under Eby

One key nuance: the debt increase is much larger than the sum of annual operating deficits, because “provincial debt” also moves with capital borrowing and self-supported Crown corporation borrowing (not just the operating shortfall). You can see this in the debt summaries’ discussion of annual debt change drivers.

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B.C. is now told to “find the money” for a cath lab—roughly $100 million—as if that number is impossibly large. Yet the Province’s own books show 2025/26 debt-servicing costs of about $5.092 billion—roughly $14 million per day. Do the math: seven days of interest—just the carrying cost on yesterday’s borrowing—equals the full cath lab price tag. That’s what I mean when I say deficits steal tomorrow. We didn’t “run out” of money for healthcare; we pre-spent it—quietly—on debt and interest. And now, when Nanaimo is pleading for life-saving capacity, we’re told to wait… because yesterday’s deficit already spent today’s cath lab.