VICTORIA – B.C. Finance Minister Brenda Bailey says government’s plan to find $1.5 billion in savings over three years won’t be enough to “start bending the curve towards balance” as the province forecasts an unprecedent deficit of $11.6 billion.

Bailey was part of a panel at the Union of British Columbia Municipalities annual convention in Victoria, saying the savings estimate is “really a placeholder number,” as the government works on a complex process to find ways to bring down the deficit and the debt, which is expected to reach more than $212 billion in two years’ time.

Bailey says this work “is not optional” because if both figures continue to rise, B.C. will have “less money to spend on things like hospitals and infrastructure” and other things that “matter deeply” to municipalit

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