Actual provincial program spending is much less than "planned" Provincial Spending was $6.4 billion less than planned over the first 9 months of the fiscal year 2022/3 according to the Financial Accountability Office (FAO). That is 5.0% less than budgeted. After the first half of the year, the FAO had reported that the government had underspent its budget by 4.1% ($3.5 billion). Health was underspent by $1.25 billion – or 2.3% less than planned. This is an increase from an underspend of $859 million reported by the FAO after the first half of the year. The news of the $1.25 billion underspend on health comes just as the province scooped up another $776 million from the federal government for health care to deal with urgent health needs like the hospital crisis. But, instead of dealing with urgent hospital needs, it looks like the province will bank the cheque and underspend the health budget it set last March. Despite the health underspend, the for-profit clinic
Notes from Leftwords -- Doug Allan