VICTORIA - There won't be a lot of green in Tuesday's B.C. budget, but it still boasts a nice colour, says Finance Minister Carole Taylor.
B.C.'s books are firmly in the black, she said.
Taylor wouldn't reveal the exact amount of the surplus, but suggested it's above the $2.15 billion forecast last fall.
"We will have a surplus," she said.
Taylor was tight-lipped about what she will do with the surplus.
She said last week there wouldn't be any money in this year's budget to fund the ambitious green plan the government laid out in its throne speech, rankling environmentalists that have been cheering the plan.
Instead, the surplus will partly be used to boost welfare rates, Taylor confirmed.
Premier Gordon Campbell told municipal leaders last fall the government would increase the shelter allowance for people who receive monthly welfare cheques.
Many B.C. communities, including Liberal strongholds like Kelowna, had been publicly lobbying for increased welfare rates, saying homelessness and poverty were spreading across the province.
"He certainly did say that (welfare rates will rise) and I guess that will not be a secret," said Taylor. But she didn't say by how much.
Opposition NDP Leader Carole James said the government should have raised the rates last fall rather than make people wait through another cold winter.
"I'm glad that we're going to see an increase in shelter rates, but I want to see what that amount is," she said.
Taylor said it will take most of the coming year for the government to assess the costs of it's plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions by one third by 2020, among other measures.
It is the most ambitious plan in Canada and rivals the energy plan announced earlier this year by California.
Campbell has invited California's Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to B.C. to work on a West Coast green plan. Schwarzenegger, a former bodybuilder and movie star, has accepted an invitation to visit British Columbia.
"It obviously has to be done," said Taylor about the work to make British Columbia green.
"It will be done," she said.
"What we're determined to do in British Columbia is be a leader. But being a leader means that you recognize that there's got to be a lot of work behind the direction."
Taylor's admitted lack of financial green details in the budget provoked criticism from James who said the plan appears to be more of a political stunt than a serious initiative.
"To say that they have nothing in the budget to do what they said was their key agenda in this year's throne speech is simply outrageous," said James.
Lisa Matthaus, a B.C. Sierra Club spokeswoman, said she will be looking for signs in the budget the government has money available to get the green initiative moving immediately.
"There's generally lots of slushy money in the budget that could be allocated to get these commitments underway," she said.
Taylor suggested the budget, like her previous budgets, will focus spending on key areas rather than scattering money around.
Her previous budgets have sent money to seniors, aboriginals and children. Taylor would not point to budget targets for Tuesday, but she's mentioned health, education, debt and apprenticeships in the past.
The government handed B.C.'s health authorities $885 million recently as a pre-budget advance to curtail rising costs in provincial health authorities.
Taylor said there will be no more extra money for health in the budget even though the health authorities said last fall they could use an extra $4 billion.
Budget and administration problems in the Lower Mainland's two health authorities have recently resulted in high-level firings and resignations.
Taylor said last fall rising health budgets could eventually consume more than 70 per cent of the provincial budget.
She said she hopes B.C.'s year-long conversation on health helps the government find ways to ensure health care remains sustainable.
Taylor said she's tried to do the same thing with her latest budget: keep it affordable for the future.
"We won't always have high commodity prices," she said.
"We won't always be in a situation where our growth is outstripping the rest of Canada. We have to be prudent for the future."
