The British Columbia election campaign kicks off on Tuesday. But a B.C. government spending spree is already well under way.
Governments are often criticized for trying to buy votes with your tax dollars in the days leading up to an election. But they keep doing it.
Since March 27th, the B.C. Liberals have come up with roughly $1.6 billion in spending announcements.
That amount exceeds the 2009 budget for B.C.'s Child and Family Development Ministry.
But the promises are also piling up on joint announcements between the province, the federal government and private sector.
Roughly $2.4 billion has been promised since the end of last month.
And the premier hasn't been shy about trumpeting his close relationship with Ottawa, playing up the fact that B.C. is working in partnership with Ottawa.
The federal government has been quick to reciprocate
"You have such a wonderful leader,'' said International Trade Minister Stockwell Day during a recent spending announcement with Campbell.
When CTV caught up with B.C. Finance Minister Colin Hansen at a memorial run at the University of British Columbia, he downplayed the spending.
"We recognize, once an election is called, it's very difficult for the government to make provincial/federal announcements especially,'' he said.
"We wanted to make sure we get as many through the pipeline to get jobs started as soon as possible."
Every government seems to go on a pre-election spending spree. So it's unclear if the vote-buying strategy really works. The Liberals will find out on May 12.
With a report by CTV British Columbia's Leah Hendry
