According to Kevin Falcon's quarterly report released Sept. 8, one of the reasons B.C. is facing a deficit of $2.8 billion in 2011-2012 is "expectations of an outflow of people from B.C. to other provinces in Canada for the year as a whole."
Conservative Leader John Cummins, former MP for Delta-Richmond East, reacted to the news that B.C. is losing people to other provinces: "It is no coincidence that B.C. is now losing people to other provinces since under the Liberals the average family in B.C. now pays more taxes and makes less income than any province west of Quebec.
"The Liberals used to attack the NDP for driving people out of B.C., but now their policies are having the same result. People vote with their feet - they choose provinces with the best economic opportunities.
"They left B.C. when the NDP were running the economy into the ground, and now under Christy Clark the same thing is happening all over again."
Cummins said the B.C. Conservatives are the only party committed to reducing the tax burden on the middle class.
"We will scrap the carbon tax, stop the new two cent per litre gas tax for the Lower Mainland and get spending under control by cutting wasteful spending."
B.C. Stats reports that the number of people moving to BC from other provinces has been dropping since 2007, and now the government is projecting more people will move to other provinces than will move to B.C. in 2011.