Vaughn Palmer: Why B.C.’s premier is in a rush to spend, spend, spend

VICTORIA — Premier David Eby continues to spend his way through the budget surplus he inherited from John Horgan, with about a third of the $5.7 billion committed to date.

Eby tapped the surplus Friday for the largest drawdown to date, a $1 billion municipal infrastructure fund.

Earlier, Eby announced a $500 million rental protection fund, allowing non-profits to buy up rental properties to prevent them falling into the hands of what Eby characterized as “predatory investors.”

A third big ticket, announced last fall, provided $500 million in affordability credits to the bulk of provincial taxpayers.

Together those three items — and there were some smaller ones — pushed the total commitments past the $2 billion mark, or about 35 per cent of the projected budget surplus for the fiscal year ending March 31.