The opposition B.C. Liberals will be waiting with bated breath for the province to release a fiscal update in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, which will happen next Tuesday, July 14.

Kamloops-North Thompson MLA Peter Milobar says there will be a couple things that his party will be looking for.

“A it actually happens, and B we are ready to put our best foot forward and really scrutinize those,” he said.

“It’s because I think the public needs to have a clear airing of the numbers to understand where the money is being spent or not, what deliverables we are getting for it, and what long term viability is there for some of these programs in terms of them continuing on into the future.”

Premier John Horgan previously said the true economic cost of the COVID-19 pandemic is a big one, one that is shared by every Canadian province. Milobar previously noted that he was hoping for some form of an update when the Legislature resumed on June 22.

“At a certain point, a number is a number on a balance sheet and I think everyone can accept that there is going to be your best guess, but that is what a budget is in the first place,” he said. “You know, they take projections of what they feel is going to happen in the economy in the coming year – growth or not growth, what various tax pots are going to generate for revenue and they provide updates.”

“To have to wait till mid-July when we are already sitting now, we have a very short sitting window of time that we are going to be down here. It would have been much more preferred if something was in place when we started.”

The currently Legislative session is scheduled to run until August 12.