The B.C. Liberal government’s plans to rebuild St. Paul’s Hospital are simply a re-announcement: a commitment to complete a concept plan for the hospital even though a concept plan was completed and delivered in 2010.

The $500 million cost estimate isn’t contained in any official documentation. While the premier claimed the funding was secure in the budget, budget documents – which detail capital expenditures greater than $50 million for the next three fiscal years – offered no mention of St. Paul’s Hospital.

New Democrat health critic Mike Farnworth and finance critic Bruce Ralston wrote a letter to the finance minister asking where the project could be found in the Budget 2012 document, as the premier claimed, and asking which parts of the project have been approved by the treasury board. Farnworth and Ralston also asked the finance minister about the fiscal prudence of bulk borrowing, a policy the auditor general has criticized.

You can view a copy of the letter below.

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