FS - so you mean "deficit" or "debt" - there's a huge difference. The "debt" has increased over the past number of years primarily due to all of the capital projects that the Province has invested in - the Trade and Convention Centre and the Port Mann Bridge are a couple of examples. It is quite common for governments at all levels to borrow, or use debt financing, to finance major projects such as these - just like most people use debt financing - ie mortgages - to buy their homes. The key for governments, like homeowners, is to be able to service the debt - and the debt to GDP ratio is generally used to determine how a Province is doing in that regard. You can check this, but BC's debt/GDP ratio is one of the lowest in Canada right now which is a good thing.
Now, "deficits" are an entirely different kettle of fish. A Government running a deficit is one who's operational spending - ie non capital expenditures - exceeds it's operational income - ie taxes, royalties, fees etc. The BC Government has been running an operational deficit over the past few years primarily driven by the personal and business income tax reductions implemented early in the Liberal regime as well as the decreases in royalties coming out of the oil and gas industries. While they are forecasting a return to a balanced budget next year (if they are reelected), the NDP are suggesting that the Liberals most recent budget should show a $2 Billion deficit. In spite of this, the NDP have come out with a further $2 billion (and counting) in election promises spending and we're still several weeks away from the election.
So, FS - the point of all of this is that going into debt to invest in capital infrastructure (roads, bridges, schools, hospitals etc) can generally be considered a good thing as long as the debt to GDP ratio does not get out of hand (like Greece, Italy, Ireland et al). Deficit spending is something that may well be necessary in the short term but should be avoided over the long term. My big concern with the Dix led NDP at this point is that if they are right and the Liberal budget is a $2billion deficit rather than balanced, they have already stacked a further $2billion in spending on top of that $2billion deficit - you can do the math.