Credit rating agency Moody's Investors Service has downgraded BC's financial outlook, lowering the province's debt rating from stable to negative, citing the province's worsening financial situation as the impetus for the change. Moody's has not downgraded BC's overall AAA credit rating, but applies only to the debt rating category.

Declining royalties from natural resources such as coal and natural gas have led to an increased deficit, and investors are concerned about the government's ability to avoid increasing the overall debt even further.

In his Second Quarterly Report last month, Minister of Finance Hon. Mike de Jong indicated the province's annual deficit was projected to reach $1.47 billion, up from an earlier forecast of $1.1 billion.

Moody's Assistant Vice President Jennifer Wong said the province is working to hit its fiscal targets and if it's able to do that the credit rating could be raised back to stable.

The federal government has passed Bill C-377, which will require unions to publicly disclose how they spend the dues they collect.

Bill C-377 would amend the Income Tax Act to require unions to provide detailed annual financial filings to the Canada Revenue Agency, which would in turn make the information public. The material would cover salaries and expenses, though amendments made to the bill would see some personal information held back for privacy reasons.

Russ Hiebert, the Conservative Party Member of Parliament who introduced the private members bill, believes unions ought to be subject to the same public reporting requirements as charities, since they benefit from the same tax-exempt status. Like donations to charities, union dues are tax deductible.

Union leaders and opposition parties say the bill imposes costly reporting requirements and in many provinces, unions already report this information to their members.