There’s no doubt about it. This month’s 2010 Winter Olympic Games are giving Greater Vancouver, Whistler and the rest of British Columbia any number of reasons for celebrating as they play host to the world.

But for Gordon Campbell’s B.C. Liberal government, the post-party letdown will come sooner rather than later.

Once all the elite athletes, their coaches and the ubiquitous international media have returned home, a cold, hard reality will quickly return to this province’s politics. In other words, pass the bicarbonate of soda, because it’ll be hangover time and the Campbell government won’t like what it will see in the morning-after bathroom mirror — yet another humungous annual deficit for all to see when Premier Campbell delivers the first budget of his third consecutive term in Victoria on March 2.

The B.C. budget will be delivered against a backdrop of several economic forecasts for 2010, and beyond, from various sources. Those forecasts do show a provincial economy in recovery mode — albeit a fragile one.

But not even significant cuts in government services — especially in health care and education — have been enough to keep Campbell’s government out of its deep sea of red ink. Most political railbirds in B.C. expect more cuts to come in government services and are resigned to watching an aging and slowing-down regime settling in for a lengthy stay in deficit territory.

The challenge is made all the more difficult because this is also the year in which many of B.C.’s public-sector labour contracts are up for renegotiation. And, true to Campbell’s penny-pinching mindset, his government has already warned Big Labour that there are no surplus coins in the public purse for salary increases.

Does Big Labour believe that? Of course it doesn’t. So there may be trouble brewing in that sector.

And as if decreasing cash flows and demands for higher public wages aren’t enough, B.C. taxpayers will also be refocusing on the controversial 12% harmonized sales tax that kicks in on July 1, well after the glow of the Olympic Games has faded.

But topping Victoria’s post-Olympic set of priorities is the state of B.C.’s resources-based economy. It’s simply not rebounding as strongly, or as quickly, as many had predicted.

Admittedly, the province is emerging from its worst economic recession since 1982. But, at best, this recovery is described as merely “moderate” for the next two years by Central 1 Credit Union of B.C. in its latest five-year outlook.

Central 1 sees B.C.’s economy growing by just 2.5% this year, and not regaining pre-recession levels until 2011. It also predicts that unemployment will remain high in 2010, at about 8.1%, declining to less than 7% by 2013.

The Business Council of B.C., which administers its own quarterly B.C. economic index, says that despite a strong increase in that benchmark during 2009’s final quarter, the index is still 3.8% lower than for the final quarter of 2008.

All in all, this translates into tougher times for Campbell’s government. His finance minister, Colin Hansen, warned recently that despite a few signs of economic turnaround, the government is going to have a difficult time meeting its targets in the March 2 budget: “Government revenue is a lagging indicator. The last recovery we will see is government revenue.”

Now, everyone is waiting to see if Campbell can reach his goal of holding the deficit to $2.8 billion this fiscal year and to $1.7 billion in the following year after next April 1.

Public-sector wage negotiations will only make that task all the tougher. And if consumers keep their purse strings drawn tighter than expected once the HST is introduced, Victoria’s revenue may take a bigger hit than expected.

That’s why they’ll soon be passing out headache pills in the B.C. legislature. IE