The B.C. Conservatives have released their platform just four days ahead of Saturday’s election, promising to prioritize affordability, safety and infrastructure.
The platform, unveiled at a Tuesday morning news conference at the University of British Columbia, includes $2.3 billion in annual spending over two years, bringing the current $9 billion deficit to $11 billion by 2027.
However, Leader John Rustad promises to balance the budget in the second term of a Conservative government.
The platform includes several measures to make B.C. more affordable, including a “Rustad Rebate,” which would exempt up to $1,500 per month in housing costs from income tax, eliminating the PST on used cars and scrapping the carbon tax.
It also includes several “safety and recovery” measures, with a promise to crack down on repeat and violent offenders, mandatory treatment for people with addictions “unable to make life-saving decisions on their own.” and an end to tent cities.
As the province heads to the polls on Oct. 19, the leader of the B.C. Conservative Party is making his pitch to voters and explaining how he would tackle the biggest issues facing British Columbians.
However, the platform does not include a breakdown of costs for major capital promises such as a new children’s hospital in Surrey, a new SkyTrain to Surrey-Newton, and the replacement of the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge and the George Massey Tunnel.
Other infrastructure projects promised in the Conservative platform include a new bridge across Okanagan Lake, the replacement of the aging Taylor Bridge across the Peace River and upgrades to several highways.
Rustad says he will conduct a review of government spending to identify and cut or reallocate resources from NDP projects that he says haven’t delivered results for people, including the Clean B.C. program, which provides grants and subsidies to businesses that reduce their carbon emissions.
The Conservative platform promises not to cut health-care funding and increase spending by $900 million next year and $500 million the following year.
“Under a Conservative government, common sense change will be the approach that we take in British Columbia,” Rustad said at a Tuesday morning news conference at the University of British Columbia. “Enough of a province that’s run by ideology, that’s run by the NDP.”
During the news conference, Rustad did not respond to a question about whether he would include in his cacucus Conservative candidate Brent Chapman, who has recently been at the center of controversy for comments he made in 2015 about Palestinians. Rustad noted Chapman has hired a lawyer.
Advance polls have been open since Thursday, Oct. 10. Elections B.C. said 596,755 British Columbians have already voted in the election. In 2017 and 2020, a total of 1.9 and 1.8 million people, respectively, voted in those provincial elections.