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B.C. NDP leader David Eby released his party’s platform this morning in Surrey, promising $1.6 billion in spending which Eby said will expand B.C.’s addictions treatment system, invest in the school system and spur housing construction with a new fund for municipalities.
It’s the NDP’s latest bid to hang on to power as a poll released yesterday by Leger shows the party eclipsed by the B.C. Conservatives by three percentage points.
The promises include building the province’s first addictions treatment centre specifically for construction workers, who make up one in every five overdose deaths.
The party would also expand its pilot project to have low-cost before and after school care in all B.C. schools. However, that plan did not include details on how much it would cost or whether the province would have enough educational assistants to staff the before and after school spaces.
Eby pledged to make sure every school has a mental health counsellor and that every classroom has a dedicated educational assistant to help children who are struggling.
Eby also promised free off peak transit for seniors. The B.C. Greens platform had included a promise to make public transit free for all British Columbians.
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For pet owners, the NDP promises to get rid of the no pet clause for purpose-built rental buildings.
People who speed in luxury cars would also face higher speeding tickets, which would be priced based on the value of the car over $150,000.
The platform reiterated many of Eby’s previously announced promises, including a middle-class tax cut which Eby says will save 90 per cent of families $1,000 a year.
The NDP, which has already introduced legislation to set housing targets for municipalities, said it would reward local governments that build the required housing with a new local infrastructure investment fund. However, the party did not include a dollar amount for the fund.
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The party says it would encourage people to rent their basement suites or laneway houses by offering “mom and pop” landlords subsidized insurance that protects against unpaid rent and damages, offers legal advice and more.
The B.C. Conservatives tried to upstage the NDP by releasing its policies on growing the economy and investing in transportation.
B.C. Conservative leader John Rustad promised to cut small business taxes in half to one per cent. However, Rustad could not say how much that tax cut would cost the province.
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Rustad also promised to expand the Surrey SkyTrain to Newton, expand transit service in the Sea to Sky corridor and prioritize Fraser Valley regional rail. He also said a Conservative government would undertake an audit of TransLink, which is facing a funding gap of $600 million each year.
Rustad also released a long list of transportation infrastructure his party would fund, though none of the projects had price tags. They included a new bridge across Okanagan Lake, replacing the Taylor Bridge across the Peace River, rebuilding Red Bridge in Kamloops, upgrading Highway 19 in Nanaimo, expanding Highway 1 to six lanes and expanding the new Pattullo Bridge to six lanes instead of four.
Source: cbc
