AFTER one year of the BC NDP, four of Premier John Horgan’s cornerstone commitments have crumbled into broken promises, according to the BC Liberals.
“The NDP said one thing before the election, and then did the exact opposite as government,” says BC Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson. “John Horgan told British Columbians that he would make life easier and more affordable, but the NDP has steadily increased our cost of living through gas taxes, taxes on homeowners, and on job creators.”
Broken NDP promises include:
- Rental Rebate of $400
o “We will provide a refundable renters’ rebate of $400 dollars per rental household in B.C. each year.” (Platform Page 4)
o Not included in the budget https://www.straight.com/news/1035586/renters-rebate-promised-bc-ndp-not-included-2018-provincial-budget
- Introduction of ride-hailing
o “John Horgan and the BC NDP support the passing of new rules to introduce ridesharing to BC in 2017.” (https://www.bcndp.ca/releases/bc-ndp-position-ridesharing)
o No decision has been made https://globalnews.ca/news/4275487/provincial-government-pumping-brakes-ride-hailing/
- $10-a-day child care
o The explicit promise appears in their platform on the following pages: ii, vii, 8, 9,10, 53, 89 and 95. It appears in the document 13 separate times.
o “The minister responsible referred to the $10-a-day plan as a “slogan” that embodies the spirit of the moves the NDP will explain to the public in Tuesday’s budget.” (https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/bc-finance-minister-reads-to-children-at-child-care-centre-ahead-of-budget-unveiling/article38021564/)
o https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/ndp-childcare-10-a-day-budget-1.4544266
- No new taxes
o The NDP have introduced new taxes and raised existing ones (carbon tax, gas tax, so-called speculation tax and a new MSP replacement tax)
o Horgan quote from pre-election interview with the Vancouver Sun editorial board: https://www.facebook.com/VancouverSun/videos/10154535723137083/
- Reporter: “Are the tax increases in your platform the only tax increases in the first term of an NDP government?”
- Horgan: “That’s our expectation. That what was put in our platform.”
“It is clear the NDP have failed to keep four major promises, and this doesn’t even include the NDP’s failure to build 114,000 new homes or replace all Surrey portables,” says Richmond-Queensborough MLA Jas Johal. “It seems Andrew Weaver was right and election promises don’t matter to the NDP. British Columbians expect the NDP to deliver.”
In addition to a disappointing performance on their own commitments, recent Statistics Canada figures show that job growth stalled abruptly when the NDP came to power.
“We have seen absolutely nothing from the NDP in terms of a job creation plan or an economic strategy other than downloading tax increases to British Columbians,” says Prince George-Valemount MLA Shirley Bond. “Broken promises and higher taxes on drivers, families and employers is not the way to grow or strengthen the economy of our province.”
I disagree – the $10aDay promise is being implemented. Families of 40,000 children in BC are already paying lower monthly childcare fees – for the first time in 16+ years fees have gone down not up.
Investments have been made in Aboriginal Head Start, Child Care for children who need extra support, and young parent programs.
There’s still lots to do in creating new spaces and improving ECE wages, but this government is headed in the right direction.
To suggest this Socialist Government is headed in the right direction is not only naive and disingenuous but exemplifies the inexcusable lack of knowledge regarding fundamental “supply and demand” economics when it comes to their poorly conceived and cleverly devised real estate Wealth Tax.
Only when the BC economy falls into recession with falling real estate prices, numerous job loses, property developers leaving and tourism lagging will it be evident for all to see.