> Summary of major B.C. parties’ platforms,
VANCOUVER — Here is a look at some of the promises being made by the three main political parties in British Columbia as the campaign is set to officially begin today for the May 9 election.
B.C. Liberals: • The cost of the party’s promises amounts to $157 million in new spending over three years. • Four consecutive balanced budgets to eliminate the province’s operating debt by 2021. • A four-year freeze on personal income taxes, and no change to the carbon tax until 2021. • A cap on bridge tolls and a new tax break for people living in ferry-dependent communities. • New tax credits to help seniors, including a tax credit for those caring for seniors or family members with disabilities, and doubling a tax credit for seniors who renovate their homes.
B.C. NDP: • A $10-a-day child-care plan based on Quebec’s system. • Eliminate tolls on the Golden Ears and Port Mann bridges linking suburban commuters to Vancouver, while also freezing B.C. Hydro rates. • Ban corporate and union donations to political parties. • Increase the minimum wage, which is slated to rise to $11.35 an hour by September, to $15 an hour. • Stop plans by Kinder Morgan to expand the Trans Mountain pipeline across B.C. to Burnaby.
Green Party of B.C.: • Free preschool for three- and four-year-old children and free daycare for children up to age three who have working parents, while families with a stay-athome parent would receive up to $500 a month for a child up to the age of two. • Change the law to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 40 per cent below 2007 levels by 2030, while extending the carbon tax to fugitive and vented emissions. Fugitive sources are unintentional emissions from the processing and delivery of fossil fuels. • Increase funding for the public education system over four years, beginning with an additional $220 million in 2017-18 and rising to $1.46 billion in 2020-21. • Implement grants based on need for post-secondary students, and offer tax forgiveness of up to $2,000 a year for up to five years to help graduates repay debt from tuition fees. • Establish an emerging economy task force to look at the changing nature of business over the next 10 to 25 years that will report to the government by July 2018.