Clark paints NDP as big spenders
Horgan ‘has blown the entire budget’ at start of election campaign, B.C. Liberal leader charges
Liberal Leader Christy Clark used the first day of B.C.’s election campaign to attack the NDP’s popular, but expensive, promises to scrap bridge tolls and cut daycare fees, warning that New Democrats can’t afford to pay the bills without tax hikes.
Clark rallied her party in Victoria and Vancouver, capping Tuesday with an event at the Polish Community Centre in the riding of Vancouver-Kensington. The 11 B.C. Liberal candidates in the City of Vancouver gathered with their leader and a crowd of almost 200 placard-waving supporters to kickstart their campaign.
“British Columbia is on a roll,” she said, to chants of “four more years.”
“British Columbia is just getting started and the reason why I’m seeking as second term … because we don’t want to give that up, we don’t want to allow the opposition to drive this country and province into a ditch. We are on a roll and want to make sure we keep going. You don’t build anything by just saying no, you build things by finding a way to say yes.”
Only the Liberals have an affordable, costed, platform that will help spur economic growth and create jobs while keeping the province’s budget balanced, Clark said.
She trumpeted the “billion-dollar” tax cut on Medical Services Plan premiums announced in February’s budget, funding for the Broadway subway line, and first-time homebuyer loans as key items for Vancouver voters.
Clark pushed back at NDP Leader John Horgan’s proposal to scrap tolls on the Port Mann and Golden Ears bridges, which would cost an estimated $200 million a year in forgone revenue.
That, combined with a $10-a-day daycare proposal (which Clark said will cost $1.5 billion a year) means the NDP “has blown the entire budget” at the start of a 28-day campaign, she said.
“I think most people would probably look at that and say he can’t afford to pay for it so it’s going to mean higher taxes,” Clark said.
“Our plan is what is costed and paid for and will mean people don’t end up with higher taxes. The NDP plan is to try and put money in one pocket and take all that money out of another pocket in higher taxes.”
Horgan will unveil the NDP’s platform, and his cost estimates, on Thursday. The NDP is proposing to increase income taxes on people earning over $150,000 a year, which would raise $250 million a year.
The NDP one-upped the Liberals on the toll issue Sunday by promising to eliminate the bridge fees, just hours after the Liberals had proposed to cap tolls at $500 annually for Metro Vancouver drivers. The NDP’s stance could prove a popular lure to commuters in key suburban battleground ridings, such as Surrey.
“He’s already run out of money,” Clark said of Horgan. “When I say the NDP is going to push people to the brink, that’s what I mean.”
Horgan spent the day positioning his party as the champions of the people. Clark, meanwhile, attempted to frame her party as champions of the economy and gatekeeper of five consecutive balanced budgets. The province can’t afford a change, she argued, in what has formed her retort to the NDP’s insistence it’s time for fresh faces in power in Victoria.
Clark is to campaign in the Lower Mainland on Wednesday. The election is set for May 9.