Labour, Unions & Employment

To promote employment and job creation, the party advocates:
– encouragement and support for BC residents and support who wish to complete their education up to and including grade twelve
– within the ability of taxpayers to fund the cost, increasing provincial expenditures on education at technical institutes, colleges and universities by providing loans for students who apply and meet the minimum requirements. These loans will be forgivable for post-secondary students who graduate from BC institutions and continue to live, work and pay taxes in BC. Forgiveness of the loans will be pro-rated over a ten year period. If any graduate ceases to be a resident of British Columbia at any time within the ten years following graduation, the unforgiven pro-rated portion of the student loan will become due and payable
– amending the present Fair Wage policy so that in future it will include both unionized and non-unionized entities in the bidding process for public construction, including construction of schools, including review of the policy with a goal to ensure fair competitive bidding on public construction projects
– using tax incentives, including royalty holidays, to encourage the establishment of new businesses and industries in British Columbia
– establishing an “Essential Services Dispute Mechanism” as a fair and impartial way of resolving issues between the Provincial Government and its employees
– incorporating appropriate environmental regulations in the development of provincial natural resources in order to ensure that the environment is adequately protected throughout all phases of exploration, development and extraction of the resources
– negotiating a deal with the Federal Government, similar to the deal they now have with Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, to give British Columbia control over and the royalties from offshore resources
– discouraging further urbanization of the Lower Mainland, which has already gone too far; has created virtually insoluble traffic problems and dangerous levels of pollution, including encouraging the location of industry and the development of public infrastructure facilities and services, including necessary road, rail, and air links, in the North and Interior by making Crown land readily available for such use, thereby creating opportunities for employment in rural areas suffering economically as a result of mining, forestry, government, and other cutbacks
– adding an export duty to raw logs, which would be used to re-train the people currently in the logging industry. The aim would be to promote manufacturing of wood products in B.C. instead of exporting jobs with the raw logs.

Industries, Corporations, Competition & Consumers

Agriculture
The party advocates:
– ensuring that Agriculture in British Columbia remains competitive with other jurisdictions by freeing the industry as much as possible from government red tape and control.
– encouraging the growth of secondary industry in the Agricultural sector by offering incentives to farmers to build facilities for the processing of farm produce such as slaughterhouses to process B.C. beef, and establishing processing facilities.
– working with the agriculture industry to promote their products both inside and outside British Columbia, and to promote the development of new agricultural products in B.C.
– guaranteeing an annual provincial agriculture budget for the Agri-Food sector, at par with the Canadian average returns as a percentage of Agricultural Gross Domestic Product.
– full participation in all federal Agricultural and Environmental initiatives, and review and administration of all Canadian Agricultural Risk Management Programs.
– providing a sustainable crop insurance system in BC based on full production guarantees and insurable values that reflect the unique diversity of British Columbia’s Agri-food Sector.
– establishment of a modern system of conservation to replace the Agriculture Land Commission. Agriculture land-use decision-making will be returned to local/regional government control
– establishment of an Agriculture Regional Development Authority to provide interest free long term Provincial Infrastructure Loans to fund water supply and water purification projects through local governments, regional districts, First Nations governments and certified irrigation water districts.

Fisheries
The party states that:
– the Federal Government must be required to carry out its fisheries commitment to British Columbia as set out in B.C.’s Terms of Union with Canada The Federal Government in the Terms of Union committed to “assume and defray the charges” for the “Protection and Encouragement of Fisheries.” A Christian Heritage Party of BC Government will insist that the Federal Government carry out its part of the bargain.

The party advocates:
– legislation that recognizes and protects the public right to fish so that all Canadians will have an equal right to fish and equal access to the fishery regardless of their race, heritage or ethnic background.
– ensuring that treaties and treaty negotiations are consistent with, and respectful of, the public right to fish and will ensure that aboriginals have equal access with all other Canadians to the fisheries resource.
– seeking compensation from the federal government for fishermen where federal fisheries policies have undermined the livelihood of BC fishermen, and advocating for BC fisheries.
– appointment of a BC Minister of Fisheries, and ensuring that aquaculture operates in a manner that does not harm or threaten wild fish stocks. A timetable will be established by which all fish farms will be required to move to closed containment.

Transportation
The party advocates:
– design or redesign of suburban road systems and construction of more rapid light rail lines to enable travelers to get to their destinations faster and with a minimum number of transfers
– encouragement of car-pooling, vanpooling and the use of all other high occupancy vehicles
– encouragement of the use of bicycles and pedestrian travel
– encouragement of extension of light rapid transit systems
– encouragement of the production and use of more fuel-efficient vehicles, including hybrid vehicles as well as vehicles that rely on alternate sources of fuel such as electricity, hydrogen or bio- diesel
– ensuring that revenues earmarked for specific transportation goals will be applied only for these purposes
– ensuring that any public transit service operated by a regional government will not exclude the development or management of private ownership of new transit services
– when funds are available and after negotiating a cost-sharing agreement with the Federal Government, “twinning” the Trans Canada Highway from Kamloops to the Alberta border
– considering bypass routes around urban centres in the Interior of BC on a priority basis, the bypass routes being only with the approval of the residents of the communities affected
– a moratorium on implementation of new tolls on existing highways, and consideration of tolls on new highways or bridges only when alternate toll-free routes are available

An Economy to Serve People

As a matter of principle, the party states that:
– it believes that a competitive free-enterprise economy with the right to private property are essential to encourage the entrepreneurial spirit that creates prosperity

Housing & Poverty Reduction

The party states that:
– British Columbians are being taxed into poverty. With the highest gas prices in North America, it’s time to axe the Carbon Tax, the Low Carbon Fuel Standard and ensure more refined product reaches the B.C. market
– it believes in a strong social safety net that cares for the vulnerable in our society while encouraging individual self-sufficiency

The party advocates:
– encouraging a stable and predictable housing market. This means getting prices under control by promoting the development of new housing supply while cracking down on illegal money laundering that has inflated prices and facilitated criminal activity.

Industries & Corporations

The party states that:
– small and medium-sized businesses are the backbone of the provincial economy and the bedrock of our communities. Useless and redundant regulations need to be removed, while larger corporations need to be held accountable if they engage in unfair or anti-competitive practices.
– the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) is a bloated, ineffective government monopoly that charges some of the highest rates in the entire country. It’s time to allow choice and competition so that British Columbians can shop around for the price and plan that’s right for them.

An Economy at the Service of All People

Housing & Poverty Reduction

Income security
The party states that:
– growth of the provincial economy has not benefited people equally. Many British Columbians were feeling left behind and left out of the benefits of our prosperity well before COVID. COVID has exacerbated existing social inequalities expanded the number of people facing economic insecurity.
– in rebuilding, the province should not return to its old patchwork of social supports that weren’t meeting the needs of people. A more resilient social safety net is needed, one that lifts people up and doesn’t leave anyone behind
– it’s not only the most marginalized people who suffer from economic insecurity.  Like every other jurisdiction, BC has large active multinational corporations operating, paying

less than livable wages while they hand out massive profits to shareholders abroad. That’s a problem and it contributes to the cycle of poverty in our province, even amongst those with full time jobs.  At the same time, it recognises that for many local businesses, significantly higher minimum wages can hurt viability, particularly while recovering from COVID.
– its priority is to ensure that all British Columbians enjoy income security and eliminate the fear of being unable to afford the necessities of life
– this task can being with integration of the principles of basic income – simplicity, economic security, and reduced stigma – into our social safety net. Rather than entrenching people in poverty with programs like those currently available, the purpose and effect of the social safety net should be to help people get out of poverty. To do that, people need certainty, security, and the ability to save and plan for their futures.

The party advocates:
– implementing a basic income for youth aging-out of care
– beginning a transition towards basic income with the following initial steps:

• increasing income support levels, beginning with making the $300 crisis supplement permanent and indexing assistance to inflation;
  • eliminating the asset test;
• reducing clawbacks on earned income to reduce the disincentive to work;
• establishing a 12-month period where those who qualify for income assistance can earn extra income without clawbacks;
  – establishing a housing office specifically charged with assisting people with disabilities and youth aging-out to find suitable accommodation and supporting the transition;

– establishing a task force to advise on modernizing employment standards and reducing inequality in modern employment relationships, the task force:
• including representatives of the technology sector, business, workers, and economists
• being tasked with recommending ways to modernize provincial employment standards to adapt to the changing nature of work and technology, and assess jurisdiction and advise on strategies for working with the federal government to ensure that multinational companies are paying their fair share of taxes in BC
• terms of reference for the task force including consideration of profit-sharing as a means to ensure businesses who are profitable are paying their workers a living wage, and that workers benefit from the profits that are too often only accrued at the top of an organization
– establishing a permanent Fair Wages Commission to recommend consistent and predictable increases in the minimum wage and reduce political interference.

Affordable housing
The party states that:
– despite some progress to cool the housing market somewhat in recent years, housing remains nowhere near affordable, particularly for young people. Far too many British Columbians have struggled to find affordable homes to rent and have been shut out of the housing market.
– there is much to do to ensure that housing is affordable for people who live and work in our cities, and isn’t being treated as a vehicle for speculators to profit from.
– it advocates establishing a clear goal on affordability and an action plan to achieve it, in order to ensure that everyone has a home that they can afford and that meets their needs. This will require a comprehensive suite of policies to deal with the housing affordability crisis for all.

The party advocates:
– as a first step, doing more to support B.C. renters, who are facing sky-high rents and escalating cost of living. In BC, 43% of renter households pay more than 30% of their income in rent. This is having significant adverse effects on their mental health and wellbeing and makes it more difficult to save and plan for the future.
– addressing the rising cost of strata insurance, which is a significant stressor for condo owners. In recent years we have seen a huge leap in the cost of insurance – in some cases doubling or tripling. We must take steps to ensure British Columbians on fixed incomes are not out of their homes, including convening a taskforce to deal with the rising cost of strata insurance and develop solutions as soon as the BC Financial Services Authority (BCFSA) finishes their investigation. The taskforce should include insurance brokers, insurers and strata owners.
– working with local governments to expand the provincial supply of more diverse forms of more affordable housing, including co-op housing, affordable rentals, and the missing middle, such as townhouses and triplexes.
– tightening up provincial laws and policies to close loopholes and reduce speculation in the provincial market.

To expand the diversity of forms of housing and ensure that housing is affordable for people who live and work in BC’s cities, the party advocates:
– taking a housing-first approach and accelerating investments in affordable, supportive and social housing on a priority basis;
– expanding supports for co-op housing through extension of leases for existing coops about to expire, creating a land bank for new co-ops, and providing security of tenure for co-ops on leased land;
– working with local governments to expand the “missing middle”, such as townhouses and triplexes;
– establishing a capital fund to support the acquisition and maintenance of rental housing by nonprofits to maintain affordable rental units and address the financialization of the rental market;
– closing the bare trust loophole and loopholes in the speculation tax that allow too many foreign owners and satellite families to be exempt.

To assist renters, the party advocates:
– introduction of a rental supplement that will Close the gap between affordable rent and what renters are actually paying, and introduction of a means-tested grant that applies to low and moderate income earners who are paying more than 30% of their income in rent.

Labour, Unions & Employment

The party states that:
– the province needs to ensure that British Columbians are able to take advantage of the countless opportunities for meaningful, secure jobs that a low-carbon economy can create
– over time, many new jobs will be created as innovation occurs and new businesses are created, but there is an immediate need to provide people with well-paying, meaningful jobs, especially for those who lost jobs during the pandemic, and for workers in industries in transition
– its clean jobs plan has three major components:
(1) implementation of a just transition program for workers in the oil and gas sector and other industries in transition and working with them on a pathway to a guaranteed job in the clean economy.
(2) establishing a clean jobs program to complete provincial recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and getting people back to work immediately. This would create thousands of jobs enhancing BC’s natural assets, tree planting, habitat restoration, remediating environmental liabilities, as well as climate adaptation and improving community resilience to climate change.
(3) expansion of the CleanBC Better Buildings program and making it a true jobs creator by increasing the short-term incentives offered to stimulate retrofits, accelerating the requirements of the building code and efficiency requirements of equipment to drive long-term action and strengthen the business case for retrofits, and partnering with colleges, technical institutes and private organizations to develop training programs to expand employment in the green retrofit space.  Programming should focus on supporting sectors impacted by COVID-19, as well as supporting the just transition program for workers in the oil and gas sector.

To such ends the party advocates:
– establishing a $500 million fund to support sustainable jobs
– development of a clean jobs program focused on enhancing BC’s natural assets, tree planting, conservation, remediating environmental liabilities, as well as climate adaptation and improving community resilience to climate change.
– implementation of a just transition program for workers in the oil and gas sector and other industries in transition, working with them on a pathway to a guaranteed job in the clean economy
– working with industry partners to enhance the Clean BC Better Homes, Better Buildings program, including by: (i) Increasing the short-term incentives offered to stimulate retrofits; (ii) accelerating the requirements of the building code and efficiency requirements of equipment to drive long-term action and strengthen the business case for retrofits; and (iii) partnering with colleges, technical institutes and private organizations to develop training programs to expand employment in the green retrofit space. Programming should focus on supporting those sectors impacted by COVID 19, as well as supporting the just transition program for workers in the oil and gas sector.

Industries & Corporations

Innovation
The party states that:
– it championed the Emerging Economy Taskforce , which looked at the future, and the opportunities and challenges facing our economy and zeroed in on climate change as one of the major forces shaping the provincial economy, and highlighted opportunities that come with developing a low carbon economy.
– to realize the opportunities, British Columbians have to extend beyond mitigating climate change within the province, and instead focus on deliberate investments into green innovation
– as a first step, it advocates the provincial innovation strategy with the mission of establishing BC as a world-leading low-carbon economy, which means   establishing a strategic innovation fund that can make targeted investments that align with climate goals
– it is also necessary to leverage government procurement processes to prioritize BC based, low carbon products and technology
– British Columbia needs to immediately end the subsidies offered to the fossil fuel industry, and put that funding behind new green economic sectors
– too many governments use innovation as a buzzword and do little to help channel the direction it takes. The party is committed to making its innovation policy in BC a bigger part of the economic strategy proposes to deliberately build towards the future BC wants

The party advocates:
– establishing a $1 billion strategic investment fund to support business innovation that aligns with the province’s goals, with a particular emphasis on supporting innovations that help the shift to a zero carbon economy
– supporting the creation of a biofuels strategy and clean hydrogen roadmap as part of the energy mix used to replace fossil fuels in the transportation sector.
– integrating a GHG emissions lens into all government procurement processes
– immediate reinstatement of the scheduled carbon tax increase and returning to regular and predictable increases in the carbon tax of $10 per year
– partnering in innovation clusters in areas where BC has a strategic advantage, based on the proposal from the Innovation Commissioner’s report
– enactment of Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) legislation

Agriculture
The party states that:
– the COVID pandemic raised awareness of the importance of food security; and in California and other places have reinforced the message:  the food security of British Columbians is threatened by the changing climate in major supply regions such as California, Florida and Mexico. We need to be prepared. We must do more to protect agricultural land in our communities, expand the area of land under food production, and establish a long-term food sustainability strategy for the province. This can decrease reliance on increasingly unreliable import supply chains and diversify our farming in BC.
– you can’t have real food without farmers. We need to urgently identify and implement options to make farming a more attractive and lucrative endeavour, especially for younger farmers
– in recent years, agricultural land has become tied to the escalating housing market in many parts of BC, and it’s become untenable for young farmers to get on the land.  There are tools at government’s disposal to remedy this. Just as government stepped in to create the agricultural land reserve many decades ago, it is possible to ensure that farming has a future in B.C.
– one option is to create a publicly owned agricultural land bank available to lease by new farmers.
– it’s also important to recognize that all of these decisions are connected. The decisions that we make about our forests, and about development, all impact our food security. We need to get smarter about how we make decisions and recognize this interconnection.  Operating in silos won’t solve these challenges.

The party advocates creation of a Food Secure B.C. strategy to make B.C. agriculture more climate resilient, improve local food security and support local agricultural producers, including:
– establishment of a long-term food sustainability strategy for the province to decrease reliance on import supply chains and diversify farming in BC.
– making food production and food security part of the Agricultural Land Commission’s mandate.
– expanding the area of land under food production and creating a publicly owned agricultural land bank available to lease by new farmers.
– recognizing income and regional disparities in food insecurity across BC and working to enhance access to high quality, healthy food for low-income British Columbians, including developing systems for First Nations that honour Indigenous knowledge and values.
– incentivizing agro-ecological farming practices and supporting small-scale farms to adopt new technologies to reduce carbon emissions.
– investigating options to make farming a more attractive and sustainable endeavour, including (1) ensuring that farmers have access to local processing facilities and that they share in the returns from processing; and (2) enabling the growing of high value crops, such as cannabis, to supplement farm income.
– providing $10 million per year to fund research and establish regional agricultural bureaus to provide expertise and support to local farmers to apply innovations on-farm and adapt to a changing climate.
– restriction and regulation of foreign ownership of ALR land.

Forestry
The party states that:
– British Columbians need to take back control of their forests from major corporations, ensuring forestry is meeting the needs of local communities, both economically and ecologically.
– the forests of BC are a public resource that belong to the people of BC, and the should be managed that way. This means reinstating government authority in decision-making, undertaking major tenure reform, and enhancing scientific capacity in FLNRO.
– despite promising to do things differently, the current government has not changed, in any substantial way, the status quo of forestry management in this province. Recently the cutting of old growth continued as fast as it did under the prior government, and no meaningful reforms to forest management have been made.  Local job losses and unsustainable forestry practices have continued.
– forests should be managed holistically, for all the values they hold. Most fundamentally this means enacting legislation that establishes conservation of ecosystem health and biodiversity of BC’s forests as an overarching priority, with timber supply as just one benefit. Different planning processes and harvesting methods flow from this fundamental shift in forest management practice. We can’t continue to liquidate our natural resources for the benefit of shareholders of massive corporations, while continuing to shed local jobs in communities across BC as mills close. Instead we need to generate far more jobs and revenue from what we harvest, for example by ensuring that small producers have access to fibre, incentivizing value-added wood products and nontraditional uses of wood fibre, and revenue-sharing with First Nations, municipalities, and regional districts.
– the province needs to recognize crucial importance of forests to biodiversity and to protect our remaining old growth forests forever. This means fully implementing the recommendations of the old growth review panel in partnership with First Nations and an immediate end to the logging of old growth forests in high risk ecosystems across the province, with the funding needed to back this up and create new opportunities for communities, rather than continuing “consultations” with little action.

The party advocates move now to protect what the province has left, including:
– reforming forestry management in BC so that it serves the long-term needs of local communities and supports a truly sustainable industry, where community and ecosystem values are the primary focus of management.
– taking back control of forests from major corporations, ensuring forestry is meeting the needs of local communities.
– reinstating government authority in decision-making at provincial and local levels, including enhancing the authority of district managers to refuse or amend permits.
– tenure reform to redistribute tenures from a few major companies and grow the proportion of tenures held by First Nations and community forests.
– establish a legislative position of Forester General position, an officer of the legislature who is non-partisan and reports to the House annually.
– establishing a Chief Scientist as a counterpart to the Chief Forester to ensure multiple values are adequately incorporated into timber supply analysis.
– enhancing capacity in FLNRO and establishing more community based Ministry of Forests staff, to support the sustainable management of local forest resources and provide well-paying community jobs.

In order to manage provincial forests holistically, for all the values they hold, the party advocates:
– shifting the management framework through reforming legislation, away from an exclusive focus on timber supply to managing for all the values that our forests hold.
– adopting a wider variety of logging practices, including selective logging and longer stand rotations.
– undertaking landscape-level ecosystem-based planning, reforestation and restoration in partnership with local communities and First Nations.
– protecting communities from wildfires and flooding through landscape level, ecologically-centred, forest management and fuel treatment projects.
– restoring government capacity to ensure forest stewardship, monitoring and enforcement, and enhance funding for forest inventory research and primary research.

To protect remaining high value old growth forests forever, the party advocates:
– full and immediate implementation of the recommendations of the old growth review panel, in partnership with First Nations. This includes:  (1) an immediate end to the logging of old growth forests in high risk ecosystems across the province; (2) legislation to establish conservation of ecosystem health and biodiversity of BC’s forests as an overarching priority.
– establishing funding mechanisms to support the preservation of old growth forests.

To generate more jobs and revenue from forest harvesting, the party advocates:
– ensuring  that small producers have access to fibre and incentivize value-added product innovation, including non-traditional uses of wood fibre including bio fuels, and productive uses of residual fibre.
– applying the carbon tax to slash-pile burning to reduce carbon emissions from our forestry sector and ensuring the use of residual materials.
– ending raw log exports.
– ensuring that benefits of B.C. resource flow to local communities, by directly sharing more resource revenues with local First Nations, municipalities, and regional districts.
– improving support for forestry workers and communities, including through expanded investments into retraining and support for new job opportunities.
– investigating opportunities to diversify milling and secondary manufacturing to better use existing timber.
– promotion of more sustainable development of forest resources, including investing in tourism opportunities and low-carbon economies.

Small businesses & tourism
The party states that:
– entrepreneurs who through hard work have built their own business can be found in every community within the provinces.  Such businesses are often at the heart of the communities we live in. They employ our friends and neighbours, bring a vibrance to our streets and contribute immensely to the surrounding neighbourhood.
– such business were deeply affected by the COVID pandemic.  Not only with respect to costs, but also with uncertainty about the future, about not knowing whether what they have built will last or whether they will have to lay off employees
– for tourism operators, the challenges were exacerbated by border closure and travel bans
– the simple fact is that the provincial government has not done enough to address the challenges facing our small business and tourism sectors.

The party advocates allocating $300 million to create a 6 month rent subsidy program for small businesses, including:
– for qualifying businesses, covering 25% of rental costs.  Criteria would include limitations to $50,000 in monthly rent costs
– retooling the provincial grant program to focus on supporting small tourism operators
– immediately working with industry to establish criteria that make sense
– accelerating the timeline to ensure grant money can start to flow immediately
– working with the not-for-profit tourism businesses, cultural facilities and attractions to develop a separate granting program that will ensure these signature businesses can survive COVID 19 and beyond.
– working with the federal government to establish a repayable loan program for the hospitality sector and for tourism operators that exceed the criteria for the small tourism operator grant program.

Transit

The party states that:
– one of the most important areas in truly establishing livable cities is to address transportation needs in a forward-thinking way.
– regional planning must be tackled in a holistic and thoughtful way, rather than simply picking projects according to their potential to win more votes.
– climate goals must be integrated into every infrastructure decision, as must ensuring that any public money spent on transportation is expanding transit and active transportation networks
– investing in transit, livable cities and active transportation will not only help us meet our climate targets – but it will also improve physical and mental wellbeing, the strength and connectedness of communities, and the province’s overall quality of life.

The party advocates:
– prioritizing investments in transit service and ensuring that long term financial support is provided to TransLink, BC Transit and BC Ferries. For coastal communities and some interior communities, ferries are part of the way of life and a core part of the transportation network. We need to stop pretending that ferries should, or could, be run with a profit motive and bring their focus back to the essential services they provide to our communities.
– working with local governments to establish a vision for sustainable transportation in an era of expanded population growth on the South Island, including through: a regional transportation strategy; establishing a regional governance body to overcome fractured decision-making and deliver integrated planning for the growing region; investing to support expansion of public transit options to help people move around more easily; building frequent and affordable public transportation links between cities, such as between Cowichan and the CRD
– prioritized investment in transit service to support economic recovery, improve livability of communities, and reduce GHG emissions
– ensuring that the projected long-term losses facing TransLink, BC Transit and BC Ferries are dealt with so that service levels are maintained, allowing ridership to quickly bounce back through the economic recovery period
– working with local and regional governments to redesign the transit funding model and establish an equitable, stable long-term funding model for transit, including consideration of mobility pricing
– developing climate and sustainability criteria, including consideration of cumulative impacts, to be applied to all future capital projects including transportation infrastructure investments
– bringing BC Ferries back into government as a Crown Corporation, and conducting a full review of BC Ferries operations focused on providing an efficient, public service for British Columbians, and the role of ferries in BC’s transportation network.

Housing & Poverty Reduction

Housing
The party states that:
– affordable housing subsidies for purchasers make housing less affordable. Their introduction encourages insiders to speculate on the price gains that will occur when all the new buyers soon compete for the same properties with a larger borrowing capacity.
– affordable housing subsidies for renters may marginally increase the supply of rentals, and thereby lower the price. But the cost of doing so, at nearly $500M annually (projected to increase substantially) is far too great for the actual impact it will have (even if successful, only keeping up with population growth). When combined with the poor incentives introduced with changes to the Residential Tenancy Act, it is likely the number of rental units per person will fall again.

The party advocates:
– eliminating provincial affordable housing subsidies, to save an estimated $500 million annually
– focusing instead on measures that will increase supply of entry-level accommodations, such as reducing the complexity of building codes and encouraging municipalities to offer extra Floor Space Ratio for rental only buildings.
– putting property owners back in the driver’s seat under the tenancy laws, allowing more to put their properties up for rent without the risk of being locked in with a bad tenant.

Tax Reduction
The party advocates:
– eliminating provincial fuel and carbon taxes, saving the average family over $1000 annually. Everybody pays more when transportation is taxed to the extent that it is today. While it is costly to build and maintain transportation infrastructure, the majority of those costs are not funded by fuel taxes and carbon taxes. Most of the maintenance is paid for by municipalities while capital projects are funded independently. Tax revenue received on fuel (and soon carbon) goes into general provincial government revenues.
– because such taxes are applied to every grocery item we buy as well as gasoline consumption, they are regressive, affecting those least able to pay more than the wealthy. They also unfairly target those that must commute to work, adding insult to injury for those on the run from unaffordable urban housing and traffic congestion.
– review of regulations that stand in the way of new refining capacity in the highest demand areas, so transportation costs of gasoline can be reduced further.

Industries & Corporations

Small and Medium Business
The party advocates:
– elimination of the Employer Health Tax. Recently government acted to replace Medical Service Plan (MSP) premiums paid by individuals with a tax on employers of up to 1.9% of total payroll. This approach raises the barriers to job creation, discourages business expansion, encourages businesses investment in automation technology, and puts pressure on wage and benefit increases for employees.
– as with individuals and their tax brackets, business owners will attempt to avoid the triggering of higher health tax rates by reducing their overall business activity and hiring fewer workers. Employers only budget for labour cost increases that they can afford. With an employer tax on payroll, they will instead postpone their plans for wage increases, or accelerate their plans for automation. Marginal workers are the ones most affected by this change in cost burden, making it a very regressive tax by excluding these most vulnerable workers from the workforce entirely.
– as with minimum wage increases and other interventions, artificially increasing the cost of labour will have a negative effect on the most vulnerable, teenagers and students, and those with a disability that reduces their productive capacity. Current trends have workers joining the workforce at later ages, reducing their lifetime earning potential, human capital acquisition and overall sense of contribution and worth. The government should not add fuel to the fires driving these trends.

Transit
The party advocates:
– repealing the Passenger Transportation Act; defund enforcement, instead foster quality-driven market competition for ridesharing, taxis, buses, and other for-hire transportation modes, including dissolving the Passenger Transportation Board that fixes prices for the taxi industry, shuttle buses, limousines and for inter-city bus services. This will eliminate the government setting of prices and tariffs for transport vehicles and the requirement for “Special Authorization” to be granted a license for operation. The Transportation Board’s requirements that prospective providers demonstrate first that there is a “public need” and that the application “promotes sound economic conditions in industry” presumes far too much knowledge of the bureaucrats running the board, while it also offers protection for incumbent providers from competition. This kind of interference in the market results in poor customer service and has resulted in many gaps in service coverage throughout the province.
– removing legal and regulatory barriers to ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft and end corporate welfare to the taxi industry. Services like Uber, Lyft and others – drastically improve the transportation of people and goods wherever they are introduced. These modern transportation solutions are disrupting the ineffective and expensive legacy taxi and public transit industry, in the same way Amazon, iTunes, Netflix and Airbnb overturned the models in their respective industries. Ridesharing is bringing mobility to those who could not previously afford it, improving transportation service-quality, reliability and trustworthiness, and allowing ordinary people to generate extra income out of their vehicle. It is not an appropriate function of the government to decide who can and who cannot rent their cars out to third parties for money. Travelling by any means carries different risks, costs and benefits, whether it be walking, riding a bicycle, driving, taking the bus, or taking an Uber, among many others. Each individual should be allowed to determine the relative reward and risk of any given means of transportation. Moreover, a system that is driven by individual choice, rather than central control, will be more efficient, accessible and productive, as the individual is in the best position to make these relevant choices. After all, it is their own body and money that they are putting at risk, and only each individual knows how important it is to get to a given destination at a given pace and price.
– allowing competition in all types of auto insurance and convert ICBC’s insurance business into a member owned and operated co-operative.
– ending the TransLink monopoly on bus service in the lower mainland; refocusing their business around integrated rapid transit services such as the SeaBus, SkyTrain, and West Coast Express. British Columbians should expect better transportation services in the modern age, and that the money taxpayers fork out for some of these services should be spent on projects that will benefit the greatest number of people, including enhancements and modernisation of the Canada Line, SeaBus, SkyTrain, and West Coast Express, as well as the accelerated construction of new lines with public-private partnerships such as the SkyTrain expansion to UBC, an Arbutus Greenway Tram, a Surrey LRT, and perhaps others
– eliminating carbon and fuel taxes, and PST on private vehicle sales.
– banning photo radar in British Columbia and reinstating tolls on bridges and express highways.
– supporting Charter Rights challenges as a matter of principle
– directing the MOTI to prioritise funding for critical infrastructure projects, such as: Massey Tunnel replacement, SkyTrain expansions, twinning the TC Highway 1 to the Alberta border, and the Malahat bypass
– ending the government’s union-only “community benefits agreement” infrastructure contracts, of which more than $4 billion worth have already been awarded through a new Crown Corporation called “BC Infrastructure Benefits Inc.” that will hire union workers for construction of major public projects. And they will hire only union workers – non-union citizens of BC aren’t welcome to enjoy in the “community benefits” therein. Premier Horgan claims this unions-only approach will support local hires, drive apprenticeship, training, and employment opportunities for women and indigenous people, that projects will run more safely, efficiently, and economically, and that there will be “only be a modest 4-7% increase” in construction costs. Which means it will be more than 4-7%. The CBAs require workers on designated projects to join one of 19 government-favoured unions within 30 days of being on the job. All construction worker payroll and benefits will run through this new government Crown Corporation. (BCIB) and will be considered the Employer of all employees working under the scope of the CBA. Contractors must recognize the BCIB as the employer. Open-shop companies can bid on projects but their employees will be required to join a designated union (the newly-created “Allied Infrastructure and Related Construction Council of BC”) after 30 days on the job.

Agriculture
The party states that:
– current law in British Columbia forbids distribution of a product – unpasteurized milk – which is legal in 43 US states plus England, Ireland, New Zealand, and all European nations. The sale of raw milk is currently illegal under a 1991 Federal regulation plus under the provincial Milk Industry Act.
– herdsharing has been illegal in BC since Social Credit Health Minister Peter Dueck issued the Health Hazard Regulation thirty years ago, back in 1988. This law, now section 2(a) of the Health Hazards Regulation under the Public Health Act, defines all unpasteurized milk as a “health hazard.”
– there is no evidence or documentation to support the prohibition of the sale of raw milk. The gold standard for microbial testing, quantitative microbial risk assessments (“QMRA”), show that raw milk is a low-risk food. Finally, outbreaks cited by the CDC to vilify raw milk are often caused by illegally-imported Mexican “bathtub” cheese and contaminated milk produced by industrial methods by confined-herd dairies, i.e. milk that need to be pasteurized in order to be safe, not milk from grass-fed micro-dairy herdshares with professional and certified agisters.
– the Raw Milk Institute (est. 2011) has developed an on-farm food safety training program for raw milk production producing excellent results. It has been proven that milk can be produced in British Columbia pathogen-free.
– eighty-nine percent of Canadian dairy farmers drink their own farm-fresh milk according to a 2010 study by Guelph University, suggesting that this food eaten by humans for millenia is safe.

The party advocates:
– development of modern regulations and a certification process for farms that provide the sanitary production, distribution and sale of unpasteurized milk in the province
– adopting the draft Artisan Herdshare Regulation proposed by the British Columbia Herdshare Association and creating a new class of farm: “certified herdshare farm” under the Milk Industry Act
– amending section 2(a) of the Public Health Act, Health Hazards Regulation, to exempt herd-shares certified under the new Regulation

Insurance Corporation of British Columbia
The party states that:
– The Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) is consistently rated as the worst insurance provider in the country, yet consumers are powerless to choose a competing insurer for their basic auto insurance needs. Not only is ICBC universally hated for poor customer service, it’s prices consistently rank among the highest in the country
– it advocates completely liberating drivers from ICBC and allowing every British Columbian to purchase any form of auto insurance from any insurance provider of their choice, finally ending over 46 years of government monopoly in British Columbia.

The party advocates:
– allowing competition and innovation in all types of auto insurance
– converting ICBC’s basic and optional coverage insurance business into a member owned and operated co-operative, to make it more efficient
– returning driver licensing and vehicle registration and administration to the provincial government with regional offices
– winding down the ICBC administration and executive bureaucracy, and selling the $80M head office property at Lonsdale Quay in North Vancouver
– a full review of ICBC’s fines schedule and collections practices; transfer to municipalities
– repeal of the “Enhanced Care Coverage” legislation also known as “No-Fault, which denies accident victims pain & suffering damages, access to legal representation for their care and recovery, and would ultimately make our roads less safe
– modernizing BC’s wrongful death laws, as all the other provinces have done, so all citizens have a foundation of equal value and protections under the law, not just income earners with dependents as is the case with the present 174 year old legislation
– creating a “Road Safety Centre for Excellence” as a public/private partnership to continually develop and implement driver and road safety measures to make our province safer for all users of the roads, cycling lanes, paths, and pedestrian walkways

An Economy to Serve People

The party states that:
– prior governments have nickel and dimed taxpayers while giving billions in tax cuts to the richest British Columbians. Hydro rates, ICBC premiums and ferry fares have all increased. Tuition fees have tripled and MSP fees have doubled. Steep tolls have been applied to key commuter bridges, where transit options don’t exist.
– prior governments also did nothing to stop steep rises in the price of housing and rent
– since it came into office, reducing costs for British Columbians remains a priority for it. It has been steadily increasing investments over the past several years to help people with everyday costs, including lowering the costs for child care, car insurance and health care premiums, and making more services free, such as transit for youth under 12 and prescription contraception.
– it has made more than 146,000 child care spaces made more affordable through fee reductions and the $10-a-day program, so that families are now saving up to $900 per month.
– new and enhanced supports such as school foods programs, the Renter’s Tax Credit, expansions to the Climate Action Tax Credit and a permanent increase to the BC Family Benefit help low and middle income people with affordability
– its 2024 provincial builds upon this foundation by providing new targeted benefits for those struggling with cost of living, including an additional BC Family Benefit Bonus. For one year, starting in July 2024, families currently receiving the BC Family Benefit will get a bonus of 25 per cent per child until June 2025. It is estimated that up to 66,000 families who have never received the BC Family Benefit will also receive the regular benefit and the bonus.
– in total, approximately 340,000 families will benefit from an estimated $248 million investment, with an average of $445 over the bonus period
– the BC Electricity Affordability Credit will help reduce electricity costs for residential, commercial and industrial customers starting April 2024. B.C. households will see, on average, approximately $100 in savings on their residential electricity bills over twelve months, depending on their power usage in 2023/24.
– commercial and industrial customers will also benefit from reduced operating costs as they will also receive bill credits proportional to approximately 4.6 per cent of their electricity consumption. This is estimated to save British Columbians $370 million over the next year
– to reduce Employer Health Tax (EHT) for small and growing businesses, increasing the exemption threshold from $500,000 to $1 million starting in the 2024 calendar year. Businesses with payrolls between $1 million and $1.5 million will continue to be partially exempt and will also see a decrease in tax obligations. An estimated 90 per cent of businesses will now be exempt from the EHT. The change is estimated to save businesses more than $100 million annually.

The party advocates:
– getting rid of Medical Services Plan fees, saving families as much as $1,800 a year.
– building 114,000 rental and co-op homes, and providing renters an annual rental home credit of $400.
– implementing $10 a day childcare.
– eliminating tolls on the Port Mann and Golden Ears bridges.
– eliminating interest on student loans and providing students a $1,000 completion grant.
– freezing BC Hydro rates and stop Christy Clark’s 42% increase in ICBC rates.
– rolling back ferry fares on small routes by 15%, freeze fares on major routes, and return the 100% seniors’ weekday discount.

Housing & Poverty Reduction

Housing
The party states that it during its current term in office it launched its Homes for People plan, launched in 2023 with allocation of $4.2 billion in operating and capital funding in the first three years. Its 2024 provincial budget includes:
– introducing a new tax targeting home flipping activity to discourage short-term speculation that contributes to inflated housing costs
– allowing small-scale, multi-unit affordable housing, including townhomes, duplexes and triplexes through zoning changes and proactive partnerships
– offering forgivable loans for homeowners to build and rent secondary suites below market rates to increase affordable rental supply quickly
– streamlining permitting to reduce costs and speed up approvals to get homes built faster
– strengthening enforcement of short-term rental regulation
– providing an annual income-tested tax credit of up to $400 per year for renters, starting with the 2023 calendar year
– launching BC Builds aimed at utilizing underused land, low-cost financing, and grants to deliver more homes for middle-income people and families
– to discourage investors from driving up prices, B.C. introduction of a new tax targeting home flipping activity starting on January 1, 2025. This will be a tax on the profit made
from selling a residential property within two years of buying it. Revenue from the tax will go directly to building homes in B.C., like the existing Speculation and Vacancy Tax
– raising exemption thresholds for property transfer tax for first-time home buyers and newly built homes to help lower costs for more people who are buying a home, the measures being estimated to save British Columbians over $100 million annually
– an exemption for new, eligible purpose-built rental buildings between January 1, 2025 and December 31, 2030, to help lower costs and encourage development of rentals
– provides funds to maintain over 500 temporary and permanent shelter spaces across the province, including ongoing shelter spaces in Kelowna, Williams Lake and Merritt
– as part of the new BC Builds program $150 million of operating funding and $48 million in capital funding to speed up the development of new housing for middle-income households to own or rent

Labour, Unions, Employment

The party states that:
– unemployment is up in every region outside the lower mainland and the Island. People who are working are working harder and longer, and not getting ahead. More and more jobs are part time, and more and more people are working two jobs to make ends meet.
– the only industry that was supported by the prior government was natural gas. The rest of the economy, including resource communities and families, have paid the price.
– the provincial relationship with First Nations has also suffered.

The party advocates:
– making reconciliation with First Nations a priority, creating certainty and opportunity for First Nations and for the economy as a whole.
– creating good jobs and build a sustainable economy in every sector of the economy and in every corner of BC.
– creating 96,000 construction jobs by building schools, hospitals, roads and rapid transit over the next five years.
– building, directly and through partnerships, 114,000 rental, social and co‑op homes over 10 years using BC wood products as building materials.
– increasing minimum wage to $15 and bring in $10 a day childcare.
– revitalizing BC’s forest industry and make BC a world leader in engineered wood products.
– sparking innovation and growth in BC’s tech sector, by improving investment tax credits, hiring local software developers, and re-establishing the Innovative Clean Energy program
– making BC a leader on climate action, including reducing the province’s carbon footprint with energy efficiency retrofits to public buildings and residential homes, and create good jobs that last in every community.
– supporting BC small business with a half-point cut to the small business tax rate.
– also investing in traditional sectors of our economy and launching a major jobs initiative in clean energy and energy efficiency to reduce home heating bills.

Sustainable Economy

The party states that:
– British Columbia has a strong economy, a beautiful natural environment, abundant natural resources and a highly skilled and talented workforce who drive the economy forward. During its term in government it has continued to leverage B.C.’s strengths by making investments and implementing measures to support inclusive growth. For example, investments in affordable and accessible child care have led to an increase in women’s employment in B.C., while the Province’s Future Ready Action Plan helps to break down barriers so more people can get the training and supports they need to move into in-demand careers. This includes providing Future Skills Grants that are helping people 19 years and older access high-quality and relevant training opportunities.
– its 2024 provincial budget allocates $228 million over three years to sustain Future Ready initiatives implemented in prior budgets, including the doubling of student loan maximums and reducing student repayment obligations. These measures will help employers recruit and access the talent they need to grow their businesses and support their local economies.

Industries & Corporations

Clean Economy
The party states that:
– its climate plan, the CleanBC Roadmap to 2030, prioritizes investments to accelerate the development and adoption of low-emissions technologies and supports sustainable jobs for people in the clean economy.
– its 2024 provincial budget allocates $318 million to reaffirm its commitment through new operating funding to continue CleanBC grant and rebate programs for clean transportation, energy efficient buildings and communities, and support the development and implementation of regulatory measures to continue the transition to a low-carbon economy
– an additional $93 million from prior commitments includes a further $20 million for active transportation grants to communities, $40 million for additional heat pump rebates for low- and middle-income households, $30 million to continue the implementation of electric vehicle public charging infrastructure across the Province, and $3 million to increase youth involvement in climate action initiatives.
– in addition, the 2024 provincial budget confirms the party’s 2023 commitment to direct revenue from the $15 per tonne carbon tax increases to relief for British Columbians through enhancements to the climate action tax credit. Individuals and families currently receiving the tax credit will see their climate action tax credit payments increase in 2024, in order to help make life more affordable
– the above investments are in addition to incremental capital funding provided in the 2024 provincial budget, which includes $50 million in Active Transportation infrastructure and $27 million to enable more school districts to buy electric school buses.

Critical Minerals
The party states that:
– during its current term in office it announced the first phase of a made-in-B.C. Critical Mineral Strategy to build a clean economy and support sustainable jobs for people by expanding the critical minerals sector in alignment with the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act.
– this strategy was supported with $6 million over three years provided in prior budgets to conduct geoscience, economic analysis and engagement, including establishing a Critical Minerals Advisory Committee.
– the 2024 budget adds $24 million in new funding over three years to ensure adequate resources for regional and major mines permitting and support Mineral Tenure Act reform in collaboration with First Nations, and engaging with industry and communities.

Transportation & Community Infrastructure
The party states that:
– investments in community infrastructure and critical transportation networks support the movement of goods and people, and help lower greenhouse gas emissions to support a clean and growing economy.
– its 2024 provincial budget allocates more than $15 billion in capital investments over the next three years to ensure British Columbians can move throughout the province. This includes funding to continue major Highway 1 projects through the Fraser Valley and from Kamloops to the Alberta border, and major infrastructure projects like the Fraser River Tunnel project.
– the 2024 provincial budget further provides capital funding to continue and complete transit projects in the Metro Vancouver region, including the Broadway Subway and Surrey Langley SkyTrain, as well as $248 million in capital funding over three years to BC Transit for expanded infrastructure outside the Lower Mainland to house additional buses, for new zero-emissions buses, and to increase the capacity of depots and passenger facilities.
– a further $28 million is allocated for operating funding to support a 14.5% expansion in BC Transit services in priority communities, with a commitment to continue working with partners to address the transit needs of a growing population
– an additional $26 million is allocated for operating fund to support BC Transit base operations and address inflationary pressures.
– investing in the efficient operation of the province’s transit system supports CleanBC greenhouse gas reduction targets, the alleviation of traffic congestion, and ensures transit continues to be a reliable, safe and affordable service for British Columbians.
– a further $207 million is provided for critical road and bridge maintenance on provincial highways, including 47,000 kilometers of roads and more than 3,000 bridges. Contracted services include road resurfacing and pavement marking, highway electrical maintenance, snow removal and response to emergency events, which are all critical to the safety of the travelling public, and to ensure the flow of commercial traffic across major road networks.
– $67 million is to be provided over four years to support the operation of contracted inland ferry services. Inland ferry routes are free services connecting many rural and remote communities to the Provincial highway system, including First Nations communities, and ensure access to school, work, medical appointments and basic goods.
– additional funding of $23 million over three years will support contracted services with BC Ferries, for expected growth in student, senior, medical travel and accessibility fare discounts. The funding will also help to address the rising cost of fuel and mechanical maintenance costs for contractors who operate ferry services on unregulated routes.
– to support economic growth and development, the budget provides $250 million over five years for the 21 local governments that make up the Northwest BC Resource Benefits Alliance. These communities are primarily rural, remote, with small populations but are relied upon to support an influx of new industry and workers. Funding will be used to support planning and construction of municipal infrastructure, such as roads, water, sewer and other community facilities needed to support new industrial development and create liveable communities for their workforce.

(FOR REFERENCE ONLY.  PARTY HAS ANNOUNCED ITS WITHDRAWAL FROM THE ELECTION.  CHECK CANDIDATE LISTINGS AND CONSIDER ALTERNATIVES BEFORE GOING TO THE POLL.)

An Economy at the Service of All

The party states that:
– at a time when families are stretched too thin, the current government has doubled the carbon tax. It advocates cancelling the current government’s plan to further triple the carbon tax, and fully canceling the carbon tax if the federal government does.
– not everyone can take a bus to work or to their kids’ soccer practice. Repealing the fuel tax can save families 15 cents a litre, or about $30 for a Ford pickup or Dodge minivan.
– to give British Columbians the same bread Atlantic Canadians get on the carbon tax for home heating, it advocates scrapping the carbon tax on all home heating.
Make Groceries Cheaper
– grocery prices are through the roof. Cutting the fuel tax and cancelling the carbon tax hikes will make groceries cheaper by reducing the cost of growing and transporting food
– families that can’t afford a basic car of their own shouldn’t have to pay for wealthy people to buy Teslas and other luxury EVs. BC United will scrap this unfair handout.

Housing & Poverty Reduction

To end the housing crisis, the party advocates:
– establishment of a new Rent-to-Own program to unlock homeownership by requiring developers of new housing to set aside up to 15 percent of homes in participating projects for eligible British Columbians who are first-time buyers only. Such buyers would take possession and reside in the home for three years at which time the sale will officially complete. During the three years, participants would pay rent at market rates, with 100 percent of payments being applied toward their down payment — helping renters become homeowners.
– eliminating the Property Transfer Tax for first-time buyers on properties valued up to $1 million —saving people up to $18,000 and making it more affordable to purchase a home.
– using empty public land to build affordable housing, including offering non-profit and market homebuilders 99-year leases on unused public land at one dollar per year. In exchange, builders would be required to construct below-market rental housing for families and seniors.
– elimination of the Provincial Sales Tax (PST) on all new residential construction to make it cheaper to build more homes.
– because red tape makes homes cost more for families, cutting red tape to make homes cheaper.
– regulating short-term rentals in a way that respects your property rights, while making sure there are enough homes for everyone
– requiring universities to prove they have room to house BC students before accepting students abroad

Labour, Unions, Employment

The party states that:
– the current government’s “Community Benefits Agreements” give contracts to NDP-friendly unions while shutting out 85% of the workforce – meaning British Columbians pay more for less. It advocates scrapping CBAs and restoring competitive bidding on public projects.
– The government’s “CleanBC Plan” will kill jobs, kill paycheques, and plunge the province into a recession, while doing nothing for the environment, that its own economic model confirms this.  The party advocates scrapping the scheme.