BC NDP Leader John Horgan is set to lay out the full plan of what a re-elected NDP government will look like.
Horgan will be in Vancouver on Tuesday morning to lay out the vision for his party.
The NDP have already unveiled some parts of the platform, including $1.4 billion over 10 years to build new long-term care homes and improve wages for long-term care workers; and an expansion of post-secondary student access of up to $4,000 per year to help them pay the cost of tuition, textbooks, and supplies, based on financial need.
Horgan has also promised to ensure British Columbia reaches net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
What the NDP is expected to outline on Tuesday are some major commitments on what they would do to help British Columbians through the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Horgan has promised to have the commitments costed out in the platform and will provide additional details on the commitments already made.
The government introduced a $2 billion economic recovery plan before the election started. There are major parts of the plan being held up currently because of the early election call.
An internal government memo obtained by Global News show the province allocated up to $90 million to support community economic resilience, tourism, heritage, and urban and rural economic development projects. But the money has been held up, with the program designed to support projects that are construction-ready in 2021 and can be completed by March 31, 2023.
“The final approval of projects and funds will not occur until a new cabinet is sworn in,” reads the document.
The BC Liberals have already made some major election promises, including getting rid of the provincial sales tax for a full year and reducing the tax to three per cent for the second year. In the first year alone, the promise will cost about $7 billion in lost revenues.
The Liberals have promised to scrap the speculation and vacancy tax and replace it with a tax on flipped presale contracts, and has vowed a “complete overhaul of property taxation.”
They have also promised to restrict camping in city parks, enforce the ban on unsafe roadside panhandling, and to freeze the Surrey RCMP transition. The Liberals would then hold a non-binding referendum on the transition process.
On Tuesday, the party is set to outline what it plans to do at ICBC. Leader Andrew Wilkinson has been asked many times about whether he wants to scrap the public insurer and move to a private system.
Wilkinson has been focused on providing more choice for drivers, including allowing private companies to offer insurance for rideshare vehicles and taxis, but so far has not suggested blowing up the entire ICBC system.
ICBC has long been a contentious issue for the Liberals. The previous government moved money from the profitable option side of the insurer in order to provide rebates for drivers on the basic side. The practice has been blamed for contributing to the ongoing financial mess at ICBC.
Green Leader Sonia Furstenau will be in Vancouver to announce supports for families.
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