Two days into the campaign and B.C. voters are being smothered with love by party leaders.
It’s coming in the form of promises of huge give-backs — cuts in taxes and fees, or rebates and subsidies on same.
The cost of all these public displays of affection is still a little hazy. The general premise is that B.C. has been posting surplus budgets for the past five years, so there’s enough in the kitty to start giving it back.
Where’s it all coming from, exactly? Who cares? It’s where it’s going that counts, and it’s all going back to taxpayers at the moment. Being a voter is like having a house on the market — you just sit back and wait for the offers to come in.
Here’s a rundown of some of the promises that involve cutting direct charges to taxpayers, or handing cash back:
MSP — B.C. Liberals started the hug-fest in the budget with a bold move on Medical Services Plan premiums. About half the population doesn’t pay premiums because their income is below a threshold. For those who do pay, the highlight was a promise to cut premiums next year by 50 per cent for those making up to $120,000. It’s a saving of up to $900 a year. If everyone eligible registers, it means forgoing about a billion dollars in revenue. Much further down the road, the Liberals have a notion about eliminating the cumbersome user-pay system altogether and replacing it with something else.
It followed continuous criticism about the irksome, high-visibility tax. The NDP plans to eliminate the system, but raise the same amount of revenue through the income-tax system, with progressively higher hikes for the wealthy. B.C. Greens have similar plans.
None of the variations change the fact that almost half the provincial budget is spent on health care. We’re all going to pay for it one way or another.
DAY CARE — The NDP laid down a marker before the campaign started with a promise to work toward $10-a-day subsidized child care. It amounts to a huge seat sale at daycares (if you can find a space) with the government picking up most of the tab. B.C. Greens this week went beyond that: 25 hours of free early-childhood education a week, free daycare for working parents with toddlers and a $500-a-month cheque for families with toddlers with a parent at home. Liberals aren’t matching those offers and are sticking with commitments to increase daycare spaces and slightly broaden subsidies.
TOLLS — The Liberals and NDP played a game of no-limit poker with bridge tolls just before the campaign kicked off, and commuters won big. The Liberals pitched an idea to cap the tolls on regular users of two metro Vancouver bridges at $500 a year, a saving of about 50 per cent. The NDP raised the ante hours later by promising to eliminate tolls entirely. See you, raise you. That eliminates up to $200 million a year in revenue, presumably along with the government entity that collects them. Nobody is dwelling on the fact that tolls are a nominal incentive to use public transit, as we’re all supposed to do. They’re too busy creating incentives to vote for them.
FERRIES — The Liberals opened with the idea of inventing a frequent-user card that would reduce the cost of fares over a year. While that’s being devised, there would be a tax rebate of up to $250 a year for regular users. The New Democrats are expected to unveil more of their platform today. Given their record, which includes a freeze on electricity rates, it will almost certainly go one better.
INCOME SUPPORT — There was another round of direct benefits offered on Wednesday. NDP Leader John Horgan promised a $400-a-year renters’ tax credit, with universal eligibility. Green Leader Andrew Weaver pitched a 50 per cent hike in welfare, disability and shelter assistance rates over four years, plus basic income support for young people leaving foster care.
Just So You Know: The best move for voters in the face of all this is to stay poker-faced, inscrutable. Answer all pollsters with “undecided.” If the politicians can’t read your reaction, maybe they’ll put even more money on the table.
