A commentary by a former NDP premier.
Who is the best choice for premier? Well, I’ve known David Eby for many years, and I can tell you he is really intelligent. He listens well.
And he’s prepared to take on the big issues and make tough decisions to make life better for people.
He has my respect and my confidence.
One of his first jobs in government was putting out the dumpster fire at ICBC. Thanks to Eby, instead of soaring car insurance premiums, B.C. has some of the lowest car insurance rates in Canada.
Conservative Leader John Rustad’s plan to bring back private insurance would mean drivers pay more, so lawyers and insurance companies get rich.
Child care is another cost pressure, and the Eby government’s $10-a-day child care program has saved hundreds of dollars a month, lowering child- care costs for thousands of families. A re‑elected Eby government will expand the program to even more families.
On taxes, Eby understands there’s nothing wrong with asking the wealthy and profitable corporations to pay their fair share. Provincial income taxes for working people and the middle have come down under the NDP, while taxes on those at the top have increased.
If you earn less than $170,000 per year, your provincial income taxes are the lowest in Canada, and if you earn more than $181,000, you are paying a bit more. That’s only fair.
Let’s consider health care. Eby’s government has hired more than 800 doctors and 6,000 nurses. They are building new hospitals, opening a medical school in Surrey, and speeding up the approval of credentials for doctors coming into our province.
Eby’s team has connected hundreds of thousands more people to a family doctor. And he’s committed to making sure everyone who asks has access to a family doctor by the end of his next term.
Contrast that with Rustad’s plan to cut $4 billion out of the health-care budget. We’ve seen that movie before. It will be chaos in health care with Conservative cuts.
On housing, Eby started with the speculation tax that turned 20,000 condos into rental homes, and he has an action plan to deliver 300,000 more homes in the next 10 years.
No other province is even close to that amount of effort, working with the private sector, municipalities and non-profits to build affordable housing for people to rent or own.
A Rustad Conservative government would abandon all this work and leave it to the private sector developers.
Our economy is strong with the NDP. We have some of the fastest economic growth in the country and the highest minimum wage. That is why so many people want to come here. It makes B.C. a great place to live, raise a family and build a career.
But it creates challenges, too. So, to build the housing, the schools and hospitals we need, we have to train a lot more skilled workers.
The Eby government is doing that, too, with action to double the number of apprenticeship seats from 26,000 to 50,000. The economy needs skilled workers, and the jobs they will get are good, family-supporting jobs.
It’s a win-win.
Finally, which government — Eby or Rustad — will take us forward on environmental protection?
When I was premier, we fundamentally changed the way we do logging and forest renewal, and we moved to protect 12% of the land base in parks and protected areas. We brought workers, industry, First Nations and local communities to the table to change how we do land use planning.
Eby is carrying this work forward. He’s committed to increasing protected areas to 30% of critical lands and waters. He is reducing carbon pollution through a cap on harmful emissions from the oil and gas sector and working to transition to clean energy.
This isn’t fast enough for some, and for others, it is too fast.
The premier has to have a plan that can be implemented, and Eby does. Rustad, on the other hand, doesn’t believe in climate science.
I believe in a province where we treat workers and each other with respect, where companies and the well-to-do pay their fair share of taxes, and where we work together to protect and enhance our beautiful natural heritage.
Eby shares these values. That’s why I urge you to re-elect his NDP government.
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