In the lead-up to the Oct. 19 provincial election, Black Press Media asked the candidates in Oak Bay-Gordon Head a series of three questions.
What do you see as the most pressing issue for your riding, and what would you do to address it?
Stephen Andrew – B.C. Conservatives: Health care and public safety are the biggest issues facing all of our communities, and these are both tied together with the economic outlook of the province. We need a robust economy, not record debt and deficits, not a government that discourages investment and innovation, so we can have a health-care system that both puts patients first and stands up for seniors. We need economic activity and growth to have the resources to move us away from the failed drug and homelessness policies of the NDP so that our parks and streets can be safe again.
Diana Gibson – B.C. NDP: I know and hear that families in our community are struggling. Global inflation and high interest rates are hiking costs of everything. The B.C. NDP has been helping families with costs and making progress for people, by cutting childcare costs in half, cutting then freezing the ICBC basic rates, and providing more meals to kids in schools – which is helping parents with their grocery bills. And delivered the biggest middle-class tax cut in a generation by eliminating health-care premiums.
People in our community need to feel secure, and be able to save a little too. That's why the B.C. NDP will continue to fight for people, and build on this progress. David Eby has a plan to support middle-class families to break into the housing market by financing 40% of the purchase price, and a new tax cut that will deliver relief with $1,000 every year for the average family.
There’s more to do, and I hope I can earn your vote, and work to make our community a place where everyone feels secure and can get ahead.
Lisa Gunderson – B.C. Green Party: Oak Bay-Gordon Head is a diverse riding, and responses to that question vary by area. However, one issue that affects everyone is access to physical and mental health care. Our solution is to establish an integrated community health centre in every riding within the first year and increase access to mental health care and support: The Dogwood Model offers several advantages for both practitioners – such as health benefits, paid vacation, and parental leave – and for patients, with easy referral systems that allow them to access the right expert for their needs (e.g., a physiotherapist or dietician). Further, British Columbia’s seven health authorities have expanded into bloated bureaucracies, with 64 vice-presidents and hundreds of managers. We will streamline health-care administration by creating a single health authority for the province, enabling health professionals to focus on providing services rather than paperwork. Our plan to increase access to mental health care also includes support for first responders and their families. We will implement initiatives to recruit and retain mental health providers, cover six mental health sessions under MSP, and commit to fully regulating psychotherapy professions. Check out the plan to learn more about how we will fund these initiatives.
How do you balance the need for housing affordability with homeowners’ desire to not lose money on their investment?
Gibson: Making sure that our community stays vibrant and livable is very important. Today, housing prices are at an all-time high. For too many families and seniors, the choice to stay here is not available to them. We need to ensure that we are building housing that middle-income families can afford so that our kids and grandkids are able to stay in their neighbourhoods and seniors are able to downsize within the communities they love.
The B.C. NDP has a plan to build 300,000 homes for middle-income families across the province. And help people break into the housing market to start building equity.
Rustad’s approach is the same do-nothing approach that drove up prices in the first place. If we don’t act – our neighbourhoods will get hollowed out – no kids on playgrounds, no workers at the local hospital. We need to work with our local municipalities, and communities to ensure that gentle-density housing is built so our kids and grandkids can envision a future here in our community.
Gunderson: The B.C. Greens 2024 platform recognizes that some real estate investments are controlled by Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), which has contributed to housing commodification and unaffordability. To address this, we will investigate implementing a property transfer tax on the sale of properties to REITs or limited partnerships involving REITs. This measure would curb large-scale commodified rentals and help restore housing as a place to live rather than an investment. Additionally, we will advocate for federal legislation to ban the sale of residential units to REITs, which will protect homeowners' investments and prevent further commodification of the housing market. Like any investment, REITs come with no guaranteed return.
I understand the transition away from treating housing as a commodity, to recognizing it as a right will require support. I will have informed collaborative discussions with homeowners to discuss their rising costs and how we can meet their needs in this evolving housing landscape.
Andrew: Unlike the NDP, I don’t believe that a rational path to housing affordability is achieved by punishing the 65% of British Columbians who currently own their own homes. It’s not so much about “affordability” as it is about attainability. Creating attainability in our housing market for all demographics and at all price points is where we need to spend our time.
We need to build more housing, first and foremost. We need density where it makes sense. We need financial support programs that make sense – not like the NDP’s new Buy a House with Eby program where the government owns 40% of your house, for example.
We have a spectrum of housing needs and as such require social housing, non-market housing, workforce market-limited housing, market housing, subsidized rental, market rental, co-op housing supports and solutions for the hard to impossible to house.
Government should not be looking to pick winners and losers, as it has with its punitive policies, and it should not be creating scapegoats – foreign buyers, short-term rentals, “speculators” – for a crisis that it has perpetuated.
How would your party meet the public’s demand for spending on health care, housing, transportation infrastructure, homelessness, etc., without raising taxes or ballooning the deficit?
Gunderson: To meet the public’s demand for essential services we must prioritize our spending – just like any family or business with a budget.
A key step is to reduce or eliminate subsidies to the oil and gas sector, which would free up billions of dollars that could be redirected to critical areas like renewable energy development and production, health care and housing.
Additionally, we will raise revenue by implementing fair tax reforms. Our platform includes a new marginal tax rate of 22.5% on incomes over $350,000 per year, ensuring that the wealthiest contribute their fair share. Furthermore, we will introduce a corporate tax rate of 18% on profits exceeding $1 billion, meaning any profit above the first billion will be taxed. This measure is expected to raise an additional $4.1 billion annually, allowing us to fund vital services without increasing taxes on average British Columbians or significantly adding to the deficit. By focusing on progressive revenue generation and eliminating unnecessary subsidies, we can meet public demands responsibly and sustainably.
Andrew: This is exactly what the NDP are doing to British Columbians with their reckless tax-and-spend policies, while not coming close to meeting their responsibilities The answer to whatever problem the NDP government sees is always more government. The NDP solution to everything is a new bureaucracy, a new department, a new ministry. The NDP has almost doubled the size of government since they came to power almost eight long years ago.
The answer is not to grow government. The answer is to grow the economy. The answer is to create an investment and business environment that brings good quality jobs, long-term stable growth and drives the innovation in our province that can propel us into the future. That’s how we generate the revenues we need to provide the services we need. We need to prioritize our spending, do away with all the special interest funding and waste that flows through a bloated government and get on with the job of creating a thriving B.C. for all of us.
The NDP has proven, again, that it can’t be trusted with the provincial chequebook. It’s time to change direction, away from government growth, and towards economic prosperity.
Gibson: B.C.’s finances are strong, with one of the lowest debt-to-GDP ratios in the country. We are the only province with a triple-A credit rating from an international rating agency. We also know that many people are struggling right now, global inflation and high interest rates are hiking costs making everything more expensive.
That's why the B.C. NDP is investing in people and in the services they depend on, like health care. The government has hired over 800 new family doctors in the last year alone, and over 400,000 people have been connected to family doctors and nurse practitioners. We are building new schools, and reducing childcare costs for families, and increasing mental health beds and supports.
John Rustad has said they will cut $4.1 billion from the health-care system and that they would increase ICBC fees for people. When his party was in government, they made heartless cuts to health care and education. We are turning the corner and making progress on these big challenges – now is not the time to cut funding to these essential services.
