A primer on some of the main issues in the B.C. election
VICTORIA — Voters in British Columbia elect a new government on May 9. Here’s a look at some of the major issues:
Housing: The benchmark price for detached properties in Greater Vancouver stood at more than $1.5 million last May, giving rise to complaints about unaffordable homes as tent cities for homeless people sprang up in Victoria and Vancouver. The government imposed a 15 per cent tax on foreign buyers in Metro Vancouver to help cool the market and restore hope that home ownership was still achievable for those who feared they couldn’t afford to live in their communities. “If we can make it a little bit harder for those wealthy foreign buyers, we are going to make it a whole lot easier for those middle-class British Columbians we want to put first,” Premier Christy Clark said last year.
Campaign finances: With no set limits on corporate, union or individual contributions to political parties, fundraising in B.C. has become known as the wild West. The New Democrats blame the Liberals for continuing to fill party coffers while the party turned down six attempts to ban union and corporate donations to political parties. A special prosecutor was appointed days before the campaign to assist the RCMP in its Election Act probe of donations to both major parties.
Child care: The NDP is promising $10-a-day daycare based on Quebec’s system as one the major planks in its campaign. A shortage of child-care spaces, coupled with the added strains of sky-high housing prices in B.C.’s major cities are making it difficult for young families, say the Opposition New Democrats, who believe affordable care is good for families and the economy. “We can’t afford not to do this,” NDP Leader John Horgan has argued. The Liberals say they are creating thousands of new child-care spaces and the NDP plan is simply not affordable.