B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad chose the riding of B.C. NDP Leader David Eby to unveil his party's full platform four days before general voting.
Standing in the company of several candidates in UBC's Rose Garden, with Burrard Inlet as the background, Rustad revealed his party's platform Tuesday (Oct. 15). It calls for $2.3 billion in additional spending over two years, which would eventually increase the combined provincial deficit to $10.7 billion. Rustad described this additional spending as needed investments with the promise to offset this spending through additional growth.
"When you think about UBC, you think about our future," he said. "You think about the children, you think about the students, you think about how they want to be able to build a future."
In trying to send a message of change directly aimed at young people, Rustad also acknowledged that a future Conservative government will run deficits – at least for a while – that would match, if not exceed, the projected deficits of the B.C. NDP's based on available figures at least for a while.
"Going forward, our deficit will be slightly larger than what the NDP are projecting for this year and for next year, as we add that additional critical spending," he said.
"However, through our approach, with the investment that we need to see in our economy, the additional revenues that will come through there, will offset by the time we get to a third and fourth year. Our deficit is projected to be lower than what the NDP's deficit is and then projecting forward, through to a second term, to being able to get to balance."
Much of this additional spending would be in health care, with $3.8 billion over three years, and other initiatives needed to get the provincial economy going.
"But the reality is, of course, we can't know exactly how bad things are under the NDP budget because they have hidden so many things in their budgeting," Rustad added, noting the changing size of the deficit. The 2024 budget pegged the deficit at just under $8 billion while the latest fiscal update pegged it at $9 billion.
"Who knows what other crazy things this government has been doing?"
When asked why voters concerned about fiscal stability should vote for the Conservatives when they acknowledge that their own future budgets will run deficits comparable to those of the B.C. NDP, Rustad said the big difference will be the approach.
"The NDP has been reckless in terms of their spending and approaches. They have spent a lot on ideology, so we're obviously going to be taking a significant review of where government has been spending money ... can anybody say after seven years that anything is better, that they are receiving better services in the province?"
Rustad added that this review would focus on the services that are actually needed.
"But that means I'm not going to be coming in and being Draconian, saying there should be cuts. I do not want to take that approach. We want to make sure that we protect the frontline services that are needed for people in British Columbia, but at the same time, we are going to be doing a review of that spending and approach that's needed in government."
Perhaps the central premise of the Conservatives' platform is the promise of future growth.
According to figures shared by party, annual gross domestic growth of 5.4 per cent would generate an additional $23 billion between now and 2030.
That figure would not only place B.C. ahead of all G7 countries, but also among the fastest-growing economies in the world. The International Monetary Fund pegs future growth for all modern western countries part of the G7, including Canada, at 1.6 per cent in 2029. The Conservatives' projection of 5.4 per cent would also place B.C. ahead of China (3.3 per cent by 2029), Indonesia (5.1 per cent by 2029) and India (6.5 per cent by 2029) – all among the world's fastest-growing and most dynamic economies.
When asked about the realism of the growth projections, Rustad indirectly undermined his own argument when he noted that actual growth rates under the B.C. NDP came in lower than the lower NDP projections.
Rustad then pointed to the potential benefits of mining.
He said that mining alone "would be able to give us that additional growth that's needed in this province, not to mention getting our forestry industry back on its feet." Other areas also offer additional growth potential, he added.
Tuesday's platform release was not the first time Rustad had touted the potential of the mining industry.
Speaking last month, Rustad said the 16 or 17 proposed mines would create somewhere between 20,000 to 30,000 jobs, represent an investment of $38 billion, generate $22 billion annually in wages and benefits and just under $11 billion for all levels of government revenue over the course of their existence.
B.C. NDP Leader David Eby spent part of Tuesday morning in Surrey, where he received a question about Rustad's choice of location to reveal his platform.
"It will be a great opportunity for him to explain to students at UBC, why for 16 years, he only funded 130 units of student housing across the entire province," Eby said. "It would be another chance for him to explain to the students of UBC, why his Rustad Long Wait tax program prioritizes a penthouse owner in downtown Vancouver over UBC students, who are working and paying provincial taxes. They get a rebate under our program."
Eby was referring to the Conservatives' promise of deducting up to $3,000 from taxes for mortgage and rent payments by 2029, comparing it to his party's promise of an immediate $1,000 tax cut for 90 per cent of households including multi-generational ones.
Eby also rhetorically asked whether Rustad would support students studying climate science or the science that contributed to the COVID-19 vaccine.
"World-class leading research is taking place by students, who work hard every day," he said. "They deserve a decent place to live. They deserve support for the cost of daily life. They deserve a Broadway SkyTrain all the way out to UBC."
– With files from Trevor Crawley
