Those promises are among the few planks in the party’s platform, released today, April 10, that weren’t already announced in the recent provincial budget.
On the weekend, the government announced it would cap the tolls on the Port Mann and Golden Ears bridges at $500 annually for regular commuters.
NDP Leader John Horgan called and raised the Liberals by vowing he would eliminate bridge tolls altogether.
“Personally, I thought it was a pretty brilliant stroke on Horgan’s part to say I’m not going to limit your tolls to $500 a year, I’m just going to get rid of it altogether,” said Bill Tieleman, a political analyst and former NDP strategist.
But TransLinks’ Mayors Council on Regional Transportation are asking both the Liberals and NDP for some clarification. They want to know how capping or eliminating bridge tolls will impact TransLink revenues.
Other than the promise to cap tolls and freeze income taxes at the current rates for the next few years, there are few items of note in the BC Liberal election platform that haven’t already been announced.
The platform reiterates some of the measures announced in the most recent budget, including:
• a 50% cut to MSP premiums;
• a reduction of the PST on power to 3.5%, from the current 7%;
• a half per cent cut to the small business tax, from 2.5% to 2%;
• a green light for the $3.5 billion George Massey tunnel replacement; and
• $2.2 billion to match federal funds for transit.
Other planks of note for business include:
• a new royalty credit for oil well development in the Montney formation of Northeastern B.C.;
• new legislation and tax credits to facilitate and encourage ride sharing services like Uber;
• a new $1 million annual grant aimed at encouraging B.C. farmers to grow hops for B.C.’s craft beer industry; and
• investing in an innovation hub at Robson Square.
The BC NDP Party is expected to release its election platform later this week.
According to an Insights West poll released Monday, April 10, Premier Christy Clark's approval rating dropped six points since February to 30%. Green Party Leader Andrew Weaver's approval rating increased six points to 35%. Horgan's approval rating is the highest, at 37% – a drop of two points since February.
