NDP Leader John Horgan recapped his government's main accomplishments over the past three and a half years, and took questions from voters, but offered no preview of his party's election platform in a virtual town hall meeting Monday.
Those accomplishments include scrapping bridge tolls and MSP premiums and an economy that was firing on all cylinders before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down wide swaths of the economy.
"Before the pandemic, we were the envy of the country," Horgan said.
And even during the pandemic, he said B.C. has been much more successful in keeping the virus in check and reopening some parts of the economy than some other provinces.
Horgan was joined by a number of NDP incumbents, including Adrian Dix, who assumed a prominant role during the pandemic as B.C.'s minister of Health.
Horgan's government has generally been praised for its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"This is a profoundly challenging time for all of us," Horgan said. "We've done the best that we can by focusing on people."
During the pandemic, the Horgan government earmarked $5 billion to help workers, renters and businesses cope with unemployment and business shutdowns -- spending supported by both the Liberals and Greens.
"We were the only province that had rent relief for people," Horgan said.
Horgan added that there have been some targeted tax cuts, but slammed the BC Liberals' biggest election plank to date -- a promise to eliminate the PST for one year. Horgan said that kind of across-the-board tax cut mainly benefits the wealthy.
"You want to buy a yacht, the Liberals are for you," he said.
Asked what his government has done on indigenous reconcillation, Horgan said his government formally enshrined the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indifenous People (UNDRIP), but skirted the controversial issue of negotiating a deal with hereditary chiefs of the Wet'suwet'en on rights and title without the involvement of elected chiefs.
Elected and hereditary chiefs are divided on the Coastal GasLink pipeline, which have been plagued by blockades and protests led by some members of the Wet'suwet'en.
Asked about the overdose crisis, Horgan said it was a tragedy that has been building for many years. Horgan has called on the federal government to decriminalize narcotics, which might allow drug addiction to be treated more as a health issue than a legal one.
"We shouldnt treat people like criminals," Horgan said.
Asked about rural B.C. issues, Horgan touched on his government's reforms of forestry tenure. Those new rules include a requirement that allows the forestry minister to step in whenever large forest companies try to sell or transfer Crown tenure. He also noted his government's efforts to expand broadband to rural B.C.
Asked about child care, Horgan passed the virtual mic to Katrina Chen, minister of state for Child Care.
Chen said 20,000 child care spaces have been funded by the NDP government, and fees for child care have been lowered "across the board."
The Horgan government has not been able to deliver on its promise of $10 per day care for all British Columbians, although Chen said some parents have qualified for that rate.
"There are close to 33,000 families that are paying $10 a day," she said. "A lot of them are paying $15 a day, $20 a day, but across the board families have seen a fee reduction in their child care fees."
Asked about housing affordability, Horgan said the B.C. Liberals were "indifferent" to the cost of housing and lack of affordable rentals. The Horgan government introduced a speculation tax, which he said has been successful in putting thousands of condos on the market for renters.
"We have 11,000 condos that are now occupied by renters," Horgan said.
On the high cost of ICBC car insurance premiums, Horgan promised that the reforms his government has made -- notably a move to no-fault insurance -- will result in lower premiums in 2021.
Asked what his government plans to do to phase out fossil fuel use to address climate change, Horgan restated his government's pledges on carbon reduction targets in the CleanBC plan, but said phasing out fossil fuels is a long-term project.
"We can't do that overnight," he said. "The transition will be profound, if we did that (overnight), and the impacts are unthinkable."
Horgan added his government's CleanBC plan is "the most robust climate action plan in North America."
On home care, Horgan echoed what the BC Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson said on the weekend -- that home care is cheaper than long-term care.
He suggested policies on home care will be forthcoming in the NDP platform, expected to be released sometime this week.
