British Columbia Minute: Issue 133

British Columbia Minute - Your weekly one-minute summary of British Columbia politics.

📅 This Week In British Columbia: 📅

• NDP Leader David Eby promised that a re-elected NDP government would add a new income tax bracket for people earning over $1 million and raise the rates on the two highest existing brackets. Under the plan, income above $1 million would be taxed at 24.5%, income between $265,545 and $1 million at 22.5%, and income between $190,405 and $265,545 at 18.8%. The party claims the changes would start in the 2027 tax year and raise $225 million in 2026-27, $925 million in 2027-28, and $1 billion in 2028-29. It says fewer than 4% of earners would be affected, since the higher rates apply only to income above each bracket's threshold. University of Calgary economist Trevor Tombe noted that, combined with the 33% federal top rate, the plan would push BC's top marginal rate to 57.5%, the highest in Canada and the province's highest since 1981. Conservative Leader Lorne Doerkson, whose party has promised not to raise taxes, called the plan a "doctor tax" and warned it would drive physicians out of the province.
  
  
• Conservative Leader Lorne Doerkson promised to raise the provincial basic personal exemption from $13,216 to $32,000, a change he says would cut provincial income tax by up to $1,000 a year and leave minimum-wage earners paying none. Doerkson did not say how much the cut would cost, and the party provided no detailed costing, saying more details would come in its platform. He said he would not pay for it by cutting health care or education, but by growing the economy through measures such as tripling LNG production by 2035 and removing regulatory restrictions. UBC Law Professor David Duff, director of the tax program at the Peter A. Allard School of Law, estimates the cost at $3 billion to $4 billion a year, roughly a 20%-25% increase in the province's $13.8-billion deficit.
  
  
• Conservative Leader Lorne Doerkson says a Conservative government would replace BC's no-fault auto insurance system with a hybrid model that would again let people seriously or permanently injured in crashes sue for compensation in court. The plan was set out in a September 29th letter to the Insurance Bureau of Canada, the Law Society of BC, the Trial Lawyers Association of BC, and the Canadian Bar Association, and was leaked on Tuesday, October 6th, by a union representing workers at the Insurance Corporation of BC (ICBC). In the letter, Doerkson said legislation would pass within a year of a Conservative win and that everything is on the table, including private competition. The party later said the no-fault system would continue alongside the new right to sue, and that private insurers would be allowed to compete with ICBC, which holds a monopoly on basic insurance. The NDP brought in no-fault insurance in 2021, and NDP Leader David Eby accused Doerkson of having a "secret plan" with trial lawyers that would hand drivers' money to lawyers.
  
  
• NDP Leader David Eby and Conservative Leader Lorne Doerkson both unveiled plans to help businesses. Eby promised a $500-million small business tariff and wildfire relief fund offering interest-free loans of up to $1 million per business, along with a $5,000 refundable tax credit for businesses that hire someone aged 18 to 30 for their first full-time job. Doerkson promised to remove the provincial sales tax from machinery, equipment, and business software for three years, and to require two regulations to be cut for every new one. He also pledged to bring the regulatory burden back to 2017 levels by the end of a first term and to approve major projects in 120 days or less. Green Leader Emily Lowan released a 38-page economic plan in Vancouver built around a wealth tax on individuals worth over $50 million, which she said would raise $22.2 billion in its first year and $5.4 billion the year after.
  
  
• Conservative Leader Lorne Doerkson and Conservative MLA Larry Neufeld called for a full public inquiry under BC's Public Inquiry Act into February's mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge. Their joint statement followed the US Department of Justice's arrest of James Cody Bryant, a 30-year-old Washington State man, on a charge of conspiracy to murder in a foreign country. Chat logs allegedly show Bryant encouraged the shooter, provided tactical support, and sent money, with the two discussing the shooting over a six-month period. The attack killed eight people, most of them children, and left two others seriously wounded. Conservatives say an inquiry should examine the shooter's access to firearms, why firearms were returned to the shooter's home, the shooter's prior interactions with police and social services, the police response, and the role AI played in counselling the killer.

🚨 This Week’s Action Item: 🚨

Advance voting in the provincial election runs October 16th - 21st from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm.

Voters can also vote on election day, at a district electoral office, or by mail, but vote-by-mail packages should be requested as soon as possible.

You can find all of the information and locations on the Elections BC website.

🪙 This Week’s Sponsor: 🪙

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