Free vaccines, MMIWG taskforce lead B.C. Greens election platform
The Canadian Press | Posted: October 1, 2024 5:56 PM | Last Updated: October 1
Party also pledges to set up supervised consumption sites in all hospitals
British Columbia's Green Party has unveiled its complete election platform, which covers policies ranging from climate change to public safety.
Greens Leader Sonia Furstenau released the platform on Tuesday morning, as her party aims to challenge the B.C. NDP and B.C. Conservatives in the Oct. 19 provincial vote.
The release came on the same day as NDP Leader David Eby pledged a pair of health-care initiatives and Conservatives Leader John Rustad vowed to change course on energy policy.
The Greens had already laid out a number of commitments, including promises to establish a network of 93 community health centres, cover six visits per year with a mental health professional under the provincial medical services plan, and maintain carbon pricing in B.C. while increasing the rebate residents receive.
WATCH | A profile of Sonia Furstenau, the Green Party leader:
Tuesday's platform announcement included a policy that would make all vaccines free and available to British Columbians.
The party has also promised a special taskforce to investigate missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and two-spirited people, and says it would continue to support the implementation of SOGI 123 in classrooms.
If elected, the Greens would require supervised consumption sites to be set up in all public hospitals.
There would be tax increases for homes valued at over $3 million, and the carbon tax would be increased for companies creating the most pollution in B.C.
No new permits for fracking, pipelines or LNG would be granted and gas production would be phased out under a Green government.
The 72-page platform also includes a proposal for an 18 per cent proposed tax on corporate profits over $1 billion.
"When our economy is producing the kinds of outcomes we're seeing: a growing gap between rich and poor, a growing number of people who don't have enough to just get by, and a growing number of people who have so much wealth that they're not even sure what to do with it, … we need governments to step in and play the role that they're meant to play," Furstenau said.
Investments in the platform include $650 million annually in municipal infrastructure to support new housing, $250 million to expand child care, $100 million every year for wildfire prevention and management, and $20 million in annual training in the renewable energy sector.
NDP health-care pledges
Meanwhile, at a campaign event in Castlegar, B.C., NDP leader Eby said his government would cover travel costs for cancer treatments and extend employment protections for people with serious illnesses.
He said rural residents face "unique challenges" accessing health care, and bolstering travel assistance would allow them to be reimbursed for mileage if they can't get a flight to access treatment.
The New Democrats said in a statement that changes to the province's travel assistance program would allow people to receive "upfront payments."
An NDP government would also extend the "job protection" period for people with illnesses to 27 weeks, up from the current eight days, with Eby saying people shouldn't fear losing a job "when they're fighting for their life."
Conservatives plan to explore nuclear power
Meanwhile, B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad said his party will reverse course on provincial policies on vehicle electrification and heat pumps brought in by the B.C. NDP.
Rustad said those policies are "pushing B.C.'s energy system to the brink," adding that a Conservative government would look at building the infrastructure needed to support B.C.'s electricity demands, including conducting a feasibility study on nuclear power.
The Conservative leader also said his party will support alternative energy sources such as solar, wind and geothermal, but only when the projects "make practical, economic sense."
"We need to make sure that we have the energy that we need, and that we have policies in place that are going to build out that energy to meet our growing demands," Rustad told reporters in Squamish, B.C., on Tuesday.
Neither the NDP nor the Conservatives have yet released their full platforms.
As part of the second week of the election campaign, all three major party leaders are expected to come face-to-face for multiple events on Wednesday.
They will debate live in the morning on Vancouver radio station CKNW, followed by an event hosted by the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade.