John Rustad lays out plan if elected as B.C.'s next leader

In a 20-minute speech to local elected officials, the B.C. Conservative leader confirmed he believed human activity is contributing to climate change but, if he were elected premier, would drive down taxes related to combating a warming planet.

"The climate change issue is real. There's no question there," said Rustad to the 2,200 delegates on the last day of the Union of B.C. Municipalities Convention.

"Man is having an impact on our climate, there's no question there. But taxing people into poverty is not going to change the weather."

The statement came as the B.C. NDP continued to hammer Rustad over his past comments and social media posts that cast doubt over climate change science.

Rustad says he wants to take "a different approach" to addressing the province's changing climate and mentioned issues such as food production, water management and infrastructure but offered few details.

He said the current government's plan to favour non-fossil fuel-burning technologies such as EVs and heat pumps would put the province into an electricity deficit.

"There's so much that needs to be done to be able to make sure we adapt to climate, but a big piece of it is also electrical generation," he said before speaking in favour of nuclear energy.

Rustad also told delegates that he would get rid of the carbon tax and the low carbon fuel emissions standard, saying it would improve affordability.

"It's making us uncompetitive. It's a huge cost structure, and the Conservative Party of British Columbia is committed to getting rid of those costs and returning that money back to people to be able to deal with the affordability," he said.

His statement comes just a week after David Eby said that if Ottawa dropped the legal requirement for carbon pricing, his New Democrat government would also drop the tax on consumers.

Infrastructure $$

On Friday, Rustad committed $1 billion in annual infrastructure funding per year for 10 years for local governments if his B.C. Conservative Party is elected, something the UBCM says is desperately needed.

Rustad also took aim at the B.C. NDP's housing policies, saying he would eliminate provisions under Bill 44, which allow multiplex housing in single-family homes neighbourhoods.

He also promised action on crime, public safety, decriminalization and better treatment options for people suffering from addictions, including an expansion of involuntary care.

"Getting back to the basics," he described his campaign as it was set to begin. "And how, as a province and as a government, we're going to be able to deliver for people in British Columbia."

Greens want minority government

B.C. Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau, speaking to UBCM delegates immediately following Rustad, struck a hopeful tone and asked for voters to deliver a minority government.

"Telling us to be afraid. Telling us to be angry. I don't find that particularly inspiring," she said of her political rivals. "But what I do find inspiring is leaning into what is possible."

She commended delegates for their work on resolutions supporting free transit for youth, vacancy control, and an emergency debate on the consumer carbon tax.

Furstenau called for a "fact-based" campaign that featured policies that could best serve to solve the issues facing the province.

She told reporters after her speech that the other party leaders are offering "a lot of fear and a lot of anger and a lot of finger-pointing."

Furstenau said there is a disconnect between what the other provincial leaders are promising on carbon pricing and what municipalities are experiencing.

"We hear from elected representatives about the ongoing and incredibly expensive impacts of climate-change-driven events. We cannot, at this point, backtrack on the idea that carbon pollution doesn't cost us. It costs us enormously." 

She said a minority government would mean "built-in accountability" for the party in power.

On Friday, B.C. NDP Leader David Eby launched his campaign bus a day after addressing delegates at the UBCM Convention, who spent the week discussing solutions to homelessness, the overdose crisis and more funding needed to support crash-strapped cities and towns.