BC’s provincial election campaign is picking up pace, with the province’s three major parties rolling out a series of new commitments on housing, childcare, resource development, energy and taxes.
The BC Greens have focused much of their latest campaign push on affordability, announcing new plans aimed at renters and families while also drawing a clear line between themselves and the NDP and Conservatives on liquefied natural gas (LNG) development.
On Tuesday, September 29th, BC Greens leader Emily Lowan announced a renter-focused plan that includes bringing back vacancy control, restarting provincial affordable housing funds and ending blanket pet bans in rental housing.
Under vacancy control, allowable rent increases would be tied to a rental unit rather than the individual tenant. Currently, annual rent increases are regulated while a tenant remains in a unit, but landlords can generally set a new rent when a tenant moves out.
The Greens say the change would reduce the financial incentive to remove existing tenants in order to charge higher rents to new occupants.
The party is also promising to restart the Community Housing Fund and Indigenous Housing Fund and amend the Residential Tenancy Act to eliminate blanket no-pet clauses, replacing them with guidelines governing pets in rental properties.
Lowan made the announcement alongside two new candidates, Oak Bay councillor Andrew Appleton, who will run in Oak Bay-Gordon Head, and Sidney Coles, who will run in Esquimalt-Colwood.
The housing announcement followed a childcare plan unveiled by the Greens on Monday in Saanich.
Under that proposal, the party says it would restart expansion of the province’s $10-a-day childcare program and work toward universal free childcare by 2031.
The Greens are also proposing a centralized childcare registration system, paid practicums for early childhood educators and a province-wide wage grid that would bring ECE wages to between $35 and $45 an hour by 2028.
The announcement was made at Browning Park, where the party also introduced Greater Victoria Teachers’ Association president Carolyn Howe as its candidate in Victoria-Swan Lake.
Greens oppose LNG Canada expansion
Lowan also weighed in Tuesday on one of the largest economic announcements of the campaign so far, saying the BC Greens oppose the newly approved phase two expansion of LNG Canada in Kitimat.
LNG Canada’s joint venture partners announced Tuesday they had reached a final investment decision, clearing the way for an expansion that would double the facility’s LNG production capacity from 14 million to 28-million tonnes annually.
The project is owned by a consortium consisting of Shell, PETRONAS, PetroChina, Mitsubishi Corporation and KOGAS.
Lowan criticized both the BC NDP and BC Conservatives for supporting further LNG development, arguing that public resources should instead be directed toward renewable energy and Canadian and community-owned industries.
She also raised concerns about the long-term employment benefits of the expansion, its environmental impacts and Indigenous nations that oppose projects connected to LNG development.
The Greens said they would instead prioritize renewable energy projects and unionized jobs while increasing community ownership of energy infrastructure.
The LNG Canada decision highlights one of the clearer differences emerging between the three parties during the campaign.
While the Greens oppose the phase two expansion, both the NDP and Conservatives have identified resource development and increased exports as important parts of their economic plans.
NDP puts focus on critical minerals and LNG
BC NDP Leader David Eby has spent the beginning of the week focusing heavily on resource development and expanding BC’s access to international markets.
During a campaign stop in Prince Rupert on Monday, Eby pledged that an NDP government would work to double BC’s critical mineral exports within five years.
The NDP plan includes running environmental assessments and permitting processes concurrently for major mines, accelerating construction of the North Coast Transmission Line and increasing BC’s capacity to refine and process critical minerals.
Eby also pledged to work with the Prince Rupert Port Authority, the federal government and other partners to expand the port.
The party says it would provide $5 million to the Prince Rupert Port Authority to support local tourism and cruise ship infrastructure.
On Tuesday, the NDP turned its attention to LNG Canada following the final investment decision on phase two.
Eby and the BC NDP have presented the project as an example of attracting major private-sector investment while creating construction and resource-sector jobs.
LNG Canada describes phase two as one of the largest private-sector investments in Canadian history. Reuters reported the expansion represents an investment of approximately $33 billion.
The company says construction could support up to 4,000 jobs in Kitimat, while expansion work associated with the Coastal GasLink pipeline could involve approximately 2,100 additional construction workers.
The NDP says revenue generated from LNG development can also help fund public services and climate initiatives.
Conservatives propose LNG expansion and PST relief
The Conservative Party of BC has also placed resource development near the centre of its campaign.
On Monday, Conservative leader Lorne Doerkson announced what the party calls its BC Energy Superpower Plan, pledging to double the province’s LNG production by 2032 and triple it by 2035.
The Conservative proposal calls for faster and more predictable project approvals, additional energy infrastructure, a stable royalty framework and expanded opportunities for First Nations ownership and partnerships in resource projects.
The party argues significantly increasing LNG production would attract investment, create jobs and generate additional government revenue.
The Conservatives followed that announcement Tuesday with another economic commitment aimed at BC’s wineries, breweries and distilleries.
Doerkson pledged to remove the provincial sales tax at the point of sale from Canadian-made beer, wine and spirits for the duration of the ongoing Canada-U.S. trade dispute.
The Conservatives say the temporary tax measure would make Canadian products less expensive for consumers while supporting domestic producers affected by the trade dispute.
The announcement follows a separate commitment made Sunday in which Doerkson pledged that a Conservative government would not introduce new provincial taxes or increase existing provincial taxes.
With the campaign moving into its second week, the latest announcements are beginning to show some of the policy differences voters will be asked to consider.
The Greens have placed an early emphasis on renters, childcare and renewable energy while opposing further LNG expansion.
The NDP is campaigning on expanding critical mineral production, international trade infrastructure and major private-sector projects including LNG Canada.
The Conservatives are proposing a larger expansion of BC’s LNG sector alongside tax commitments they say would reduce costs and encourage economic growth.
BC residents will head to the polls on Saturday, October 24th.
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