Investing in healthcare

Driving forward, Today's BC Liberals will:

• Invest $2.7 billion over the next three years on infrastructure in the health sector.
• New St. Paul's replacement hospital in Vancouver
• Full re-development of Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster.
• Re-development of Burnaby Hospital in recognition of continued growth in Burnaby and the Fraser Health service delivery area.
• Penticton Regional Hospital redevelopment
• North Island Hospitals Project building 2 new hospitals in Courtney-Comox and Campbell River
• Royal Inland Hospital Patient Tower Project in Kamloops
• R. Baker upgrades in Quesnel
• Complete the emergency department at Nicola Valley Hospital and Health Centre
• Construction of 16 new operating rooms at Jim Pattison Pavilion at VGH
• Work with provincial health authorities and medical credentialing colleges to develop and implement a Ministerial Taskforce on Health Professional Expanded Scope of Practice with a special focus on expanding service access to rural and remote communities.
• Work with provincial medical credentialing colleges to safely and responsibly expand the scope of practice of nurse practitioners in British Columbia, thereby reducing pressure on doctors, registered nurses and other in-demand professions.
• Work with the Doctors of BC and BC Health Authorities to allow Nurse Practitioners in areas underserved by General Practitioners, access to MSP fee codes for treatment in addition to referral services.
• Explore the expansion of scope of practice for pharmacists.
• Build and publicly fund an additional 500 long term care beds across British Columbia by 2022.
• Invest $225 million to reduce surgical wait times for elective surgeries - with no impact on emergency surgeries.

Healthcare that works for you

John Horgan and the BC NDP will take action to make our healthcare system work for you. We will make improving your access to family doctors and other medical professionals the top priority for our Ministry of Health. We'll develop a new urgent care model that gets emergency room visitors the healthcare support they need faster, and we'll help rural British Columbians with an improved medical travel allowance.

At the same time, we will:

• Reduce the cost of prescription drugs.
• Invest in new hospitals and care facilities in communities across BC, plus home care and quality long-term care for BC seniors.
• Establish Urgent Family Care Centres across BC (open evenings and weekends), to help you get the one-on-one healthcare you need with the support of a full medical team.
• Invest in more paramedics, so that no one is left waiting for an ambulance in their time of critical need.
• Implement province-wide coordination to manage and actively monitor waitlists and speed up service delivery.
• Stop the decline in rural health services.
• Fund UBC's Therapeutics Initiative properly to keep drug costs down and patients safe.
• Work with the federal government to create a national pharmacare program and bulk purchasing of medication to keep costs low.
• Remove the age restriction on the insulin pump program for British Columbians living with diabetes.

Healthcare

A BC Green government will:

• Establish a ministry responsible for healthy living, wellness and preventative medicine
• Develop an Essential Drugs program to reduce the cost of prescription drugs
• Create a ministry for mental health and addictions
• Support seniors and others who need assistance to live in their own homes
• Add $100 million over 4 years to hire and support more social workers

Create Choice in Healthcare

Let's admit that the performance of our public healthcare system is lousy. A trip to emergency rarely takes less than several hours. It can take months to see a specialist. Patients on waitlists see their conditions worsen or even die, yet the lines get longer. Why? It isn't because we don’t spend enough on healthcare, which is the single largest item in our provincial budget and continues to grow. No, the problem is that this sector of economy hasn’t been provided with incentives to innovate or be more efficient. If patients had more control over how resources were allocated, there would be much better service and much less waste.​ allow health practitioners (doctors, nurses and paramedics) to offer services for mutually agreeable fees that are not covered by MSP (home visits, phone prescriptions, etc.) allow health insurance alternatives to MSP so that consumers can choose an insurance plan better tailored to their own needs allow more experimentation in care delivery models, such as primary direct care (where health providers contract to provide patients with a clear set of medical services for a low monthly fee)​

Healthcare

The current methods of providing healthcare are not working. Many British Columbians do not have a personal doctor.

To reduce healthcare costs and improve service, the YPP will have nurse practitioners as the front line in health care. These highly trained professionals can meet the needs of 90% of health care patients while reducing costs and ensuring people who need to see a doctor have access to one.

The YPP will also support access to non-fee contraceptives and sexual health services to all British Columbians, make access to a Family Nurse Practitioner for British Columbians a priority, shift the focus of the healthcare system towards prevention by encouraging healthy lifestyles and choices, have electronic heath records created for those who want one, and remove all restrictions on the number of health care professionals that are allowed to be trained in BC each year.

With organ donations, the YPP will make British Columbia's system an ‘Opt-out’ system instead of an ‘Opt-in’ system.

Speedier delivery of essential health services

Allow more private care options, publicly funded. Fast-track certification of foreign-trained doctors. Make more efficient use of specialised equipment (ie. night shifts for diagnostic equipment when needed). Divert funds from abortion and gender re-assignment surgery to adoption, maternal care, palliative care, mental health.

23 Point Health Plan to Significantly Improve Health Services

The BC Citizens First Party announced that it proposes to completely abolish monthly MSP Premiums from 31st December 2017 for every BC Citizen who currently has to pay the MSP premiums themselves out of their own pocket without support from their employer or union etc. It made this announcement at the release of its 23 point Public Health Plan.

Helping the middle class buy homes

Driving forward, Today's BC Liberals will:

• Increase housing supply by working with municipalities to speed up permitting and open new opportunities to housing.
• Expand the Renovation Tax Credit eligibility to those renovating their home to accommodate a secondary suite.
• Raise the threshold of the First Time Home Buyers' Program exemption to $500,000, saving first-time home buyers up to $8,000.
• Invest $700 million in the BC HOME Partnership program to provide mortgage down payment assistance loans to an estimated 42,000 first-time home buyers over the next three years.

Making your home more affordable

We will take action with a comprehensive 10-year plan for affordable housing:

Building homes:

• Building 114,000 affordable rental, non-profit and co-op housing units through partnerships over 10 years, building on public land where available. As much as possible, we will build with innovative BC-manufactured wood products, creating new markets for BC wood products and new jobs in BC's forest industry-based communities.

  Protecting renters:

• Providing a new renter's rebate of $400 dollars per rental household per year.
• Closing the BC Liberals' "fixed term lease" loophole and ensure controls on rent increases are enforced.
• Passing legislation requiring fair treatment during renovations and demolitions of rental properties.

  Taxing speculators:

• Closing loopholes that let speculators dodge taxes and hide their identities, and charging a yearly 2% absentee speculators' tax to crack down on empty homes.
• Directing revenue from the absentee speculators' tax into a Housing Affordability Fund.
• Establishing a multi-agency task force to fight tax fraud and money laundering in the BC real estate marketplace.

Affordable Housing

A BC Green government will:

• Introduce measures to eliminate money laundering and property speculation
• Implement a provincial housing plan for affordable rental accommodation
• Invest up to $750 million per year to create approx. 4,000 units of affordable housing per year
• Update the Residential Tenancy Act to protect renters

Reduce Government Interference that Makes Housing Unaffordable

Housing prices reached new highs during the past year, making the dream of ownership more difficult. The BC Liberals want to spend billions on interest-free loans, which place a heavy burden on taxpayers while further inflating home prices and put our economy at risk of a 2008 style sub-prime mortgage crisis. A safer and less costly way to keep home prices reasonable is to increase supply. Bringing new housing stock to market is restrained in numerous ways. For example, over 80% of the land in Vancouver is zoned for single-family residential only. By relaxing or removing these restrictions, we can free up the market to provide more housing at lower cost.

Work with municipalities to reduce development costs, streamline building permit processes, and simplify and accelerate rezoning

Affordable Housing

The YPP believes that the cost and availability of homes in BC is directly affected by government regulation.

The YPP will Remove BC income tax from rental income to encourage people to create rental properties, remove the property transfer tax that consistently drives up the price of a home every time it transfers ownership, remove restrictions on secondary suites and minimum home sizes so that higher density homes can be available at a lower cost, and work with developers to ensure that big box retail and large industrial developments also include high density residential.

Reduce housing prices by banning foreign purchases

Extravagant incomes of some foreign buyers has allowed the housing market to skyrocket. Purchases of homes and land should be restricted to Canadian residents and in some cases to BC residents. Reduce taxes and fees connected with building and/or purchasing a home. These fees account for almost 37% of the cost in the lower mainland.

Priority given to BC Citizens to make housing affordable

Accordingly all overseas residents would be banned by the party from buying residential housing property in the Lower Mainland of BC from the date of the BC election on May 9th 2017. In addition all current overseas owners of the estimated 50,000 empty or infrequently used homes on the Lower Mainland will be required to sell their homes within 12 months of the election. These sales must occur at public auctions, with a requirement that the properties can only be sold to individual citizens (excluding private companies and corporations) with any intermediate ‘in trust” ownership declared illegal. Unsold residential properties at the end of 12 months would be forfeited to the BC Government.

Education

Driving forward, Today's BC Liberals will:

• Continue to expand the open textbook program by committing an additional $10 million over the term.
• Coding for kids in classrooms
• Provide $5 million over the next two years to fund teacher retention programs in rural school districts
• Provide $228 million to fund enrolment growth across the fiscal plan period.
• Invest over $2 billion in capital spending over the next three years for schools.
• Undertake a full educational funding review to ensure rural and fast-growing school districts have the resources they need to educate their students.

Investing in BC kids and classrooms

Our commitments include:

• Contributing $30 million per year to our school system to ensure kids have the school supplies they need to succeed.
• Creating an ongoing capital fund for school playgrounds.
• Working with school districts to successfully implement BC's new school curriculum and providing new technology, lab equipment, learning material and professional development support for teachers.
• Acknowledging that a per-pupil funding model doesn't work for our diverse education system in BC and undertaking a comprehensive review.
• Replacing Surrey portables with real classrooms, building new schools in BC's fastest growing region.
• Working with local governments, First Nations and communities in every region of British Columbia to build new schools and upgrade existing ones.
• Accelerating the seismic upgrade program for BC, making schools safer for our kids should an earthquake happen during school hours.
• Upgrading schools with energy efficient lighting to reduce power consumption costs.
• Building new schools - wherever possible - with made-in-BC manufactured wood products to spur growth and create jobs in our forestry communities.
• Improving First Nations student graduation rates by developing curriculums that accurately and fairly reflect the rich history and culture.
• Providing support for, and working towards, full course offerings in Aboriginal languages.
• Implementing First Nations-focused K-12 education recommendations from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission report.
• Making mental health counselors available where schools identify a need so children can get the help they need when they need it.
• Partnering with innovative BC not-for-profits and technology companies to offer students the opportunity to learn to code in the classroom.
• Supporting the expansion of digital arts, technology and trades education, and making tools, machinery and equipment available to students.

Increase Funding for Public Education

A BC Green government will:

• Increase funding for our public education system over four years from $250 million to $1.5 billion
• Invest $35 million into public education learning-readiness initiatives such as meal programs
• Provide $140 million over three years to train teachers to effectively deliver the new K-12 curriculum

Provide Real Choice in K-12 Education

In an age when knowledge is widely available online to suit anyone’s individual interests and learning styles, our public education system seems decidedly old-fashioned. And the labour struggles that shut down schools would seem like relics of a bygone era if they weren’t such a recent memory. The problem with the current system is that responsibility for how schools are run flows the wrong way—up to administrators, bureaucrats and union leaders, instead of down to students and parents. We believe that parents are the best advocates for their children’s educational needs, and that teachers who have been freed from the one-size-fits-all model will be empowered to bring out the best in each child. If schools have the right incentives and the flexibility to customize curriculum to the diverse learning needs of children, they can prepare them well for 21st century life.

Instead of funds going to each school district, each family with children will receive a voucher to spend at the public or independent school or home learning plan of their choice

Maintain provincial standards for core subjects such as math and English, but provide greater autonomy and flexibility for schools (public, private, and home schools) to meet the diverse learning needs of children

Primary and Secondary Education

YPP wants to ensure they are being properly prepared for their future. This includes ensuring schools teach life skills and not just prepare children for university.

The YPP will encourage the education system to focus on teaching children: how to access and verify information online, how to use deductive reasoning, learn computer programming, learn a foreign language. and learn everyday life skills like personal finance and healthy eating.

The YPP will also have students to provide opportunities for children to take more field trips and participate in extra-curricular activities like swimming lessons and embrace technology to improve the educational experience for Children

Give Parents and students more educational choice

Distribute funds now allocated per student through a voucher system so that parents may choose the school best suited to their child's needs and family values. This would allow more families to choose the best for their children and encourage the public schools to compete on academics and moral standards. Eliminate the excessive focus on sexuality now permeating the public school system and focus on academics.

Giving priority access to BC Citizens

BC’s new political party, the BC Citizens First Party, today announced that it will require all BC universities and post-secondary providers of undergraduate degrees to give priority enrolment to BC citizens ahead of overseas students. This will be achieved by requiring tertiary educational institutions to set an acceptable lowest acceptable standard mark for entry into each undergraduate course, and then requiring all Canadian citizens who meet that mark to be enrolled first in the course (subject to full availability).

Standing up for B.C. with five conditions to protect our coastline

Driving forward, Today's BC Liberals will:

• Ensure Canada implements its promise for a world-leading marine spill response system, prior to any new operations on our coast.
• Ensure that Kinder Morgan meets its requirements to significantly enhance marine safety.

Protecting our environment, creating jobs

We'll protect species at risk by:

• Bringing in an endangered species law.
• Working with the federal government, South Okanagan communities and local First Nations to create a plan to protect a large number of endangered species.

We'll increase investment in parks and camping by:

• Restoring funding for BC parks.
• Hiring additional park rangers and conservation officers.
• Building new campsites to catch up with current demand.
• Putting BC residents first in line for campsite bookings.

We'll make environmental decisions you can trust, including:

• Updating our environmental assessment legislation and processes.
• Respecting the rights of First Nations.

We'll protect clean, safe drinking water and ensure healthy communities by:

• Recognizing the right to clean, safe drinking water - and making a commitment to protect it.
• Working with the federal government to improve drinking water quality.
• Keeping cancer-causing chemicals out of our water supply.

As well, John Horgan's BC NDP government will do what's right and ban the grizzly bear trophy hunt. We'll also make permits for other kinds of hunting more fair for BC residents.

Resilient management of our natural assets

A BC Green government will:

• Re-establish the integrity of the Environmental Assessment process
• Implement new guidelines for the use of qualified professionals that eliminate the potential for conflict of interest
• Identify old-growth forest reserves and protect them
• Engage in meaningful consultation and engagement that respects indigenous resource rights and title

Sustainability

All legislation and government actions need to be economically, environmentally and socially sustainable in order to ensure they are cost effective, will not degrade the environment and will encourage behaviours that promote a healthy society.

The YPP will require all products sold in BC to have an environmental letter grade rating, invest in long term sustainable energy production to ensure BC has a long term supply of cheap, renewable, and responsible energy with a minimum environmental impact, enact legislation for protecting endangered species in BC, work with the federal government to set aside portions of the BC coast as Marine Protected areas, & redirect the funds collected by the pacific carbon trust into supporting local programs which have more measurable positive impacts on the environment.

The YPP is also against the development of Jumbo Glacier Ski Resort in the Regional District of East Kootenay.

Protect the environment while creating jobs

We would eliminate raw sewage discharge into the ocean. We would re-introduce Weather Modification legislation to prevent the discharge of toxic chemicals and particulates into BC skies. We would restrict pesticide and herbicide use and insist on labelling of GMO seeds and products. We would encourage more horse-logging, selective logging and manual brush control.

Five New Additional Conditions Before Proceeding

TRANS MOUNTAIN PIPELINE NEEDS TO DELIVER FULL ENVIRONMENTAL ACCOUNTABILITY AND MORE EQUITABLE REVENUES TO BC BEFORE PROCEEDING.

SUSTAINABLE ENERGY

The BC Citizens First Party encourages sustainable energy alternatives and believes there is an important role for Government to play in encouraging such energy activities. We support renewable energy in British Columbia We support the reduction of emissions from transport We support energy efficiency and conservation

We also support the current carbon tax in British Columbia at its current rate of $30 per tonne of emissions, and believe that it should remain at $30 per tonne in BC until at least the end of 2020 at which time the rest of the country will have theoretically raised their carbon taxes to the same levels as BC.

We believe such a public policy is prudent particularly given the uncertainty around potential competitive disadvantage against the USA with the new Trump administration’s relaxation of carbon pricing.

We support the establishment of an independent national panel of experts to report in 2021 on the current status of all provincial carbon pricing programs and to provide recommendations for moving forward.

Our party will only support an ongoing national carbon pricing program in which our province is not financially disadvantaged compared to any other province in Canada.

Our Party Leader, Mr. Phillip Ryan, has a Bachelor of Science degree with a major in Physics. He is a firm believer that a sustainable energy future should be based on scientific data and proven field experience. He also fully understands from his global work experience the important role that alternative sustainable energy can play in a national and provincial electricity grid.

As a former Science teacher in Grades 11 and 12, Mr. Ryan also fully supports bringing the knowledge and research on sustainable energy which is conducted globally, to the attention and understanding of British Columbians.

Helping seniors stay in their homes independently

Driving forward, Today's BC Liberals will:

• Create a new Active Seniors Tax Credit to support and promote seniors leading active healthy lifestyles.
• Create a new Respite Tax Credit for people caring for seniors or family members with disabilities.
• Double the Home Renovation Tax Credit to $20,000 to make home improvements to accommodate seniors or family members with disabilities.
• Invest $225 million to reduce surgical wait times for elective surgeries - with no impact on emergency surgeries.

Respect and quality care for seniors

Giving support to seniors to stay at home as long as possible is the right thing to do. We will increase the length of home support visits and expand the scope of services provided - helping seniors stay in their homes longer, reducing stress on family friends and other unpaid caregivers.

Seniors who move into residential care can expect increased support and more accountability from providers and their staff, so they receive the high-quality, dignified relationship-based care they deserve. We will conduct a review to establish and maintain safe staffing levels that aren't disrupted by contracting out or contract flipping.

We'll develop an all-party Select Standing Committee on Seniors. This committee will be tasked with refreshing the Council on Aging and Seniors' 2006 Report, making recommendations to the Legislature and monitoring and reporting on the implementation of those recommendations.

Supporting seniors and providing quality end-of-life care

As the number of seniors in BC rises, so the pressures on the health care and long-term care systems increase. In BC, seniors are generally healthy and independent as they age. According to the 2nd Annual Report of the Office of the Senior's Advocate, only 10% of seniors (88,900) are frail and require residential care, palliative care, or supports for daily living. However, while those with age-related, health concerns account for less than 2% of the provincial population, they consume 35% of all services.

A B.C. Green Government will:

• Invest $35 million over four years in home care to enable seniors and other people who need assistance to stay in their own homes.
• Act to ensure the staffing of public and private care homes meets government guidelines, and will provide an additional $200 million over four years to address staffing levels in public facilities.
• Develop a Medical Assisted in Dying (MAiD) Strategy that supports training for physicians and nurses who wish to provide medically assisted dying services and ensures patients receive services in appropriate time frame and in appropriate settings.

Senior Care

The YPP will ensure all elderly people receive adequate car, focus on home-based care in order to keep costs down and allow seniors to be as independent as possible, encourage the development of small group care facilities where seniors can live together helping each other lead a fulfilling life and provide provincial tax incentives for families who care for their parents.

Look after BC's seniors

We need to honour the seniors who made this country and help them in their golden years. As much as possible, we should help them stay in their own homes, utilizing family care workers and volunteers where we can. In end-of-life situations, we should provide compassionate palliative care (comfort care) NOT euthanasia.

Seniors

Support senior citizen accommodation by creating a Residential Care Infrastructure Fund of $100 million over three years for the immediate renewal and replacement of older residential care homes. Investing $5 million per annum in education and training to address current chronic labor shortages in seniors care. Allocating $2 million per year to launch a new Care Credits program which provides seniors [or the family members that care for them] the option to select the service provider of their choice.

Taking big money out of politics

A BC NDP government will dedicate its first piece of legislation to taking big money out of politics.

We will ban corporate and union donations and set limits on individual contributions.

We'll also ban out-of-province donations and require transparency from outside organizations advertising to influence the outcomes of our elections.

Political Finance Reform

A BC Green government will introduce legislation to modernize and strengthen the province's electoral finance laws to prevent the outsized influence of money in our democratic institutions.

• Ban members of the Executive Council (Cabinet) from engaging in partisan fundraising activities while in ofice and explore similar restrictions for all MLAs.
• Ban monetary and non-monetary contributions from non-individual entities (including corporations and unions), and non-residents of BC.
• Place annual limits on individual contributions that are in line with current federal limits.

YPP wants to remove the influence of money on BC politics. A YPP government would ban all union, corporate and business donations made to BC provincial and municipal political parties.

Eliminate corporate and union donations to parties

Follow federal guidelines to restrict political donations to individual BC residents. No party subsidies. Retain tax credits for donors.

PARTY LEADER EXPOSES BC PARTY DONATIONS SCANDAL!

It is time for the corruption of the BC electoral system to stop – immediately!

Balanced budgets and lower taxes

Driving forward, Today's BC Liberals will:

• Eliminate our operating debt by 2021 - the first time that has occurred since the mid-1970's.
• Commit to another four balanced budgets
• Protect B.C.'s AAA credit rating
• Cut middle class taxes by $1 billion by phasing out MSP, starting with reducing premiums by half for families and individuals with family net income of up to $120,000 per year.
• Freeze all personal income taxes for the next four years.
• Cut the small business tax rate to 2% - the second lowest in Canada.
• Phase out PST on electricity for all businesses.
• Encourage charitable giving with a substantial increase in the value of the tax credit for charitable donations to a maximum value of $500 on the first $1,100 of donations

A responsible fiscal plan that works for you

We'll restore the tax on BC's highest income earners and increase the Corporate Income Tax rate by one point, putting BC's rate on par with Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. We'll also collect taxes from the property speculators who are profiting off their interference in Vancouver's housing market.

At the same time we will redirect BC Liberal waste and partisan government spending to programs that matter, like healthcare and education. We'll generate new revenue as we build new schools, roads, hospitals, housing and transit and grow our economy.

Plus we'll eliminate Christy Clark's LNG Fantasy Fund that you paid for with fee hikes and use the money to help eliminate tolls.

By making different choices, and getting our priorities right, we will make life more affordable, improve the services you count on and help create good jobs and a sustainable economy.

We'll do it while working hard to balance the budget each and every year, especially as our economy grows.

Make Taxes Lower and Easier to Understand

Because we don't pay directly for services offered by government, politicians come up with incomprehensible formulas to make us think that someone else (the rich, corporations) will pay more. But there is no free lunch and funds must come from somewhere. By trying to hide costs, politicians just add costs, complicate our lives and create dissension among us over conflicting meanings of "fairness". Taxation is compulsion and libertarians seek to minimize compulsion. Wherever possible, government services should be financed by fees paid by willing customers. In a transition period, we seek taxes which are as simple to understand as possible (so government can't hide the cost of their programs) and ones which cause the least damage to our economy.

​
Personal income tax: Remove all tax credits and exemptions and replace them with a lower overall tax rate. Make filing simple by using a BC Income Tax form that fits on a postcard.

Business and Sales taxes: Encourage business growth and job creation by replacing the complex and burdensome PST and corporate income tax with a simple and low tax on business revenue.

Carbon tax: Repeal it. Fuel prices are already too high, with nearly half the cost made up by various taxes.

Budget and Taxes

Make the budget completely public down to the last tax dollar so that every taxpayer can see exactly where every dollar is being spent.

Require all lower levels of government to make their budgets, all of their contracts and all of their statistics public. This will include municipal governments, Metro Vancouver, Translink, all crown corporations including ICBC and BC Hydro, and all Independent First Nation Governments operating in BC

Stop borrowing money to run government

BC must get back to truly balanced budgets, including both operational and capital expenses. We would pay off existing debt like a mortgage and introduce mandatory balanced budgets. NO Carbon Tax! The carbon tax is a waste of taxpayers money and does nothing for the environment.

Budget and Taxes

Our party has released a fully costed whole-of-government budget reconciliation which will deliver a balanced budget over the next 4 years.

This is a highly effective, efficient and fiscally responsible policy program which focuses on delivering affordable housing, significant reductions in drug addiction, abolition of MSP premiums and road tolls for private citizens, reduced wait times for medical patients, cheaper gas & trans Canada air fares, elimination of child care wait times and earthquake protection for all students, workers and families.

It is also a full 4 year full-term program of Government rather than the 3 year limited budget released by the BC Liberals during this election campaign.

The budget reconciliation is based on using the BC Government’s full Budget papers as released on February 21st 2017 as a baseline and is a whole-of-government cash-flow budget based on net impacted areas of government.

See our website for a copy of our balanced budget as well as a full description of all of the policy initiatives contained in the budget

Consumer Protection + Justice

PROPOSED NEW LAWS TO ELIMINATE CONCERT, SPORTS AND PARK TICKET SCALPING & PRE-SALES IN B.C.

Reducing MSP Premiums

Driving forward, Today's BC Liberals will:

• Cut middle class taxes by $1 billion by phasing out MSP, starting with reducing premiums by half for families and individuals with family net income of up to $120,000 per year.

Getting rid of MSP fees

John Horgan's BC NDP will eliminate MSP fees and make sure low and middle income families come out ahead. We'll go ahead with the 2017 budget's 50 per cent reduction and completely eliminate MSP fees within four years, saving families as much as $1,800 a year.

A non-partisan MSP Elimination Panel will advise on how to protect healthcare funding while phasing out this unfair flat tax.

Abolish MSP premiums

A BC Green government would eliminate the severe MSP premiums system and shift the cost of our healthcare system into a fair and equitable tiered income tax system where everyone contributes based on their ability to pay.

Eliminate MSP premiums

We can and should eliminate the remaining fees. A small user fee should be in place to reduce unnecessary access to services and to slightly offset costs.

100% ABOLITION OF MSP HEALTH PAYMENTS FOR PRIVATE PAYING BC CITIZENS FROM 31ST DECEMBER 2017

We propose to completely eliminate MSP monthly premiums for all private BC citizens who currently pay their own MSP premiums. Our modifying legislation will require third party contributors to continue paying premiums for all people covered as at the date of the BC Budget 2017 whilst they continue to remain in their employment, membership or under contractual arrangements current at the date of the BC Budget 2017. Current premiums will remain in the short-term for all people currently covered by their employers or unions etc, although we do anticipate complete abolition of these premiums for all such BC citizens as soon as financially viable.

Moving people with investments in transit service

Driving forward, Today's BC Liberals will:

• Match the federal government investment with $333 million to BC Transit.
• Match the federal government's $2.2 billion investment in Metro Vancouver transit projects over 11 years.
• Negotiate with all three levels of government on project specifics, with the Surrey LRT Project and the Broadway Line our two top priorities.

Improving BC's transportation systems

Across British Columbia, John Horgan's BC NDP will help people get moving by:

• Working with the Metro Vancouver Mayor's Council, Translink and BC Transit to find long and lasting solutions to improve service and ensure that seniors and people with disabilities get the rides they need.
• Making much-needed investments in capital projects and buses to support transit in the Capital Regional District and working with local governments to explore the possibility of creating a regional transportation authority.
• Leading and promoting efforts to fix the E&N railway tracks so that commuter rail can become an option to eliminate gridlock in the capital region.
• Restoring the seniors' discount on BC Ferries, making it free for seniors to travel from Monday to Thursday, except on holidays; reducing fares by 15 per cent on secondary routes; and freezing fares on major routes while conducting a review of BC Ferries cost structures.
• Allowing BC shipyards to bid competitively on every new ferry built.

Transit

The YPP will work towards creating a more sustainable transportation network in the lower mainland by creating a greater transit system, allow Zero Emission Vehicles to use HOV lanes, invest in rapid transit in the Capital Region, look into ways to expand passenger rail service around the province, and provide free public transportation in BC.

ABOLISH ROAD TOLLS FOR FOR PRIVATE CITIZENS USING PRIVATE TRANSPORT

Completely phase out road tolls for those citizens using private cars or motorcycles for travel across currently tolled bridges or roads in BC, starting with a 50% cut in tolls immediately after the BC election on May 9th this year.
The first stage of phase out of road and bridge tolls will see for example, the toll for travel across the Port Mann bridge reduced from $3.15 to $1.50 per trip for BC citizens using private cars in 2017, then reduced by a further 50% the following year, until completely eliminated. TWIN THE MASSEY TUNNEL: Build a second Massey Tunnel with no tolls , rather than building a more expensive bridge with tolls that no one wants. LEGALIZE UBER: Allow UBER, Lyft and other shared economy transport providers to operate across the Lower Mainland. This will provide more transport options, generate more market competition and reduce the costs of transport for BC Citizens. All drivers will be required to be government registered and pass police checks, and maintain records of all trips and financial transactions. These new taxi operators will be monitored by the new BC Digital Police Force already announced by the BC Citizens First Party. ELIMINATE ICBC CAR INSURANCE MONOPOLY: Allow BC Citizens to take out Basic Autoplan car insurance with other insurance providers and not be solely restricted to ICBC. This market competition will result in reduced car insurance rates for BC Citizens. It is intolerable that ICBC rates have been allowed to rise 30% under Premier Christy Clarke and even worse are now projected to rise as high as 42% over the next 3 years! SAVE GEORGIA VIADUCT: The Vancouver Georgia Viaduct will be protected and will not be allowed to be demolished, as we view the roadway as being vital in reducing traffic congestion in downtown Vancouver. NEW NORTH VANCOUVER CROSSING: We are committed to commencing investigations into building a new additional traffic crossing between Vancouver and North Vancouver in order to reduce traffic congestion. We will particularly investigate an underground traffic tunnel from North Vancouver to a point just outside downtown Vancouver to relieve pressure on both the Lions Gate and Ironworkers Second Narrows bridges during peak hours. EXPAND BC ACCESS TO CHEAPER MOTOR VEHICLE GAS: We believe that there is a significant lack of competition in oil refining and distribution of motor vehicle gas in BC which is resulting in BC Citizens usually paying the highest gas prices in North America. Accordingly we will encourage the development of a joint USA/BC Government motor vehicle gas trade deal with all major US Washington State based oil refineries including the two located just 7 miles across the border in Blaine. If necessary, our party will also establish a network of gas station outlets on government owned land across the Lower Mainland to distribute the US gas to BC citizens, particularly if current gas companies refuse to cooperate due to pressure from their own oil refinery masters. Such a government initiative would also bring back gas stations to the downtown core of Vancouver.
LOWER TRANS-CANADA AIR FARES: Due to a severe lack of competition in trans-Canada air fares, BC Citizens are being hit with expensive air fares for their trans-Canada air travel. We will accordingly strongly encourage the Government of Canada to allow international and USA airlines to carry purely domestic travelers across Canada, as currently occurs in many other countires. If this fails to materialize we will strongly consider establishing a BC Government owned airline (100% Canadian owned) to provide adequate competition for BC citizens travelling across Canada by outsourcing all major operational activities to accredited air services providers.

Transit Fares

We will introduce a new BC Public Transport tax credit for all BC Citizens to replace the Federal Tax Credit which was recently abolished. We will abolish road tolls for private citizens using private cars and motorcycles.

Human Rights

YPP supports the reinstatement of a government body in BC tasked with proactively advancing human rights. BC is currently the only province in Canada without a Human Right Commission. BC's current Human Rights Tribunal is not mandated to proactively work to increase adherence to BC's human rights legislation. A Human Rights Commission would be specifically mandated to investigate reported abuses, as well as unofficial reports, and to proactively promote human rights throughout the province.

We support human rights

The first human right is the right to life, including human persons not yet born and those nearing the end of natural life. Without life no other rights matter. We also support freedom of speech. Without free speech, no rights can be defended. We do not support special rights for any particular group, either by race, religion, gender or lifestyle. All citizens must be equally protected.

HUMAN RIGHTS AND EQUALITY

The BC Citizens First Party is committed to stronger legislative action to protect the human rights of BC citizens. We are committed to human rights and oppose any form of discrimination amongst our citizens and support ongoing immigration into Canada from around the world. Our Party leader, Phillip Ryan, has already fought hard to protect the human rights of his 3 year old daughter in the BC Human Rights Tribunal against discriminatory actions taken by Earls Restaurants , and is currently taking actions against Air Canada in the Canadian Human Rights Commission.

Affordable education and training

• Making life more affordable for people just starting their careers by making all current, future and outstanding BC student loans interest-free.
• Creating a new, one-time, Opportunity Award for graduates that will erase $1,000 of BC student debt for every British Columbian student upon graduation from a program of study or completion of an occupational or trades program.
• Eliminating fees for Adult Basic Education and ESL.
• Capping tuition fees at colleges and universities.
• Introducing a new graduate student scholarship fund to encourage excellence in BC's graduate programs.

Reduce tuition fees and forgive loans for BC grads

Provincial money invested in post-secondary education should follow the student rather than going directly to the college or university. Student loans should be forgivable when graduates work at least 5 years in BC. Otherwise, they come due one year after leaving the province.

Fee-free Scholarships

INTRODUCING NEW BC GOVERNMENT DEGREE SCHOLARSHIPS: New BC Government scholarships covering full coverage of post-Secondary undergraduate degree tuition fees will be provided to BC student citizens enrolling in government-designated high priority areas of need for the province (e.g. Doctors, Nurses, medical technicians, IT etc) where students agree to work in BC for two years full-time for every year of full funding of their tertiary studies i.e. 10 years work commitment for 5 years of scholarship funding. These scholarships will be competitive and will be subject to successful completion of every year of study. They will allow BC children to attain their educational goals whilst simultaneously giving back to BC as future workers in areas of critical need for BC. Scholarship holders will be guaranteed a job by the BC Government at the end of their studies, although they will be able to equally accept jobs in the private sector.

Building Site C

Driving forward, Today's BC Liberals will:

• Complete the Site C dam, creating clean, green energy for the next 100 years

Site C should be reviewed by BCUC

Site C may one day be needed but right now it is not. Research shows that it will cost lots of money and will lose money at least for several years. It appears to violate some constitutional claims for First Nations. It may actually raise hydro costs for BC residents and produce unneeded power which will have to be sold at a loss. The safest course for now is to allow the BC Utilities Commission to perform an independent review. There is no rush.

Electricity, Site C Dam, BC Hydro Charges, Carbon Tax, Sustainable Energy.

HALT ON SITE C HYDRO DAM & APPOINTMENT OF SITE C ROYAL COMMISSION ABOLITION OF STEP 2 HYDRO CHARGES IN WINTER + MORE EQUITABLE CHARGES SUPPORT FOR CARBON TAX AND SUSTAINABLE ENERGY

Ending poverty in BC

Addressing the urgent needs of people living in poverty is essential - and a moral responsibility. John Horgan's BC NDP will help by immediately:

• Reducing the depth of poverty in BC by immediately raising all income assistance and disability rates by $100 per month.
• Supporting assistance recipients as they re-enter the workforce by allowing them to keep an additional $200 per month in earnings exemptions.
• Ending Christy Clark's disability bus pass clawback, fully restoring the BC Bus Pass program for people with disabilities.

Income security

A BC Green government will:

• Begin the transition to liveable incomes with an increase in Persons with Disabilities (PWD), income assistance and shelter allowance rates.
• Introduce a basic income support for youth aged 18 to 24 who are transitioning out of foster care.
• Draw on experience in other jurisdictions to design a basic income pilot project that will test its ability to reduce poverty, improve health, housing and employment.
• Establish an arm's-length fair wages commission, that will be tasked with establishing a new minimum wage and overseeing regular rate reviews.
• Work with the federal government to provide a Low-Income Benefit of up to $205 per month for low-income families.
• Roll Medical Service Plan (MSP) premiums into the payroll tax and personal income tax to ensure that they are administered in a more equitable and progressive manner.

Homelessness

Homelessness is one of the biggest issues plaguing British Columbia. Coupled with our Affordable Housing plan, we would also create crisis housing loans for those at risk of becoming homeless and increase access to temporary housing for those who are already homeless.

Make homelessness rare

This is a many-faceted problem. There are issues from broken homes, drug addictions, mental health and just plain hard luck. Some lack job skills or communication skills. Some have formed habits and prefer tent cities to the rules and disciplines in more formal shelters. Again, we should be addressing mental health issues, providing suitable safe shelters and helping people get on their feet.

HOMELESS ACCOMMODATION AND SUPPORT

Homeless accommodation will be provided at CAMH and all of its Regional Annexes, as well as at Riverview Hospital, with an initial focus on those homeless who are concurrently suffering addiction and mental health issues. These people need to be immediately taken off the streets where they cannot attack students in schools, private citizens on our streets, and other short term residents of homeless shelters, nor abuse citizen or visitor pedestrians in our cities.

Maintaining the carbon tax freeze

Driving forward, Today's BC Liberals will:

• Ensure our principles of affordability, competitiveness and revenue neutrality are confirmed and respected as we implement the Pan-Canadian Framework on Climate Change.
• Maintain our carbon tax freeze until 2021.
• Ensure British Columbia decides the best way forward to meet our climate goals, working with Canada.

Climate action rebate cheques

The BC NDP will ensure that our climate action plan will meet the federal government's new carbon price mandate, and that people like you will be better off than they will be under Christy Clark.

• When the price goes up to match the federal mandate, we will create a new climate action rebate cheque for low and middle income families (80 per cent of families).
• All new money from carbon tax increases will be used to provide rebate cheques for families and invest in climate change solutions that create jobs, benefit communities and reduce climate pollution.

NO Carbon Tax

Eliminate this useless tax grab. Carbon theory has not been proven and the carbon tax is not doing anything for the environment. Enforce emissions standards and reduce man-made chemical toxins in the air, soil and water.

Carbon Tax

We believe the current carbon pricing policy for BC is appropriate for the time being, and should remain at $30 per tonne of emissions in BC until at least the end of 2020 at which time the rest of the country will have theoretically raised their carbon taxes to the same levels at BC. We believe such a public policy is prudent particularly given the uncertainty around potential competitive disadvantage against the USA with the new Trump administration’s relaxation of carbon pricing. We also support the establishment of an independent national panel of experts to report in 2021 on the current status of all provincial carbon pricing programs and to provide recommendations for moving forward. Our party will only support an ongoing national carbon pricing program in which our province is not financially disadvantaged compared to any other province in Canada.

Trans Mountain Pipeline

The YPP wants to get British Columbia off of fossil fuel reliance but realizes that is not 100% possible at this time.

The YPP is not ideologically against the Trans Mountain Pipeline twinning but we have serious concerns about the project and would only approve of the project if it met our 4 terms:

1) Make the protection plan public (which Kinder-Morgan did in Washington State).

2) Move the terminus out of the Burard Inlet so extra tanker traffic doesn't jeopardize the Vancouver Harbour.

3) Use a large portion of the profits to help move British Columbia away from being fossil fuel dependent (Ie: have Kinder Morgan invest in green infrastructure across the province)

4) Have a truly world class spill protection along the river valleys along the route and on the coast. The YPP would require that Kinder-Morgan take out a performance bond in the name of the British Columbia Government to pay for the immediate clean up of any spills. YPP would also require the pipeline to have high levels of safety measures like double walled pipes and numerous automatic shutoff vales along the pipeline).

We support the Kinder Morgan expansion

We recognize the benefit to Alberta, Canada, BC nd the world of responsible resource development, including the oilsands. But Alberta should build an upgrader to convert raw bitumen into synthetic oil before sending it into BC. BC should build adequate refinery capacity on the BC coast so that we export finished petroleum products and keep maximum jobs and revenue in Canada. We support the Kinder Morgan expansion but it should be based on upgrading in Alberta.

TRANS MOUNTAIN PIPELINE NEEDS TO DELIVER FULL ENVIRONMENTAL ACCOUNTABILITY AND MORE EQUITABLE REVENUES TO BC BEFORE PROCEEDING.

The BC Citizens First Party laid out five major additional conditions which must be met by Kinder Morgan in order for their Trans Mountain Pipeline to proceed, please visit our site for a comprehensive list of our conditions.

Tackling the overdose crisis

John Horgan and the BC NDP will take bold action to tackle the opioid crisis and get families and people with addictions the fast support they need. This will include:

• Establishing a province-wide strategy to ensure the widest possible availability of life-saving naloxone kits with people trained to use them.
• Enabling police efforts to disrupt the supply chain, break up major drug rings and send the perpetrators to trial.
• Advocating for increased penalties for drug dealers who knowingly distribute death-dealing drugs like fentanyl and carfentanil.
• Creating a special initiative with First Nations leaders and their communities to provide additional assistance where the impact of the crisis is greatest.
• Increasing support for first responders, including counselling for PTSD and work-related stress.

End Prohibition and Let Police Focus on Real Crimes

BC is experiencing an epidemic with fentanyl and other powerful opioids that is claiming hundreds of lives. It's also tying up emergency responders, making it harder for everyone to get an ambulance when they need one. All options need to be on the table when dealing with a crisis like this, and decriminalization is a key part of the solution. By confronting this as a health issue instead of a criminal issue, we will discover new ways to reduce harm, encourage treatment of addictions, and make our communities safer. And eliminating victimless crime from the police’s mandate we allow police departments to focus their limited resources on catching real criminals (those who assault people or steal their stuff). Exclude the enforcement of victimless crimes from the provincial Police Services Agreement

Stop funding injection sites

Crack down on pushers of opioids, fentanyl, etc. Re-open mental health institutions for those who cannot break the cycle of drug addiction. Stop enabling further dependancies.

FOCUS ON DRUG CRISIS, ADDICTIONS & MENTAL HEALTH

BC’s new political party, the BC Citizens First Party, today announced a comprehensive program to immediately address the current opioid drug crisis, as well as a singular focus on addiction, mental health and the homeless.

Reconciliation and economic development with B.C. First Nations

Driving forward, Today's BC Liberals will:

• Support First Nations' involvement in the forest sector
• Improve access to skills training and economic development opportunities
• Help Aboriginal businesses increase their participation in major industrial projects
• Support interested First Nations in seeking the return of their ancestral remains and belongings of cultural significance
• Implement the recommendations coming out of Grand Chief Ed John's report
• Work with Destination BC to expand and promote Aboriginal tourism opportunities.

Reconciliation

John Horgan's BC NDP will make reconciliation a cross-government priority:

Acting on the Truth and Reconciliation Commision

The thousands of residential school survivors deserve action, not just talk.

Adopting the principles of UNDRIP

We will adopt the principles of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which has been accepted by 148 nations - including the government of Canada.

Supporting Indigenous communities, culture and history

It's time to hounour, respect and promote the cultures of BC's Indigenous communities.

Keeping Aboriginal children connected to their communities

Aboriginal children deserve the same chance to thrive and stay connected to their communities as every child in BC.

Creating jobs and opportunities

We'll partner with First Nations people to build good jobs and a sustainable economy.

We support the rights of First Nations

We support the rights of First Nations and will continue to pressure the Federal Government to deliver services to BC First Nations at a level which is no less than that which is provided to other BC Citizens.

Providing the cleanest LNG possible for use around the world

Driving forward, Today's BC Liberals will:

• Work with project proponents and upstream gas producers to ensure that additional LNG developments are globally competitive for the next wave of LNG investment.
• Work towards getting three LNG facilities moving to construction by 2020.

Safely developing natural gas

To make sure BC benefits, we will require LNG projects meet four conditions:

• Projects must offer jobs and training for British Columbians, especially jobs for local people.
• The people of BC must get a fair return for our resources.
• Projects must secure full partnerships with local First Nations.
• Projects must complete a made-in-BC environmental assessment and respect our commitments to combating climate change.

LNG

The YPP would stop subsidizing LNG ($347 million/year), demand for the royalty rates be tied to the international market price. Said royalties would be used to provide free public transit for Translink and BC Transit users.

LNG

We believe the BC Liberal's faith in LNG for delivering prosperity for British Columbia is totally misguided. There is a significant global excess of current LNG supply and this will not dissipate over the next 20 years due to past LNG supply over-developments. It is therefor folly to build a $9,000 million Site C Dam to supply electricity to any future "pie-in-the-sky" supposed BC LNG projects, as they simply cannot be justified on economic analysis by their large corporate developers. Those taxpayer funds will be far better spent financing the current urgent housing, drug, hospital, education, child care and earthquake preparedness needs of BC.

OIL AND GAS
We support Oil and Gas exploration. However, we are strongly opposed to the use of fracking. We will ban fracking across BC due to seismic earthquake risks. It is well documented by international scientists that fracking causes seismic activity. We therefore believe it is far too risky to continue fracking across B.C. since it most likely will artificially induce a major earthquake before our community is fully prepared for its impact.

Building a sustainable economy

We will take action to create tens of thousands of new, sustainable, permanent jobs while reducing BC's climate change emissions and growing the low-carbon economy.

Setting carbon reduction targets and meeting them
We will renew the Climate Leadership panel and work towards implementing their recommendations. Together, we'll put BC on a path to meeting our legislated 2050 greenhouse gas emission reduction target.

Creating good, sustainable jobs that lower our carbon emissions
From investing in reforestation, to building new rapid transit solutions, to a comprehensive clean energy program, the BC NDP will invest in the long-term success of our economy, while doing our part to fight climate change.

Making new carbon taxes predictable, fair and effective
We'll work to provide predictability for BC businesses and protect BC families from facing another hit on their pocketbook - while reducing our emissions.

Meet Our Emissions Targets

Reducing Emissions

A B.C. Green government will

• Amend the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Targets Act to reflect an interim target of 40% reduction below 2007 levels by 2030.
• Progressively increase the carbon tax by $10 per year for four years beginning January 2018
• Starting on January 1, 2020, apply the fugitive rate for the carbon tax, $36 per tonne, to forest slash pile burning
• Establish an emissions reduction target for carbon neutral government and allow public sector agencies to invest in internal emissions reductions

Promoting Behaviour Change

A B.C. Green government will

• Expand the provision of public information regarding ways to reduce carbon emissions
• Act to promote choices with a lower carbon footprint
• Act to facilitate modal switching

Promoting Efficiency

A B.C. Green government will

• Require commercial and industrial operators to ensure the efficient operation of equipment and vehicles
• Act to ensure that new buildings are energy efficient, and reduce the upfront cost for such
• Promote efficient community design by enhancing requirements for integrated regional planning, and the consideration of the cumulative impacts on GHG emissions of regional and local government plans

Promoting Low Carbon Fuels and Materials

A B.C. Green government will

• Revisit the mandate of B.C. Hydro to optimise support for clean energy development
• Work with neighbouring jurisdictions to expedite the phase out of thermal electricity generation
• Introduce progressively more stringent requirements to adopt low carbon fuels

Sinks

A B.C. Green government will

• Implement a forest carbon strategy to take full advantage of the opportunities created by forest sinks
• Invest $29 million over four years to enhance the scientific understanding of the effects of climate change in B.C.

Triple Sustainability

All legislation and government actions need to be economically, environmentally and socially sustainable in order to ensure they are cost effective, will not degrade the environment and will encourage behaviours that promote a healthy society.

Economically Sustainable means that fiscally the decisions the government is making make sense. The cost of the program is offset by the benefit that is provided to the province. With all government spending and government statistics made public it will be easy for British Columbians to see whether government programs are worth the cost and it will be hard for governments to justify programs which are not socially sustainable.

Environmentally Sustainable means that the government program or action does not negatively impact the environment in a way that is irreparable. Degradation to the environment in one area will need to be offset by an improvement in the environment in another area. All government programs will be given an environmental grade so that British Columbians can see the true cost of the programs the government is undertaking.

Socially Sustainable means that government legislation and actions encourage responsible behaviour, healthy living, the creation of community and culture, and the elimination of crime.

Climate Change

We firmly believe in climate change, support a carbon tax, support sustainable energy and with regard to the Trans Mountain Pipeline we have stated on record that we are concerned that the current CEO of Kinder Morgan has stated that he does not believe in climate change. This demonstrates to us that he has little or no regard nor concern for the impacts of his company’s actions on the environment. Accordingly we will not support the pipeline whilst the current CEO remains in charge of the parent company owning the pipeline. We simply do not have sufficient confidence in his appropriate balancing of both economic and environmental concerns. (We have also placed four additional conditions on any future approval of this pipeline project - see our website www.bccitizensfirst.ca for further details)

Putting the care into care

We believe every child has the right to care, safety, permanency and connection with their culture. The BC NDP is committed to improving our system of care by:

• Providing an additional $10 million for Agreements with Young Adults, so all youth aging out of government care who need support can receive it.
• Ensuring our K-12 system has the resources to help youth in care graduate with their peers.
• Working with universities and colleges to expand the tuition fee waiver program and provide enhanced supports for former youth in care who pursue post-secondary education.
• Empowering the Select Standing Committee on Children and Youth to review the recommendations of the Independent Representative for Children and Youth and address them.

Connecting and staying with their families and communities is important for all children - especially First Nations children. John Horgan and the BC NDP will meet their specific needs by:

• Implementing the recommendations from Grand Chief Ed John's report and provide better supports to keep Aboriginal children at home and out of care.
• Ensuring that basic care standards are met for children in care and that there is a plan to connect them with their culture and community.
• Supporting delegated Aboriginal agencies so they can offer services at the same level offered to non-Aboriginal children.

Family care for children

Review the current practices. Too many children are being taken from their own homes. We need to try to help parents heal their relationships and hold them accountable for consistent and adequate care for their children, helping them when needed. But we should try to avoid imposing a state-run one-size-fits-all approach to childcare.

Look after BC's seniors

We need to honour the seniors who made this country and help them in their golden years. As much as possible, we should help them stay in their own homes, utilizing family care workers and volunteers where we can. In end-of-life situations, we should provide compassionate palliative care (comfort care) NOT euthanasia.

Child Care Policy

Please see our Child Care policy for our policy on Children in Care in BC

Responsible development of oil and gas

Driving forward, Today's BC Liberals will:

• Unlock the oil resources contained in the Montney Basin through a new oil, deep-well royalty credit that is competitive with Alberta.
• Place 50% of all oil revenues produced from the Montney Basin in the Prosperity Fund to benefit future generations.

Build oil and gas infrastructure slowly

We recognize the benefit to Alberta, Canada, BC nd the world of responsible resource development, including the oilsands. But Alberta should build an upgrader to convert raw bitumen into synthetic oil before sending it into BC. BC should build adequate refinery capacity on the BC coast so that we export finished petroleum products and keep maximum jobs and revenue in Canada. We support the Kinder Morgan expansion but it should be based on upgrading in Alberta.

Ride-sharing

Driving forward, Today's BC Liberals will:

• Implement a new tax credit for people who use carsharing services.
• Introduce legislation to enable ridesharing companies to operate by December 2017.

A fair approach to ridesharing

John Horgan's BC NDP will work with both the taxi industry and ridesharing services to create a truly fair approach to ridesharing in British Columbia that doesn't unfairly benefit - or punish - one group over the other. This includes:

• Working with stakeholders across BC to level up standards across the province and ensure British Columbians can count on low-cost predictable fares, accessible services, safe cars and drivers subject to appropriate criminal record checks.
• Creating a level playing field for all providers and respecting the people currently in the people-moving industry without giving one group of drivers an unfair advantage over the other.
• Developing a plan that protects passengers from price gouging, particularly after sporting events, concerts and on special occasions and holidays when demand is highest.

ABOLITION OF ROAD TOLLS, ICBC COMPETITION, LOWER GAS AND AIR FARES, NEW MASSEY TUNNEL, UBER AND MORE

The BC Citizens First Party announced that it will completely phase out road tolls for those citizens using private cars or motorcycles for travel across currently tolled bridges or roads in BC, starting with a 50% cut in tolls immediately after the BC election on May 9th this year.

The first stage of phase out of road and bridge tolls will see for example, the toll for travel across the Port Mann bridge reduced from $3.15 to $1.50 per trip for BC citizens using private cars in 2017, then reduced by a further 50% the following year, until completely eliminated.

Standing up for B.C. on softwood

Driving forward, Today's BC Liberals will:

• Stand up for B.C. forestry communities, workers, and companies as Canada continues to negotiate a new Softwood Lumber Agreement with the United States.
• Work with the federal government to support workers, communities and forest companies as they fight the impacts of the unfair countervailing and anti-dumping duties.

Trade

We support international trade with the world. We believe that comprehensive trade negotiations should be taking place right now between the Trump Administration and the Province of British Columbia. The NAFTA Free Trade Agreement is critical to BC and important to for the whole of Canada and the USA. We support the inclusion of softwood lumber, dairy and energy is any expanded NAFTA Trade talks. We believe the current Liberal Premier has demonstrated a very poor past record as a negotiator. One only has to look at her disaster of a decade of negotiations as Education minister with BC teachers (which she lost), her dispute with the current Prime Minister on BC Senator nominations (which she lost) and her negotiations on Federal Health Funding Transfers (which she lost). We cannot afford to allow Christy Clark and the BC Liberals to be negotiating any future trade deals on softwood lumber or anything else with the USA.

Supporting family connection time & Minimum family wages

MAKING EASTER MONDAY A PUBLIC HOLIDAY FOR ALL BC WORKERS – NOT JUST GOVERNMENT WORKERS FOUR WEEKS LEAVE (20 WORK DAYS) FOR ALL WORKERS (PRO-RATA FOR PART-TIME EMPLOYEES) MOVING TOWARDS A $15 MINIMUM WAGE FOR ALL BC WORKERS

Up to 13,000 new child care spaces by 2020

Driving forward, Today's BC Liberals will:

• Work with the federal government on their new plan to expand the number of childcare spaces in British Columbia.
• Increase investment in childcare to $352.5 million.
• Develop a Low Income Families in Transition (LIFT) pilot program that provides temporary assistance to low-income single working parents so they can take time away from their current employment, or reduce their hours without financial penalty, and assist with training, child care, and transit costs while upgrading or acquiring new skills.

$10 a day childcare

The BC NDP will create a $10 a day childcare plan. It will initially focus on children under the age of two before gradually expanding to cover other pre-kindergarten children.

This plan will be:

• Affordable: We will offer full-day care for $10 and part-time care for $7 a day, with no fee for families with annual incomes below $40,000 a year.
• Accessible: We will build a childcare system that provides safe care for every child whose family wants or needs it. All children will be welcome and licensed family homes and centres will continue to offer a range of programs that reflect the diversity of BC communities. Families can select the type of childcare that works for them.
• Quality: The $10 a day plan invests in the Early Childhood Educator workforce - helping ensure that they are well-educated, well-respected and fairly compensated.

Free Preschool and Daycare

A BC Green government will provide:

• Free preschool for 3- and 4-year olds
• Free daycare for children up to age 2 with working parents
• Up to $500/month for families with a stay-at-home parent and a child up to age 2

Help parents care for their children

Parents are the best childcare possible. Our federal policy would provide $1000 / mo to families where one parent provides consistent childcare in the home instead of having both parents working out. Not always possible but that is ideal. This also creates additional jobs because one less person is in the workplace. The benefit to children cannot be measured and will save immeasurable dollars in the future .

25,000 NEW CHILD CARE SPACES TO ELIMINATE CURRENT WAITLIST TIMES

Immediately inject funds into creating a massive 25,000 new daycare spaces across BC which will completely eliminate current waitlists. Also, in order to better co-ordinate daycare provision, current BC Schools with under-utilized space will be a key focus for initial daycare spaces. This will deliver greater certainty of existence for some currently under-utilized schools across BC, as well as provide a means for parents to drop off members of their family into facilities within close proximity to each other.

Post-Secondary Education

Driving forward, Today's BC Liberals will:

• Create a one stop shop for student applications with a single point of entry for applicants to B.C. post-secondary institutions.
• Create an additional 1,000 new grads in STEM disciplines in universities and colleges across the province by 2022. Once those 1,000 additional graduates have completed their fourth year, we will expand by another 1,000.

Investing in knowledge and training

• Capping tuition fee increases at colleges and universities.
• Ensuring low and middle income students have access to the assistance they need to get the education they want.
• Making student loans interest free - current and future.
• Providing a $1,000 Opportunity Award for higher education graduates to help pay down debt.
• Supporting the UPass program.
• Making Adult Basic Education (ABE) and English as a Second Language (ESL) free again.
• Updating regulations to allow colleges and universities to build affordable on and near-campus rental housing, and ensure student renters receive the renter's tax rebate of $400 per year.
• Creating a competitive, merit-based graduate scholarship program designed to attract and retain the best graduate students, based on hard work and talent.
• Investing $50M over two years for a new graduate scholarship fund.
• Investing $100 million to expand technology-related post-secondary programs and investing in information and communications, digital media and entertainment, life sciences and health, clean-tech, IT and engineering and more.
• Partnering with universities throughout BC to build technology and innovation centres in key areas of BC's economy.

A BC Green government will:

• Implement needs-based grants for post-secondary students
• Offer tax forgiveness of up to $2,000/year for up to 5 years to assist graduates in repaying debt from tuition fees
• Set up a Post-Secondary Education Task Force to identify ways to make post-secondary education more relevant, accessible and affordable
• Invest $65 million over 4 years to support co-op and work experience programs for high school and undergraduate students

All British Columbians benefit from an educated population. Generally educated citizens pay more in tax, are healthier, cause less crime and elect better governments. For BC to stay competitive in the Global Economy, we need a well educated workforce.

The YPP will provide forgivable loans to students if they work in BC for a set length of time upon completion of their degree, allow students the option of borrowing any amount up to the maximum loan amount if they would like to avoid borrowing the whole amount, work with educational institutes to provide affordable childcare on campus, allow for a better work and school mix for part time students, and work with different occupational certification organizations to help recognize the training which foreign workers arrive with where there are shortages of workers in a certain industry.

PRIORITY TO LOCAL BC STUDENTS AHEAD OF OVERSEAS STUDENTS

BC’s new political party, the BC Citizens First Party, today announced that it will require all BC universities and post-secondary providers of undergraduate degrees to give priority enrolment to BC citizens ahead of overseas students. This will be achieved by requiring tertiary educational institutions to set an acceptable lowest acceptable standard mark for entry into each undergraduate course, and then requiring all Canadian citizens who meet that mark to be enrolled first in the course (subject to full availability). The risks associated with any other system of entry is that all students are lined up according to their entry score and local BC students can end up being excluded even though they may have reached the acceptable minimum entry score, due to excess total demand exceeding supply. “If demand exceeds supply, then the overseas students should be excluded and not the local BC students”, said Phillip Ryan, Leader of the BC Citizens First Party. “The problem is that under any other rules, tertiary institutions will always very tempted to take the overseas students into their undergraduate degrees ahead of our local BC students because overseas students can be charged 10 times the fees of local BC students”. Such a selection framework does nothing to create job opportunities for local BC students. In addition to giving classroom priority to BC students, all undergraduate educational providers will be required to give on-campus student accommodation priority to BC students who would normally have to travel more than 1 hour to study on campus. “Our local students must be accommodated on-campus ahead of any overseas students” said Mr. Ryan. INTRODUCING NEW BC GOVERNMENT DEGREE SCHOLARSHIPS: New BC Government scholarships covering full coverage of post-Secondary undergraduate degree tuition fees will be provided to BC student citizens enrolling in government-designated high priority areas of need for the province (e.g. Doctors, Nurses, medical technicians, IT etc) where students agree to work in BC for two years full-time for every year of full funding of their tertiary studies i.e. 10 years work commitment for 5 years of scholarship funding. These scholarships will be competitive and will be subject to successful completion of every year of study. They will allow BC children to attain their educational goals whilst simultaneously giving back to BC as future workers in areas of critical need for BC. Scholarship holders will be guaranteed a job by the BC Government at the end of their studies, although they will be able to equally accept jobs in the private sector.

Making every vote count

Our current first-past-the-post voting system isn't working. Parties that don't get 50 per cent of the vote get all the power and the voices of minority groups often go unheard. It's time for a system where every vote counts.

John Horgan and the BC NDP would hold a referendum on changing our voting system to a proportional system. We'll ensure BC's regions are all represented fairly and we will campaign for the "yes" side.

Democratic Reform

Introduce a proportional voting system in time for the 2021 provincial general election

• Introduce legislation to establish a Provincial Budget Officer
• Ban members of the Cabinet from engaging in partisan fundraising activities to address unethical cash-for-access events
• Institute a multi-year prohibition on lobbying for former Senior Public Office Holders

YPP is in support of any electoral system that increases proportional representation in the BC electoral voting system, decreases the influence of political parties, and increases the ability of independent candidates to be elected.

YPP also supports allowing municipalities to change their voting systems to create greater proportionality in municipal politics.

Democratic Reform

BAN ‘CASH FOR ACCESS’ TO MINISTERS AND MLAs: We will ensure that no political party in BC is allowed to charge for private functions at private venues attended by members of the legislature. Only events publicly advertised and open to the entire general public and the media with entrance fees less than $50 will be permitted in the future. BAN SECOND JOBS FOR MLAs: We will make it illegal for MLAs to have any taxable income beyond their salary as an MLA and their personal investments and statutory entitlements etc. We will ensure the salary of all MLAs is appropriate for their role and that they remain totally and solely focused on serving their constituents and electoral districts. NEW POLITICAL PRACTICES COMMISSION: Political candidates will be required to keep their enunciated promises to electors. Any Member of Parliament alleged to have breached a commitment to any member or group of the public will be brought before a new Political Practices Commission . If found guilty of breach of promise without reasonable grounds, the MP will in the first instance be fined $20,000 and if found guilty in any subsequent incident during their BC legislature career will become ineligible to continue in the legislature, and a vacancy will be declared in their riding and a by-election held. The MP naturally will be able to stand as a candidate at the subsequent by-election and be judged by the electors in their riding for their actions or lack thereof. BAN OVERSEAS POLITICAL DONATIONS: We will ban all overseas based political donations from individuals, corporations or organizations for all political parties operating in BC ELECTORAL DISTRICT BALLOT PAPER NAMES TO BE ROTATED for all future BC election in order to eliminate a donkey vote advantage to candidates with surnames starting with A, B or C etc. ALLOW THE TERTIARY EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS OF POLITICAL CANDIDATES TO BE INCLUDED ON ALL BC PROVINCIAL BALLOT PAPERS: This will assist citizens in making a better informed choice in their voting. BAN ALL OVERSEAS NON-CANADIAN CITIZENS FROM PARTICIPATING IN THE REGISTRATION, MEMBERSHIP OR MANAGEMENT OF ALL BC POLITICAL PARTIES. IMMEDIATELY JAIL OFFENDERS WHO HIDE THE REAL DONORS OF MONEY DONATED TO ANY BC POLITICAL PARTY.

Significant investments in child and youth mental health

Driving forward, Today's BC Liberals will:

• Invest $165 million for youth mental health needs and substance abuse issues.

Mental health and addiction services

To make mental health treatment and addictions support a priority, we will create a Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions. This new ministry will work with the Ministry of Children and Families, the Ministry of Health, local governments, First Nations and the education and justice systems so patients get treatment early and effectively.

For people in crisis needing immediate help, a BC NDP government will take an "Ask Once, Get Help Fast" approach to mental health and addictions. We will ensure children and adolescents can access specially trained adolescent mental health professionals within the school system, where early identification and support can lead to healthier lives and prevent a lifetime of illness.

Since nearly 60% of people struggling with addiction also experience other mental health challenges, a BC NDP government will bring those services together to help those most in need. We'll provide access to a wide range of evidence-based and regulated treatment, including licensing our current recovery house system, enhancing supports post-detox, and improving access to harm reduction options that save lives.

For people whose health will only improve with intensive, residential-based treatment, we will reopen facilities on the Riverview lands to provide residential care.

A NEW ‘BC CENTRE FOR ADDICTION AND MENTAL HEALTH’ (CAMH):

As St Paul’s Hospital moves to its new False Creek site, our party will convert the entire old St Paul’s Hospital into a large specialist BC Centre for Addiction and Mental Health for access to free specialist health care services for those suffering from addiction and mental health issues. This downtown facility will provide 1,000 beds of support after current administrative offices are converted into accommodation beds. The centre will bring together specialist doctors, nurses, psychologists, counselors and other medical specialists with a singular focus on addiction and mental health. The Centre will takes an enormous amount of pressure off other hospital emergency departments and Intensive Care Units whose resources are currently being stretched having to cope with massive increases in drug addiction and mental health patients. These addiction and mental health services will be provided free of charge to all BC Citizens.

MMEDIATELY RE-OPEN RIVERVIEW HOSPITAL IN COQUITLAM: Whilst awaiting the relocation of St Paul’s Hospital to False Creek we will immediately fund the re-investment and re-opening of Riverview Hospital which has 244 acres of property and 75 buildings comprising 153,640 square metres (1,653,767 square feet) of space. In its heyday, Riverview handled 4,306 mental health patients in 1956 which was reduced to only 800 beds by the BC Liberals in 2002 and was finally closed by the BC Liberals in 2012. The currently dormant East and West Lawn Buildings as well as other key buildings will be funded with $150 million of immediate renovation and renewal costs and operational costs will come from the $1,000 million CAMH budget allocation.

See our full 10 point Plan for mental health and Addiction at our website: www.bccitizensfirst.ca

It all starts with a job

Creating jobs and economic growth with the best trained workforce:

• Creating 1,000 new grads in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math disciplines, on top of the 1,000 coming
• Investing $87 million in the BC Tech Strategy
• Coding in classrooms for Grades 6 to 9
• New innovation hub at Robson Square

Maintaining the most diversified economy in Canada:

• Ensuring B.C. tech business are first in line for government contracts
• Standing up for B.C. on softwood issue
• Goal of three LNG plants moving to construction by 2020
• Responsible development of the Montney oil and gas reserves
• Supporting a new hops industry in B.C.
• Expand Buy Local and Grow Local to encourage local food production
• Diversifying markets for wood products in China and India
• Adding to the Rural Dividend and high-speed connectivity

Good jobs and a sustainable economy

For John Horgan's BC NDP, a strong economy is when everyone is doing better. Where life gets a little easier each month, not harder. Where people like you are rewarded for working hard, with good wages, job security and a safe place to work. This includes:

• Creating 96,000 construction jobs
• Building a sustainable economy
• Fuelling innovation in BC Tech
• Renewing our forest industry
• Growing BC agriculture
• Creating safe, responsible mining jobs
• Creating good jobs in manufacturing
• Boosing the creative economy
• Investing in tourism and recreation
• Safely developing natural gas
• Helping small businesses succeed
• Raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour

We will create over 55,000 jobs in BC in our first year

Our focus in job creation will be in the housing and construction industry and on improving government services, child care spaces and earthquake protection for BC citizens. More than 55,000 permanent full-time jobs will be created in our first year, and this will be on top of natural job growth within the private sector across B.C. (see our specific policies on this website for a fuller explanation of each policy initiative and its job impact)

Investing in transportation around the province

Driving forward, Today's BC Liberals will:

• Complete the construction of the George Massey replacement bridge.
• Invest in Phase 3 of the Cariboo Connector - four-lane highway between prince George and Cache Creek
• Invest in Alex Fraser Bridge capacity improvements
• Invest in interchange upgrades at Lower Lynn Creek
• Invest in four-laning of the Trans-Canada highway from Kamloops to the Alberta border
• Invest in Highway 97 widening in Kelowna
• Invest a minimum of $25 million over the next two years on upgrades to the Malahat and Pat Bay Highways working with local governments to determine the areas of greatest importance.
• Complete interchange work at Admirals Road / McKenzie Avenue in Greater Victoria, ongoing upgrades to the belleville Ferry Terminal, the North Courtenay Connector, and the West SHore Parkway Extension
• Contribute $500,000 to fund a study to improve access to all airports north of the Malahat.
• Contribute half of the $27 million upgrade to Highway 4 near Kennedy Lake providing better access to Ucluelet, Tofino and Pacific Rim National Park.
• Continue the $24 million BC Air Access Program funding for airports across BC, including more than $1.3 million this year for projects at Campbell River, Port Alberni and Comox Valley
• Invest in the Meadowood connector business case pre-feasibility study.
• Continue to assist in establishing passenger only service between Nanaimo and Waterfront Station in downtown Vancouver.

Creating 96,000 construction jobs

We need to restore, replace and repair schools, hospitals, roads and transit. In doing so, we'll create 96,000 real jobs and add $18 billion dollars in economic activity while helping us deliver the services people need.

Building strong communities

Quality schools, good hospitals, recreation centres and transit options are all necessities of communities large and small. We'll invest in all corners of BC, making communities stronger, spurring economic growth and creating good jobs close to home.

Cutting commute times and reducing congestion

Building a better BC means getting you to and from work and school faster and safer. We'll invest in improving roads and in major new transit projects to reduce congestion, get cars off the road and reduce our impact on the environment.

Creating technology infrastructure and innovation centres

We'll partner with universities, colleges, technical institutions and businesses to build and fund specialized innovation centres in the interior and northern BC to make sure all regions of the province benefit from jobs and investment in the new economy.

Building partnerships to fund new infrastructure

Our plan to create 96,000 jobs includes funding partnerships with the federal government, First Nations, municipalities, pension funds, financial institutions and businesses.

Infrastructure

We support the continued development of key infrastructure across BC as our population grows.

Investing in the BC Tech Strategy

Driving forward, Today's BC Liberals will:

• Reinvigorate the Robson Square district as a centre of innovation.
• Engage former City of Vancouver Head Planner Larry Beasley to lead a consultation process, working closely with the City of Vancouver and stakeholders, including the neighbouring judiciary and Vancouver Art Gallery, to ensure the legacy of the site is appropriately honoured as it is revitalized into the innovative site envisioned.
• Help create jobs and drive new growth with $87 million towards the BC Tech Strategy.
• Ensure B.C. tech business are first in line for government contracts
• Create a Procurement Concierge Service to act as a "matchmaker" between government's needs and tech innovators of all sizes

Fuelling innovation in BC tech

We'll develop and attract world-class talent by:

• Investing $100 million to expand technology-related post-secondary programs and match investments with tech-related co-op programs.
• Appointing a Chief Talent Officer.
• Ensuring every child in BC is given the opportunity to learn how they can change the world by learning to code.

We'll create better access to capital by:

• Strengthening existing venture capital and tax credit programs.
• Re-invigorating the Innovative Clean Energy (ICE) Fund to boost investments in groundbreaking new energy technologies.
• Streamlining and simplifying incentive programs and credits.

We'll build local markets for IT and software development by:

• Bringing in a cap on the value and the length of government IT contracts.
• Making government IT and software development procurement work better for companies that hire locally and have a local supply chain.
• Partnering with local governments in northern and rural communities, we will ensure local digital infrastructure is accessible.

Strategy for the new economy

A business environment for the new economy

A BC Green government will:

• Establish an Emerging Economy Task Force to address the changing nature of business over the next 10 to 25 years.
• Work with the federal government to develop a systematic approach to the tax system that is both progressive and neutral. A Green government will simplify the tax system and utilize it to achieve goals such as greening the economy and promoting entrepreneurship and innovation.
• Review existing programs to ensure they are effectively supporting innovation and new business models in the emerging economy.
• Modernise labour laws to recognize new and evolving types of work relationships in the emerging economy by introducing a fairer, more responsive and more inclusive code that contributes to increased competitiveness.

Growing sustainable enterprises in BC

A BC Green government will:

• Establish an Innovation Commission to support innovation and business development in the technology sector, and will appoint an Innovation Commissioner whose mandate will be to serve an advocate and ambassador on behalf of the B.C. technology sector in Ottawa and abroad.
• Invest up to $20 million per year to support ideation, mentoring and networking at post-secondary institutions in order to promote entrepreneurship, leadership and business skills development.
• Provide up to $70 million over four years for qualifying entrepreneurs to leverage seed or angel funding.
• Invest up to $50 million a year in business incubators, accelerators and affordable space for small and medium-sized enterprises.
• Promote innovative collaborations with domestic and international partners, facilitate strategic business mentoring, and invest $35 million in talent over four years to help create, grow and attract companies.

Encouraging emerging opportunities

A BC Green government will:

• Invest $120 million over four years for partnerships with industry, academic institutions and other levels of government in order to support research, development and the comercialization of climate friendly technologies.
• Promote investment in clean energy and transportation, particularly those initiatives that create jobs and economic activity without increasing greenhouse gas emissions.
• Review the environmental legislative framework and its application to ensure that the regulatory environment promotes the adoption of green technlogies and practices.
• Use government procurement to encourage the greening of businesses, products and processes, and will allocate $20 million per year to support the adoption of green technology.
• Promote the use of clean technology to derive the maximum economic benefit from waste streams.
• Review the mandates and legislation of public sector agencies and Crown corporations to ensure that they promote innovation and support business development.

Innovation and BC Tech

We support the funding of innovation and BC Tech with active involvement of the BC Government.

Fair wages for hard work

John Horgan's BC NDP will bring in a $15 an hour minimum wage by 2021, with increases each year. Phasing the increases in will allow businesses to adjust, ensuring that jobs aren't put at risk and that employment in minimum wage sectors actually increases - as has been the case in Seattle. Once we reach $15 an hour, we will index the minimum wage to inflation to ensure we don't fall behind.

Income security

A BC Green government will:

• Begin the transition to liveable incomes with an increase in Persons with Disabilities (PWD), income assistance and shelter allowance rates.
• Introduce a basic income support for youth aged 18 to 24 who are transitioning out of foster care
• Launch a basic income pilot project that will test its ability to reduce poverty, improve health, housing and employment
• Establish an arm's-length fair wages commission to recommend a new minimum wage and oversee regular rate reviews
• Eliminate Medical Service Plan (MSP) premiums by rolling them into the payroll tax and personal income tax

REASONABLE MINIMUM WAGES TO MATCH REASONABLE

HOUSING COSTS: In order to support a family’s basic needs and also housing affordability we believe the minimum wage in BC should be lifted to $15 per hour in a phased approach essentially equivalent in graduated steps similar to that currently being adopted by the Government of Alberta. That is from $10.85 per hour presently to $12.25 per hour immediately, then to $13.60 per hour in 12 months time, and $15 per hour the following year. It is an insult to BC minimum wage workers for the current BC government to offer a 40 cents per hour increase in the minimum wage to 500,000 BC citizens in September last year. At the time of this offer BC had the lowest wage in Canada for what is the most expensive province to live in Canada.

FOUR WEEKS LEAVE (20 WORK DAYS) WILL BE LEGISLATED FOR ALL BC WORKERS: We will be introducing a guaranteed minimum of 4 weeks annual holiday leave (20 work days) for all employees irrespective of their age or tenure. Pro-rate annual leave will be required for permanent part-time employees i.e. 2 weeks minimum annual leave for employees working 50% of a full week over a year.

Welcoming and protecting newcomers

John Horgan and the BC NDP will protect temporary foreign workers by bringing in a Temporary Foreign Worker registry to give government the information it needs to protect workers. While the majority of employers are responsible, the few who are not hurt workers, damage Canada's reputation, and compete unfairly against other honest BC businesses. We'll also end the collection of illegal recruitment fees by requiring recruiters and employers to register Temporary Foreign Workers.

We'll break down barriers to success preventing immigrants from using their professional experience to find meaningful work. This includes the creation of a Centre for Newcomers to help coordinate and educate skilled newcomers in their fields and reversing the BC Liberal cuts to funding for Adult Basic Education and English language courses for immigrants.

At the same time, we'll improve support for refugees to ensure they can build happy and successful new lives here while working with the federal government to increase BC's quota under the Provincial Nominee Program and increase BC's control over the terms of qualification.

Immigration

We are committed to human rights and oppose any form of discrimination amongst our citizens and support ongoing immigration into Canada from around the world.

Significant investments in child and youth mental health

Driving forward, Today's BC Liberals will:

• Invest $165 million for youth mental health needs and substance abuse issues.

A NEW ‘BC CENTRE FOR ADDICTION AND MENTAL HEALTH’ (CAMH)

As St Paul’s Hospital moves to its new False Creek site, our party will convert the entire old St Paul’s Hospital into a large specialist BC Centre for Addiction and Mental Health for access to free specialist health care services for those suffering from addiction and mental health issues. This downtown facility will provide 1,000 beds of support after current administrative offices are converted into accommodation beds. The centre will bring together specialist doctors, nurses, psychologists, counselors and other medical specialists with a singular focus on addiction and mental health. The Centre will takes an enormous amount of pressure off other hospital emergency departments and Intensive Care Units whose resources are currently being stretched having to cope with massive increases in drug addiction and mental health patients. These addiction and mental health services will be provided free of charge to all BC Citizens.

IMMEDIATELY RE-OPEN RIVERVIEW HOSPITAL IN COQUITLAM: Whilst awaiting the relocation of St Paul’s Hospital to False Creek we will immediately fund the re-investment and re-opening of Riverview Hospital which has 244 acres of property and 75 buildings comprising 153,640 square metres (1,653,767 square feet) of space. In its heyday, Riverview handled 4,306 mental health patients in 1956 which was reduced to only 800 beds by the BC Liberals in 2002 and was finally closed by the BC Liberals in 2012. The currently dormant East and West Lawn Buildings as well as other key buildings will be funded with $150 million of immediate renovation and renewal costs and operational costs will come from the $1,000 million CAMH budget allocation.

See our full 10 point Plan for mental health and Addiction at our website: www.bccitizensfirst.ca

Encouraging buy local and a new B.C. hops industry

Driving forward, Today's BC Liberals will:

• Spur the development of a hops industry in B.C. with a $1 million annual grant towards an incentive program for farmers, contributing to the development of a VQA-like program for made-in-BC craft beer.
• Take further steps to encourage British Columbians to grow and buy locally grown food by doubling the 'Grow Local' program and making it permanent; and increasing the 'Buy Local' program by $1 million starting in 2019.

Growing BC agriculture

Grow BC, Feed BC, Buy BC

• Grow BC will help young farmers access land and focus on exciting initiatives like ensuring our bee populations stay healthy and supporting fruit and nut growers.
• Under Feed BC, government facilities will increase their use of BC-grown and processed foods.
• By bringing back an enhanced Buy BC marketing program, we will help local producers market their products.

We'll encourage leadership and innovation by:

• Partnering with growers, processors, colleges and universities to develop a BC Food Innovation Centre to innovate in the processing, packaging and marketing of BC food products.

We'll expand markets for vintners, brewers and craft distillers by:

• Establishing a BC beer, wine and spirits advisory panel to grow and strengthen the industry.
• Working with local producers to expand our markets and help market our products.

Make a Significant Investment in B.C.'s Agricultural Sector

1. A Green government will invest $30 million to enhance the long term viability of the agricultural sector (including incentives to produce food on Agricultural Land Reserve land, the establishment of agricultural apprenticeship programs at the secondary and post-secondary levels, and the expansion of 'Buy Local' initiatives.
2. A Green government would introduce new legistlation to enhance the protection of agricultural land.
3. A B.C. Green government will provide $40 million to fund research, and establish regional agricultural bureaus to provide expertise and support to local farmers to adapt to a changing climate.
4. A B.C. Green government will collaborate with the indigenous people, the not-for-profit sector, and other land interests to enhance access to land farming.
5. A Green government will work with farm operators to introduce measures to address labour shortages in agriculture.

AGRICULTURE

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ARE CRITICAL RESOURCES FOR ALL: We support Maslow’s globally recognized Hierarchy of Needs framework whereby it is necessary to first provide citizens with safe and secure affordable housing and food, then to focus on personal and community safety, health and environment. FOOD RESOURCES PROTECTED FROM HEALTH CONCERNS: We are concerned about the ongoing risks to public health from bacterial and virus outbreaks at various salmon farms and oyster farms. We propose to undertake a major investigation into ongoing problems in these two industry sectors and shut down those farms which do not meet global best practice standards. NEW BC FOOD BANK FUNDING: We will provide BC Foodbanks with $10 million of capital funding to support their introduction of perishable food uptake and distribution to their needy recipients as a means to improve the health and food intake of the needy. QUALITY TESTING OF WATER RESOURCES: We are concerned about the current existence of high levels of lead being detected across BC, particularly at schools. We will immediately commission an audit of all BC schools (private and public) in order to assess the current health and developmental risks to which we are currently exposing our young children. Where worldwide safe standards of lead are being exceeded we will immediately enforce remedial actions. The second stage of this program will focus on community testing and remediation of all water in rural, suburban, metropolitan and First Nations communities. RAISING CORPORATE ACCESS COSTS FOR BC WATER RESOURCES: We propose to raise water bottler charges for access to BC’s pure and pristine water from its current giveaway $2.50 per million litres (which the bottlers retail for $2.5 million dollars) up to a more reasonable $1,000 per million litres. These additional revenues will be directed to improving BC water resources for all BC citizens including First Nations.

Protecting communities with Guns & Gangs Strategy

Driving forward, Today's BC Liberals will:

• Continue to implement the Guns & Gangs Strategy to address public safety, keep our communities safe, and keep illegal firearms out of the hands of criminals.
• Make an additional $4 million investment in our Guns & Gangs Strategy in rural British Columbia.

A justice system that works

John Horgan and the BC NDP will ensure access to justice is fair, timely and affordable by:

• Hiring new court sheriffs immediately to bring the number back to a historical norm of 525 so fewer accused criminals walk away free without trial.
• Implementing the Surrey Accord and bringing together all levels of government to create a safer, healthier community and address crime, mental health, addiction and homelessness.
• Providing $500,000 a year in stable, secure funding for Surrey's Wraparound (WRAP) program to connect teens at risk of joining gangs with outreach workers, teachers and police.
• Taking pressure off the courts by reducing the number of people forced to represent themselves because of a lack of resources.
• Improving access to justice by hiring more staff for the Court Services Branch, increasing access to dispute resolutions services for families, expanding poverty law services and supporting First Nations legal services.
• Working with First Nations to set targets and take action to reduce the number of Aboriginal people facing our justice system and to reduce incarceration rates.
• Recognizing culture for its role in rehabilitation and recovery and providing culturally diverse and appropriate programming in prisons, particularly for Aboriginal people.
• Providing $8 million per year in funding to support women experiencing domestic violence, sexual assault and other crimes.

Justice and Policing

COMPULSORY POLICE BODY CAMERAS: All BC police will be required to wear body cameras whilst on duty. Funding will be directly provided by the BC Government.
NEW BC DIGITAL POLICE FORCE: A new BC Digital Police Force will be established to monitor all illegal activities on the internet and the dark web using global best practices and techniques to uncover illegal drug trade, online predators of underage children, cyber-bullying and harassment, illegal short term accommodation providers and ride-sharing providers etc SURREY NEIGHBORHOOD CCTV VIDEO SURVEILLANCE: A 24 hour monitored network of day and night Closed Circuit TV Cameras (CCTV) will be established in Surrey neighborhoods in order to identify and persecute illegal activities based upon the successful City of London operating model. INTRODUCTION OF NEW ‘SHOTSPOTTER’ TECHNOLOGY which will be integrated with the above CCTV network in order to quickly identify real-time gunshots in public venue, track and then apprehend offenders. Police will be provided with in-car video and audio access to real-time gunshot events occurring in local neighborhoods to assist with location, identification and apprehending of offenders. ELIMINATE EXCESSIVE LEGAL FEES ON CITIZENS FROM COURT INEFFICIENCY: We believe that the Court system is highly inefficient and can potentially cost members of the public a full day’s court time from their lawyers when in fact their lawyer might only spend 10 minutes in front of a judge during a Chambers Hearing. Accordingly we will require a more citizen-focused, cost effective and efficient Court system across BC particularly with respect to Chambers matters. WE WILL WORK WITH BC COURTS TO INTRODUCE 9 AM TO 5 PM COURT HEARING HOURS rather than the current highly restricted Court hours available to BC citizens. This will be achieved through appropriate funding of a more efficient and effective judicial Court system. TRIAL WAIT TIMES REDUCED: We will also require Court proceedings to be at final trial within 18 months of original lodgment (unless either party seeks an extension of time) through appropriate funding of a more efficient and effective judicial Court system. RESTORE LEGAL AID SERVICES: We will restore legal aid to its former levels with case funding increased to the latest published national average of $17.12 per capita through additional funds of $16.5 million per annum. All of these funds will be used to fund actions taken by our most vulnerable citizens to protect their rights, to increase time available for cases, and to expand the profile of accepted cases to include for example, overseas abductions by a parent. An additional $0.5 million will be available to increase call centre personnel and reduce call waiting times resulting in total additional budgeting of $17 million pa.

Ending poverty in BC

Addressing the urgent needs of people living in poverty is essential - and a moral responsibility. John Horgan's BC NDP will help by immediately:

• Reducing the depth of poverty in BC by immediately raising all income assistance and disability rates by $100 per month.
• Supporting assistance recipients as they re-enter the workforce by allowing them to keep an additional $200 per month in earnings exemptions.
• Ending Christy Clark's disability bus pass clawback, fully restoring the BC Bus Pass program for people with disabilities.

HOMELESS ACCOMMODATION AND SUPPORT

Homeless accommodation will be provided at CAMH and all of its Regional Annexes, as well as at Riverview Hospital, with an initial focus on those homeless who are concurrently suffering addiction and mental health issues. These people need to be immediately taken off the streets where they cannot attack students in schools, private citizens on our streets, and other short term residents of homeless shelters, nor abuse citizen or visitor pedestrians in our cities.