Conservative Party of BC
Climate Change & the Environment
Climate adaptation
"Maximize the use of wetter species within ecosystems historically dominated by wildfires - helping to keep wildfires on the ground and allow for more opportunities to stop wildfires from spreading. More diverse species mixes in specific areas will also enhance wildlife habitat value." — conservativebc.ca, retrieved 2024-10-08
"Implement more selective logging, fuel load management, and species mix in interface areas. The objective is to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires in areas adjacent to communities." — conservativebc.ca, retrieved 2024-10-08
"Work with contractors and the private sector to empower them to be able to act quickly in response to emerging wildfire issues." — conservativebc.ca, retrieved 2024-10-08
Forests and forestry
- "Define the land area that will be prioritized for the harvest of primary forest products.
A healthy forest sector needs stability and predictability. This is achieved by defining an area dedicated to providing primary forest products."
— conservativebc.ca, retrieved 2024-10-08
- "Define the land area that will be prioritized for meeting biodiversity goals, where sourcing forest products will be of secondary value.
Combined with our parks and other forested areas, our balanced approach will allow industry to access an adequate and predictable supply of fibre, while protecting the ecological value of BC’s forests.
Having flexibility within the management of these areas will allow BC to better manage forest health issues, including wildfire mitigation plus restoration and rehabilitation where needed."
— conservativebc.ca, retrieved 2024-10-08
- "Replace stumpage with a value-added end product tax.
A value-added tax system will be instantaneously responsive to current market conditions, and it will encourage industry to get more value and jobs out of each log. Input credits will be created for higher-value products and better utilization of fibre: meaning the more a producer can do with the fibre, the more credits that will be created."
— conservativebc.ca, retrieved 2024-10-08
- "Implement a “One Project, One Permit” process.
“One Project, One Permit” will significantly reduce costs to all parties (i.e. government, First Nations, and companies) and make it viable to invest in BC forestry again."
— conservativebc.ca, retrieved 2024-10-08
"The core review will identify all unnecessary costs and red tape which have resulted in BC shipping forestry jobs to other provinces and the US. We will make sure the industry is competitive enough to ship products again, not jobs." — conservativebc.ca, retrieved 2024-10-08
"Encouraging the use of wood fibre in power generation and other secondary applications will create new revenue streams for the industry and government, protecting jobs and realizing the highest possible value per log." — conservativebc.ca, retrieved 2024-10-08
- "Change the annual allowable cut from a sawlog AAC to a fibre AAC.
Tree waste from harvesting is often left behind in the forests to be piled and burned. While there is a need to leave woody debris behind to help with habitat values, BC should account for this fibre and value it." — conservativebc.ca, retrieved 2024-10-08
"Focus harvesting on areas damaged by wildfires or forest health issues. By responding quickly, we can better-utilize the damaged fibre while doing the necessary work of rehabilitation and accelerated reforestation." — conservativebc.ca, retrieved 2024-10-08
Pollution
Healthcare
Diagnostic and procedure wait-times
"After a brief consultation period, the Conservative Party of BC will:
- Implement the Patients First Wait Time Guarantee for select diagnostics and surgical procedures.
If diagnostic or medical procedures exceed medically recommended wait times, patients would be able to access care at a pre-approved facility out-of-province and be re-imbursed according to a set fee schedule. A similar policy (Cross Border Directive) has been helping patients across the European Union since 2013."
— conservativebc.ca, retrieved 2024-10-08
"The Conservative Party of BC will:
- Pay for patients in the public system to receive quality health care services in non-governmental clinics for specific priority procedures and diagnostic services.
We will get people off waiting lists and into operating rooms and diagnostic clinics for services like MRIs and priority surgeries. It makes no sense for non-government health facilities to sit idle when they could be contracted to help BC patients right now."
— conservativebc.ca, retrieved 2024-10-08
Family doctors and primary care
"Comprehensive primary care led by a family physician improves patient outcomes. The Conservative Party of BC will immediately consult and work with physicians and other primary health providers (e.g., physician assistants, nurses, nurse practitioners) on ways to maximize the number of people a family doctor’s office can see. This will support the reported nearly 1 million British Columbians without a family doctor to get off a waitlist and into a primary healthcare clinic.
To meet the current and future demand, increasing the number of family physicians is important but will not be enough on its own. It is critical that we work together to look at ways to optimize the utilization and efficiency of our primary healthcare providers, including the use of modern tools and technologies to reduce administrative burden, track and optimize staffing, and ultimately improve patient outcomes." — conservativebc.ca, retrieved 2024-10-08
"Ensuring that more British Columbians in rural areas are able to access updated types of care like telehealth and digital diagnostic tools." — conservativebc.ca, retrieved 2024-10-08
Health administration
"Instead of simply throwing money at health facilities and hoping for the best (the “block grant” model), the Conservative Party will implement what has effectively worked well in European countries and Quebec – a policy known as “activity-based funding”.
This will see hospitals, Regional Health Authorities, and/or other non-government facilities funded based on their output – each time they treat patients for specific diagnostic and priority procedures, they receive additional funds. This approach incentivizes providers to be more efficient and treat as many patients as possible."
— conservativebc.ca, retrieved 2024-10-08
"Ensuring that we track key metrics for all parts of the healthcare journey. We will expand current tracking of the time from the visit to a specialist to the surgery. We will expand this tracking to include the wait time to see a specialist." — conservativebc.ca, retrieved 2024-10-08
"Identifying additional performance metrics for the system and ensuring that the progress is tracked and reported to British Columbians in an accessible and understandable manner." — conservativebc.ca, retrieved 2024-10-08
"Drawing on best governance practices from other jurisdictions to break down silos between the Regional Health Authorities and the Ministry. This enables the implementation of Integrated Operations Centres at the provincial and zone level and allow the ability to track and manage wait times and optimize resources in real time." — conservativebc.ca, retrieved 2024-10-08
Health staffing
"Nurses that want to improve their credentials should have flexible options for career training. As experienced professionals retire, our system will need to replace this expertise. We will ensure that front line staff like Healthcare Assistants and Licensed Practical Nurses that want to upskill their credentials have a path that ensures they can both support our healthcare system and advance their careers." — conservativebc.ca, retrieved 2024-10-08
"Immediately repealing the Health Professions and Occupations Act (Bill C-36) to reduce the unnecessary red tape, political and ideology control that the NDP have imposed on the healthcare system.
- The front lines understand and know their professions better than government. We want to work with them to establish legislation that ensures that the oversight of medical professions is neither politicized, nor needlessly restrictive and/or government regulated."
— conservativebc.ca, retrieved 2024-10-08
"Present early offers and enter in multi-year employment contracts with BC educated medical professionals (pending successful program completion) to incentivize and encourage graduates to remain in the province." — conservativebc.ca, retrieved 2024-10-08
"Create new spots in BC medical schools reserved specifically for BC students. Students from British Columbia are more likely to want to practice in communities closer to home." — conservativebc.ca, retrieved 2024-10-08
"Work with our post-secondary institutions to expand opportunities for medical students to get hands-on experience while completing their education. We need to build connections between students who seek to work in healthcare specifically in high need positions and communities (e.g., Healthcare Assistants)." — conservativebc.ca, retrieved 2024-10-08
"Expanding both domestic and international recruitment efforts to fill urgent needs within the system.
o We cannot improve access if we do not have the necessary staff. Out-of-province and international recruitment can provide an immediate stopgap to address staffing shortfalls.
o Out-of-province and international professionals that come to BC to practice in high need jurisdictions will have access to financial incentives."
— conservativebc.ca, retrieved 2024-10-08
"Taking all constitutionally permitted steps within the immigration system to nominate and accelerate applications for medical professionals.
o The federal government has had the ability to expedite applications for international medical professionals, but they have failed to do so.
o We will work with the federal government to ensure that applicants are able to acquire the necessary credentials to begin practicing in Canada immediately.
o We will identify ways to accelerate credential recognition to ensure that no British Columbian has skills that go to waste.
o We will build on the model of the Atlantic Physicians Registry and work with other provinces to simplify processes for medical professionals to move between jurisdictions."
— conservativebc.ca, retrieved 2024-10-08
Hospitals
"Instead of simply throwing money at health facilities and hoping for the best (the “block grant” model), the Conservative Party will implement what has effectively worked well in European countries and Quebec – a policy known as “activity-based funding”.
This will see hospitals, Regional Health Authorities, and/or other non-government facilities funded based on their output – each time they treat patients for specific diagnostic and priority procedures, they receive additional funds. This approach incentivizes providers to be more efficient and treat as many patients as possible."
— conservativebc.ca, retrieved 2024-10-08
Technology and health
"Conducting a thorough review of curricula to ensure congruency of the healthcare professional roles with present needs and future demands of emerging Artificially Intelligent Health Technologies (AIHTs)." — conservativebc.ca, retrieved 2024-10-08
"Creating a framework for AIHT in BC that ensures all usage improves the care of patients either directly or indirectly by using health service resources more productively. Any cost savings will be reinvested in BC healthcare - modern technology will work to help reduce wait times."— conservativebc.ca, retrieved 2024-10-08
"Ensuring that any introduction of any technology must be grounded in robust research evidence and a fit for purpose and framework that patients, public and staff can all trust. We will prioritize the importance of protecting privacy relating personal to health data and ensure health data cannot be disclosed without an individual’s full consent." — conservativebc.ca, retrieved 2024-10-08
Housing & Homelessness
Housing prices
"1) Largest tax cut for renters and homeowners in BC history – $3,000 per month of rent or mortgage interest costs will be exempt from provincial income taxes. This will be achieved by issuing a tax credit worth 5.06% of eligible housing costs, equivalent to the rate of BC’s base tax bracket.
2) Immediate relief in Budget 2026 - by exempting $1,500 per month, increasing by $500 per year to the full level of $3,000 per month. This is a clear and long-term commitment to British Columbians who work hard.
3) A fair and fiscally responsible tax credit – The 2026 budget impact will not exceed $900 million, and we will design a targeted tax credit that ensures the relief goes to people who need it to get ahead in life." — conservativebc.ca, retrieved 2024-10-08
Jobs, Businesses, & Labour
Forests and forestry
- "Define the land area that will be prioritized for the harvest of primary forest products.
A healthy forest sector needs stability and predictability. This is achieved by defining an area dedicated to providing primary forest products."
— conservativebc.ca, retrieved 2024-10-08
- "Define the land area that will be prioritized for meeting biodiversity goals, where sourcing forest products will be of secondary value.
Combined with our parks and other forested areas, our balanced approach will allow industry to access an adequate and predictable supply of fibre, while protecting the ecological value of BC’s forests.
Having flexibility within the management of these areas will allow BC to better manage forest health issues, including wildfire mitigation plus restoration and rehabilitation where needed."
— conservativebc.ca, retrieved 2024-10-08
- "Replace stumpage with a value-added end product tax.
A value-added tax system will be instantaneously responsive to current market conditions, and it will encourage industry to get more value and jobs out of each log. Input credits will be created for higher-value products and better utilization of fibre: meaning the more a producer can do with the fibre, the more credits that will be created."
— conservativebc.ca, retrieved 2024-10-08
- "Implement a “One Project, One Permit” process.
“One Project, One Permit” will significantly reduce costs to all parties (i.e. government, First Nations, and companies) and make it viable to invest in BC forestry again."
— conservativebc.ca, retrieved 2024-10-08
"The core review will identify all unnecessary costs and red tape which have resulted in BC shipping forestry jobs to other provinces and the US. We will make sure the industry is competitive enough to ship products again, not jobs." — conservativebc.ca, retrieved 2024-10-08
"Encouraging the use of wood fibre in power generation and other secondary applications will create new revenue streams for the industry and government, protecting jobs and realizing the highest possible value per log." — conservativebc.ca, retrieved 2024-10-08
- "Change the annual allowable cut from a sawlog AAC to a fibre AAC.
Tree waste from harvesting is often left behind in the forests to be piled and burned. While there is a need to leave woody debris behind to help with habitat values, BC should account for this fibre and value it." — conservativebc.ca, retrieved 2024-10-08
"Focus harvesting on areas damaged by wildfires or forest health issues. By responding quickly, we can better-utilize the damaged fibre while doing the necessary work of rehabilitation and accelerated reforestation." — conservativebc.ca, retrieved 2024-10-08
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