VICTORIA — Voters in British Columbia elect a new government on May 9. Here's a look at some of the major issues:
Housing: The benchmark price for detached properties in Greater Vancouver stood at more than $1.5 million last May, giving rise to complaints about unaffordable homes as tent cities for homeless people sprang up in Victoria and Vancouver.
The government imposed a 15 per cent tax on foreign buyers in Metro Vancouver to help cool the market and restore hope that home ownership was still achievable for those who feared they couldn't afford to live in their communities.
"If we can make it a little bit harder for those wealthy foreign buyers, we are going to make it a whole lot easier for those middle-class British Columbians we want to put first," Premier Christy Clark said last year.
Campaign finances: With no set limits on corporate, union or individual contributions to political parties, fundraising in B.C. has become known as the wild West.
The New Democrats blame the Liberals for continuing to fill party coffers while the party turned down six attempts to ban union and corporate donations to political parties. A special prosecutor was appointed days before the campaign to assist the RCMP in its Election Act probe of donations to both major parties.
Child care: The NDP is promising $10-a-day daycare based on Quebec's system as one the major planks in its campaign. A shortage of child-care spaces, coupled with the added strains of sky-high housing prices in B.C.'s major cities are making it difficult for young families, say the Opposition New Democrats, who believe affordable care is good for families and the economy.
"We can't afford not to do this," NDP Leader John Horgan has argued. The Liberals say they are creating thousands of new child-care spaces and the NDP plan is simply not affordable.
Education: There's peace on British Columbia's education front, but the toll of a long-running battle between the government and teachers that saw a bitter strike shut down schools and a court case in the Supreme Court of Canada could be a campaign issue.
The NDP is pointing to years of turmoil, while the Liberals say they have brought stability to classrooms. "I would say this (education spending) is the most important investment that we make as a society," Clark has said.
Pipelines: The federal government approved the expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline last year, but the prospect of more oil tankers in the Burrard Inlet near Vancouver is controversial. The Liberals say they fought for increased environmental protections from Ottawa and economic benefits from the company behind the project.
But the NDP says the environmental risks are too great. "It is a federal decision, and they made it," Clark said after the project was approved. "But what our job is, is to stand up for British Columbia. It's to fight to make sure our coasts, our land base, our communities are protected and benefiting from any change in the movement of heavy oil across our province."
Economy: B.C. leads Canada in job creation and its economic growth has put it among the country's best performers for years, but rural regions are hurting. The promise of riches from proposed liquefied natural gas operations have yet to appear.
Clark says good jobs help families and make strong communities, but the NDP says the government forgot about industries like forestry to chase the LNG dream. “Things aren't what they could be. We can do better,” Horgan has argued.
Minimum wage: The NDP, backed by the B.C. Federation of Labour, is promising a minimum wage of $15 an hour, while the Liberals have been implementing staggered increases that will bring the minimum wage to $11.35 an hour by September.
The Liberals say the minimum wage has increased six times since 2011 and less than five per cent of workers in British Columbia earn the minimum wage. "When workers have money in their pockets it's good for the economy," said Irene Lanzinger, president of the labour federation. "They don't sock it away in a Swiss bank account."
B.C. CAMPAIGN OFFICIALLY STARTS TUESDAY BUT NDP, GREEN BUSES ALREADY ROLLING
VICTORIA — The official start to British Columbia's election campaign is set to launch Tuesday, but the buses are already rolling and the attack ads and name-calling are shifting into high gear.
While Premier Christy Clark is expected to visit Government House to start the 29-day campaign, the parties have been in election mode since mid-March when the legislature adjourned, allowing politicians to return to their ridings.
Clark's Liberals are looking to win a fifth consecutive mandate, while the New Democrats are promising a toe-to-toe battle to convince voters to give them a shot at government after 16 years in opposition.
The Greens, who hold one seat in the legislature, are mounting a full slate of candidates and are boldly predicting a political breakthrough that shakes up B.C.'s two-party tradition.
The Liberals enter the campaign with a strong economic record, which includes the lowest jobless rate in Canada, a top-performing economy and consecutive surplus budgets.
The party also has a hefty bank account to use during the campaign. Recent figures released by ElectionsBC show the party raked in more than $13.1 million in political donations last year. The New Democrats took in less that half that total at $6.2 million.
Both parties have been dogged by controversy over political donations, something that is expected to be an election issue.
A special prosecutor was appointed days before the start of the campaign to help the RCMP in its investigation of possible Election Act violations over political donations to both major parties.
The Liberal government is also dragging baggage over sky-high housing costs, the long-running feud over funding public education, and unfulfilled liquefied natural gas promises.
Clark campaigned in 2013 on promises of a debt-free B.C. fuelled by the job-creating LNG industry. She said she believes the dream of LNG export plants is still alive even though markets have cooled development.
She reacted sternly to NDP comments that LNG development has been a B.C. Liberal failure.
"They should be really happy if it's a failure because they've tried every step of the way to shut the whole process down, to kill LNG before it even got going," said Clark in a recent interview. "They just want to quit. It will happen. We've got to be determined about it. You don't get points for quitting."
NDP Leader John Horgan said the party will not be as friendly as in the 2013 campaign where it focused on issues and lost after holding a 20-point lead in public opinion polls.
"I do believe we need to be more positive about our politics, but that doesn't mean you allow your opponents a free pass," he said. "It means you should talk more boldly about the things you want to do."
Horgan said he has just one job leading this campaign.
"For me, I have to convince as many people as possible to support change in B.C.," said Horgan. "That's my task."
The NDP unveiled its bus last Tuesday and Horgan has already visited B.C.'s Interior and much of Metro Vancouver.
The New Democrats recently launched TV ads attacking the Liberals on housing and rising fees and rates that increase costs for families. Its ads also remind viewers about the RCMP investigation into political contributions in B.C.
Its message: "Christy Clark's BC Liberals. They're not working for you."
The Liberals have countered with an ad that depicts Horgan as a weather vane, whose positions on major issues, including the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project, shift with the direction of the wind.
"Same weak leadership. Same old NDP," the TV ad concludes.
Green party leader Andrew Weaver, a noted climate scientist, said he will present the Greens as a principled, fiscally sound alternative to the Liberals and NDP.
"We see too much politics being based on sound bites and too little being based on thoughtful analysis," he said.
The current standings in the legislature are: 47 Liberals, 35 New Democrats and three Independents — which including two new seats created this election brings the total number to 87.
