B.C. Conservatives pledge no new taxes as fiscal pressure grows

B.C. Conservative Leader Lorne Doerkson says his party would neither introduce new taxes nor raise existing ones if it forms government following the Oct. 24 provincial election. Doerkson made the pledge Sunday while campaigning in Surrey, arguing that families are paying more without receiving corresponding improvements in health care, education and other public services.

The Conservatives contrasted their position with NDP Leader David Eby’s proposal to tax completed but unsold condominiums and increase the speculation and vacancy tax. Doerkson’s party also criticized the NDP government for raising the lowest provincial income-tax rate from 5.06 per cent to 5.6 per cent, freezing income-tax brackets through 2030 and proposing—then postponing—an expansion of the provincial sales tax to several professional services.

The unanswered question is how a Conservative government would balance the promise against B.C.’s deteriorating finances. The province is forecasting a $13.8-billion deficit, and the party has not yet released a fully costed platform explaining which programs would be protected, where spending would be reduced or how the budget would eventually return to balance.