The NDP MLA for Burnaby-Edmonds is calling the Liberals’ pre-election budget a “forget everything budget.”
Raj Chouhan made the comments shortly after B.C. Finance Minister Mike de Jong gave his budget speech Tuesday afternoon.
“I don’t think people will forget because they were hit hard when they were living paycheque to paycheque. Fifty-three per cent of British Columbians are living paycheque to paycheque,” said Chouhan.
It’s the fifth consecutive balanced budget delivered by the Liberals.
One of the budget highlights is cutting MSP premiums in half for two million British Columbians with an annual net income of up to $120,000, staring Jan. 1, 2018. Yearly savings will equate to $900 a year for a family of four and $450 for individuals. The hope is to eventually eliminate the premiums as it becomes affordable, according to de Jong.
The Liberals also said they’ll cut the PST on electricity over the next two years, from 7 per cent to 3.5 per cent, for small and medium-sized businesses.
Other investments include $287 million over the next three years in the Ministry of Children and Family Development and $2.7 billion in health capital projects, including new patient care towers at two hospitals in the Interior.
Richard Lee, Liberal MLA for Burnaby North, said a strong economy during the last two years has allowed the government to put money back into taxpayers’ pockets.
“In terms of economic development and job creation, we are leading per capita in Canada, and we are the only province keeping a triple A credit rating,” he said. “I think other provinces would like to do that, but they’re not in a position to do it.”
The biggest disappointment for Chouhan was hearing of no funding for a new Burnaby hospital.
“Our hospital is in such bad need. Our community needs a new hospital, but not a word. They totally neglected Burnaby in this budget,” he told the NOW.
According to Chouhan, there wasn’t much in the budget to help seniors. He pointed to the 91 per cent of senior care facilities in B.C. that are understaffed.
“They (the Liberals) are sitting there, just smiling, and they don’t care about what people have gone through. People with disabilities, their bus passes were taken away. And now they want us to forget everything. They talk about surplus, but at what cost?” he asked.
Chouhan added since it’s an election year, the pre-election budget is a way for Christy Clark’s Liberals to buy votes.
“They’re making these promises, hoping that people will just be so naïve that they will just go for it. But people have seen the record of this government as such that they won’t fall for (it),” he said.
Rick McGowan, Green candidate for Burnaby-Deer Lake, welcomed the reduction in MSP premiums, but said they’re still a “significant burden.”
“Someone making $42,000 per year pays the same premiums as someone making $120,000. There is no commitment or timeline for eliminating MSP premiums entirely,” he wrote in a Twitter message to the NOW.
McGowan, who’s been a strong advocate on the issue of “demovictions” in Metrotown, added the budget doesn’t provide relief for low-income renters, with rental assistance programs maintained at current levels.
“(It’s) lipstick on a pig,” he said.
Other budget highlights
*Increasing the threshold of the first-time home buyer’s program from $475,000 to $500,000 (savings of up to $8,000 in property transfer tax on the purchase of a first home).
*Reducing the corporate tax rate for small businesses from 2.5 per cent to 2 per cent.
*Reducing the interest rate on student loans from prime plus 2.5 per cent to just prime, starting August 2017.
*Up to 2,000 new child care spaces.
*A $740-million investment in education over three years and a $2-billion boost in school capital projects over three years – to build, replace, renovate and seismically upgrade schools.
