Government Throne Speech a blend of vague promises, empty of real meaning, around NDP mixture of child care and high-speed rail, and half measures to address the real problems this province faces

BC Conservative Party interim
leader Scott Anderson

VERNON:   Scott Anderson, Interim Leader of the BC Conservatives, is concerned that the NDP has no real vision or plan to deal with the real problems facing British Columbia.

“The Throne Speech is a blend of vague promises, empty of real meaning, around NDP mixture of child care and high-speed rail, and half measures to address the real problems this province faces, like money laundering,” said Anderson. “The NDP merely dusted off the broken promises of last year, like child care and 'poverty reduction', and re-promised them this year. How disingenuous is that?”

“On MSP, for example, the NDP are advertising that they eliminated it, but all they have done is change the name and passed it on to businesses and municipalities. The alleged '$1800' they're supposedly saving families is eclipsed by businesses passing on the charges to the consumer. Not to mention the carbon tax which is further increasing the cost of living.”

The BC Conservatives say the government is on the wrong track when it comes to affordable housing in BC.

“Instead of penalizing Canadians by forcing them to rent out their houses or sell them, the NDP needs a reality check,” said Anderson. “A significant cause of the ridiculously high home costs is offshore and domestic money laundering, and that's where we should be focusing our efforts.”

“While we applaud the NDP on at least taking note of the money laundering problem, we feel the problem requires a full public inquiry followed by immediate action to shut down the flood of illegal money into the real estate market.”

On Horgan's promise that “If further action [on ICBC] is required, your government will be ready,” Anderson says the time for further action is long past.

"ICBC needs a full overhaul," said Scott Anderson, Interim Leader of the BC Conservatives.

"The Liberals used it as a piggy-bank and the NDP's answer is to tinker with it, while keeping it tangled in a massive bureaucratic rat's nest, still embedded in an archaic Crown Corporation. Nor has the NDP addressed the problem of government dipping that went on under the Liberals."

"Knowing that the status quo is no longer acceptable, the NDP at least tried to bring rates in line with reality," said Anderson.

"But being the NDP, they couldn't bring themselves to take the final, necessary step and allow the expert risk assessors in the private sector to determine realistic, viable insurance rates while opening ICBC to competition in order to keep rates as low as possible.”

Doing so would also help new drivers who are getting the short end of the stick under the proposed system.

* The BC Conservatives will turn ICBC into a co-operative, ensuring that BC drivers who pay premiums will be the ones who own the organization. A co-operative will work in drivers’ best interest, rather than serving the government of the day.

* The BC Conservatives will also open the industry to private competition, to help drive rates lower.

In regard to what was not in the speech, Interim Deputy Leader Justin Greenwood had this to say:

“I found it disconcerting that in light of the troubles surrounding allegations in the report given by Speaker Darryl Plecas, the subject of transparency in the throne speech was very vague. Transparency is a crucial aspect of accountability. One solution to this is to make all legislature expenditures subject to FOI requests.”

“No more hiding, no more culture of entitlement”, Greenwood concluded