BC Conservative Platform Pledges to Cut Deficit to $10.8B While Boosting Revenue by $2.6B

The B.C. Conservatives have released a costed platform that the party says would generate $2.6 billion in additional revenue over three years and reduce the provincial deficit to $10.8 billion by 2030.

The 71-page platform was released on Oct. 18, six days before the Oct. 24 provincial election and three days after advance polls opened across the province.

The document projects that achieving gross domestic product (GDP) growth rates of 2.5 percent in 2027, 2.8 percent in 2028, and 3.2 percent in 2029, would generate an additional $2.62 billion in revenue over three years compared with the NDP’s forecast.

Conservative Leader Lorne Doerkson says he reviewed the document before it was published for public perusal.

“I just had a final look at it in the car on the way over here, and it will be open for criticism, I suppose, this afternoon,” he told reporters on Oct. 18. “But it looks really great to me. I’m really excited about the opportunity to certainly attack the deficit and grow the economy in this province.”

The platform pledges to curb spending through a freeze on outside hiring, saving roughly $2 billion over four years through attrition outside the front lines. It is also planning a core review of government ministries with the aim of finding approximately $1.8 billion in savings over four years.

Doerkson said in a letter introducing his party’s platform that a Conservative government would  focus on the economy, job creation, and lowering living costs, while pledging to make the lives of B.C. residents “easier and better.” He also made pledges on several other issues, including to “fully fund and protect” the health care system and ensure “British Columbians aren’t dying on waitlists or going to closed ERs when they need help.”

“I’ll make our streets safer. I’ll get more homes built. That’s the job I am asking you to elect me to do,” he added.

The Conservative roadmap for public safety involves hiring 250 more police recruits, 500 more RCMP, 30 sheriffs, and 150 civilian staff over five years, according to the platform. The plan also proposes bringing on 50 Crown prosecutors and 20 new trial judges specifically for “high-need target communities.”

The party has also promised to end the previous government’s “safe supply” approach to addiction and redirect the focus to prevention, treatment, and recovery.

Other promises include temporarily removing 10 percent PST on all Canadian-made beer, wine, and spirits until the ongoing trade conflict with the United States is resolved, and beefing up  forest fire prevention with $400 million for aircrafts and $100 million for “wildfire innovation.”

The New Democrats criticized the platform, saying the Conservatives’ campaign promises could add more than $5 billion in annual costs and reduced revenue, along with $500 million in one-time expenses, without a clear plan to pay for them.

The party said the proposed income tax cuts and the removal of the provincial sales tax (PST) on Canadian alcohol and other items would reduce revenue by billions of dollars annually and increase the deficit.

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.