NDP calls for AG to investigate Liberal corporate tax kickbacks
Posted May 5, 2017 10:58 am.
Last Updated May 5, 2017 11:09 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
RICHMOND (NEWS 1130) – We are only a few short days before BC voters head to the polls.
In Richmond this morning, BC Liberal Leader Christy Clark made a quick stop as all the leaders get ready for a final, busy weekend of campaigning.
Clark says her party have been and will continue to be the only party focused on jobs, something she believes, can’t be said about her opposition. “The BC NDP can no longer claim that they are the party of working people. Not when they oppose Pacific Northwest LNG — 4,500 jobs. Site C — 10,000 jobs. The George Massey Replacement — 14,000 jobs.”
When asked, again, about a piece earlier this year by the New York Times that exposed the loopholes of political donations in BC, Clark said not only will she not stop the practice, but it actually grows because it creates employment. “We need to grow those kinds of programs. The numbers that we have, tell us that we have brought in far more revenue than the province has given up since 1988 when the program first came in,” adds Clark.
NDP Vancouver-Point Grey Candidate David Eby says the program was rapidly expanded under the BC Liberals.
The New Democrats are also calling for the Auditor General to take a look at what happened. “We think it’s totally unacceptable that Christy Clark can give away $160-million in public money and then refuse to even release the names of the companies that the money was given to. This is unacceptable secrecy and it’s a ridiculous waste of money given that everyone acknowledges that this thing hasn’t created any jobs.”
Meantime, BC NDP Leader John Horgan started the last Friday of the campaign by making the rounds on local TV morning shows.
He was on Breakfast Television on City and asked point-blank whether a New Democrat government would raise taxes. “No. There will be no new taxes on my watch. We’ve got a three-year fiscal plan that’s based on the numbers that were tabled in the Legislature back in February and we’re just making different choices. We’re putting priorities in different places. The Liberals were focused on this set of issues, we want to focus on people.”
Despite that claim, Horgan has promised to increase taxes on high-income earners in the province to pay for his platform plans.
He also suggests the biggest challenge ahead will be fixing BC’s troubled education system. “The Liberals for 14 years fought with teachers, fought with parents, fought with school trustees and now the Supreme Court has said you were violating the law and now we’ve got to fix that problem.”
BC Green Party Leader Andrew Weaver is splitting his time today between Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast.
Click here for the latest on the provincial election.
