‘Record of broken promises’: Wilkinson looks back on Horgan’s year as premier
Posted July 18, 2018 9:59 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Today marks one year since the official start of the BC NDP/Green Party alliance. Perhaps not surprisingly, the leader of the official opposition says it hasn’t been a successful one.
BC Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson says John Horgan‘s NDP government hasn’t delivered on many of the files it campaigned on.
“The promised a renters’ rebate — that’s fallen apart. They promised that ride-hailing would be introduced during 2017, then during 2018 — those have both fallen apart,” he says.
“Their $10-a-day daycare program is in big trouble. We’ve learned that about 8,000 daycare spaces are actually closing because of the new government plan.”
He says 40,000 private sector jobs have been lost and only 20,000 public sector jobs have been created.
“We have a government on the old pathway of the NDP, toward making government much bigger, at the expense of the private sector. That means that inevitably, there will be more taxes to pay for all of these government positions.”
Wilkinson also brings up the issue of the Trans Mountain pipeline, claiming taxpayers are now paying billions of dollars for a pipeline they don’t want “because of Horgan’s pig-headedness.”
There has been commentary, arguing the BC NDP has kept most of its promises and has one of the best transitions from opposition into government. But Wilkinson doesn’t share that view.
“They’ve increased eight different taxes and their plan for portables in Surrey has fallen apart. They’re also failing in their housing plan. This is hardly a government I can say to be proud of its record.”
He thinks there will be a “big fight” between the NDP and Greens this fall over LNG, calling them “uncomfortable bedfellows.”
– With files from John Ackermann
