The BC United Party has rolled out what it calls it’s first batch of affordability based policies that it would implement if it forms government in the next election.
Coralee Oakes, the MLA for the new Prince George-Cariboo North riding, says one involves ending “the pain at the pumps.”
“We would eliminate the provincial fuel tax, so that can save drivers up to 15 cents per lite on gasoline or diesel. Whether you’re a family, industry, a restaurant, it doesn’t matter, that additional cost of the provincial fuel tax is something that the government, we’ve been calling on the NDP to do that as we’ve seen the affordability crisis get stronger. They could take those steps and they haven’t.”
Oakes says they would also remove the carbon tax from home heating fuels.
“There has been a lot of seniors that have come into my office that are really struggling with paying their home heating bills. A lot of the files that we have are seniors making some pretty challenging choices, difficult choices, and that shouldn’t happen.”
Oakes says they would remove the carbon tax on farm fuel use, reducing operational costs for farmers.
“We know that will make groceries more affordable for everyone. We don’t have the transit opportunities that folks in other parts of the province have, you know we have cold climate, so the roll out today is to ensure that we have a common sense approach to make things more affordable for British Columbians.”
Oakes says the carbon tax isn’t working.
“You’ve got an NDP government that is looking at doubling the amount per tonne on carbon by the end of the decade, and our emissions are going up. So what we’re asking is when do we pivot ? When do we say, like we are investing all of this money that are really hurting the average British Columbian and we’re not seeing results, so is it time for us to start making some common sense decisions.”
Oakes says they want to continue their commitment to lower emissions, but through other measures such as wildifre mitigation.
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