VANCOUVER — A look at some of the three main parties major promises in the B.C. election campaign:
Liberals:
— $157 million in new spending over three years.
— A personal income tax freeze and new tax credits for seniors and family members who care for them.
— Cut the small business tax to two per cent.
— Phase out provincial sales tax on electricity for all businesses.
— Four more balanced budgets, which would extend the string to nine straight budgets in the black.
— Cut unpopular medical service premiums in half, starting in January.
— Create a new tax credit for people living in communities that are dependent on BC Ferries.
— Teach coding to students in grades 6 to 9.
NDP:
— Reverse a Liberal tax cut for people earning more than $150,000 a year.
— Phase out medical service premiums and eliminate interest on student loans.
— Increase the corporate tax rate by one point to 12 per cent.
— Supports the Liberal plan to reduce the small business tax.
— Introduce a speculation tax that would apply to all out-of-province property owners. The two-per-cent tax on a property's assessed value would give the government $200 million a year in additional revenue.
— Bring in $10-a-day childcare.
— Give renters an annual $400 rebate.
— Three years of balanced budgets, starting in this fiscal year.
Green party:
— Overhaul the tax system to pay for investments in childcare, education, public health and the environment.
— Operating deficits in the second and third years of a four-year mandate with a $216-million surplus in the final fiscal year.
— Create a new ministry for mental health and addictions.
— Earmark $80 million for mental health initiatives, including early intervention community centres, youth programs and more supervised injection sites.
— Spend $460-million investment in public transit infrastructure.
— Free daycare for working parents with kids under the age of three.
— Increase the corporate tax rate to 12 per cent, one percentage point higher than it is now.
— Raise tax rates on those who earn more than $108,000 a year and roll medical service premiums into payroll and income taxes.
The Canadian Press