The long-awaited costed Conservative Party of BC platform for this Saturday's election has been released, with leader John Rustad suggesting his plan would balance the provincial budget within a two-term period.
"We want to make sure we protect the front-line services that are needed by people in British Columbia. But at the same time we are going to be doing a review of that spending and approach that's needed in government, and that's the difference," said Rustad, also suggesting he would not take a "draconian" approach to cost-cutting.
This plan hinges on investment to ramp up the economy, with Rustad suggesting the province would see 5.4 per cent growth under his party. In contrast, his team estimates the province's growth would peak at 3.1 per cent under BC NDP leadership.
Ultimately, this financial plan projects a deficit of roughly $11 billion by the end of a first term. B.C.'s current deficit is roughly $9 billion. Notably, Rustad's announcement also touched on healthcare and education. He plans to increase healthcare spending by $3.8 billion over eight years.
"The reason for the increase is we need to be able to have the flexibility for the changes that are needed," he said, calling for increased efficiencies and reduced wait-times. He also said patient-centred healthcare means creating a model where "the funding follows the patient."
Rustad also shed some light on quick changes to the publication of the party's education policy this week. He says it was a simple publication error: the early version of the release and policy went out instead of the final version.