Financial and public-health barbarians are at the gate in this B.C. election campaign
Financial and public-health barbarians are at the gate in this B.C. election campaign
Richmond-Bridgeport independent candidate Charlie Smith points out that John Rustad's fiscal plan is far more reckless than anything dreamed up by David Eby
Back in 2004, a Vancouver mayor famously compared the federal Conservatives to “barbarians at the gate”. He was referring to Conservative strength in the Vancouver suburbs during an election campaign.
I’m going to update that statement by saying the “financial barbarians” are now at the gate in Richmond, where I’m running as an independent. I’m not talking about the B.C. NDP, despite its projected $9-billion deficit (updated forecast).
Get this: the B.C. Conservative fiscal plan will deliver an $11-billion deficit in the first year! But that’s not all. Public finance policy analyst Alex Hemingway pointed out that this shortfall doesn’t include the $5.7 billion in annual revenue losses that will come from John Rustad’s rental and mortgage tax rebate and elimination of the carbon tax.
When that comes in, it will wreak holy havoc on the B.C. budget.
In more than 30 years of journalism, I have never seen a more financially reckless fiscal plan. It’s revoltingly irresponsible.
The B.C. Conservatives might as well have shot a cannon at the provincial treasury. If not offset with savage spending cuts, the B.C. Conservatives will flush B.C.’s credit rating down the toilet.
That, in turn, will jack up interest payments on the debt. The taxpayer-supported provincial debt is already going to stand at $93.3 billion (updated forecast) at the end of this fiscal year. That’s 30 percent of the provincial gross domestic product.
A fiscal wrecking ball
In this fiscal year, 4.2 cents of every dollar in provincial government revenue will go toward interest on the debt. Without yet-to-be-announced cuts, the B.C. Conservatives will significantly increase that number. That will eat into program spending in important areas like healthcare and education.
In March, Canada’s debt-to-GDP ratio stood 69.4 percent. Is it any wonder the Canadian dollar is creeping ever closer to US$0.70?
Moreover, the B.C. Conservatives’ appalling fiscal plan will add more bricks to the wall of provincial and federal debt depressing the value of the loonie. This will contribute to higher food costs and more expensive international travel.
If you’re an investor saving for retirement, you might want to think about swapping Canadian stocks for U.S. stocks to protect yourself against a falling loonie and higher prices in the future. I call this investing strategy the “Rustad Reversal”.
In reality, the B.C. Conservatives’ math doesn’t add up for a party that claims to have taxpayers’ interest at heart. It’s despicable that B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad would wait until after hundreds of thousands of people had voted before releasing his financial stink bomb.
It offers a hint of how sleazy the B.C. Conservatives will behave with the taxpayers if they form government after the polls close on Saturday (October 19).
Crackpots and nincompoops
There were already very good reasons not to vote for the B.C. Conservatives before they dropped a last-minute fiscal rotten egg.
Press Progress had already disclosed that four of their original candidates financially supported the wretched convoy to Ottawa, which disrupted the national capital for weeks. Lots of B.C. Conservative candidates are on the record opposing anti-mRNA vaccines. The leader even expressed regret about taking a COVID vaccine.
Another B.C. Conservative candidate compared COVID-19 restrictions to the actions of fascist European countries in the 1930s and gun control laws to the incarceration of Japanese Canadians in the Second World War. Yet another B.C. Conservative candidate made vile comments about Palestinian Muslims. He also tweeted imagery showing U.S. Democrats the proper way to commit suicide with a handgun.
Five others claimed that Joe Biden stole the U.S. presidential election. Another brazenly tweeted sexist comments. Meanwhile, the party’s executive director and its former house leader have been photographed in Make America Great Again caps.
Barbarians at gate, indeed.
If you live in Richmond and you cannot stomach the B.C. NDP, that is NO reason to vote B.C. Conservative. There are acceptable moderate independent candidates in every single Richmond constituency.
Better alternatives in Richmond
In Richmond-Queensborough, Cindy Wu is not a convoy supporter (unlike an anti-immigration independent named Errol Povah). In Richmond-Steveston, independent Jackie Lee is worth supporting if you don’t want to vote NDP or Green. He is no insurrectionist.
Richmond Centre has two independent candidates and one unaffiliated candidate, Wendy Yuan. She is fluently trilingual and has a legitimate chance of winning, judging by the number of her signs. A former B.C. United candidate, Yuan is not a climate-change denier and she doesn’t harbour discriminatory attitudes toward the LGBTQ community.
If the people of Richmond-Bridgeport don’t like me, there are three better alternatives than voting for another B.C. Conservative to ruin government finances. This is also no time to support a party that is helping U.S. election deniers and convoy supporters become members of the B.C. legislature.
New Democrat Linda Li, B.C. Green Tamás Revóczi, and Independent Glynnis Hoi Sum Chan are all honourable people with long and impressive records of community service. I may not agree with them on some public policies. However, they will never embarrass the people of Richmond-Bridgeport with their behaviour on social media. I also expect them to behave far more responsibly than the B.C. Conservative caucus if there’s ever another pandemic.
In closing, I say shame on my B.C. Conservative opponent in Richmond-Bridgeport, Teresa Wat, for crossing the floor from B.C. United and joining a gang of anti-science nincompoops. I urge the voters of Richmond-Bridgeport to send Wat into retirement on Saturday. Let’s clear the way for a new generation of political leadership that has greater respect for taxpayers and public health.