YOUR PERSPECTIVE: Prioritizing both economy and environment in B.C.

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Experts even forecast that ‘CostBC’ will drag B.C.’s economic prosperity back by a decade, reducing the GDP by $28 billion by 2030 and slowing economic growth to an average annual rate of just 0.4 percent.

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How can B.C. families, already stressed to the limit by the cost-of-living crisis, afford to lose $11,000 in income every year? This is not the path forward that British Columbians need and deserve. Especially since, for all its costs, CleanBC has failed to meet any of its climate targets since it was first introduced.

We know the NDP have begun to worry about the growing opposition to their misguided plan. An internal NDP memo obtained by our BC United Caucus revealed that Premier Eby is struggling to find “big and shiny” ideas for the next provincial budget — ideas that he wants to use to convince people he has some semblance of a plan to address the affordability crisis that has exploded on his watch.

The same memo, presumably written by NDP Energy Minister Josie Osborne, also reveals that the NDP government is exploring options to manipulate BCHydro and put CleanBC branding on people’s hydro bills, all in an effort to bolster the program’s deteriorating reputation.

These are not the actions of a government that is confident in its performance.

In contrast, BC United, under the leadership of Kevin Falcon, has a real plan to deliver both a thriving economy and sensible climate policy. We would scrap the NDP’s destructive ‘CostBC’ scheme and replace it with a common sense alternative that reduces global emissions while creating good jobs, increasing incomes, and lowering taxes.

We will invest in climate-resilient infrastructure to protect communities like those here in the Fraser Valley, creating jobs and stimulating economic growth while building resilient reservoirs, durable dykes and other key climate adaptation infrastructure. We will expand opportunities to get B.C. LNG to market, displacing reliance on dirty coal abroad, reducing global greenhouse gas emissions and improving our economy at home. And vitally, we will fight wildfires hard and fast with a modernized and overhauled wildfire service to significantly reduce our largest source of carbon emissions — which in some seasons have exceeded 300 percent of B.C.’s annual emissions.

We will also put real dollars behind a B.C. critical minerals strategy, which the NDP have failed to develop. This will secure our metals and minerals, bolster the electrification of our province, aid in health care, and strengthen our national security.

This is what it looks like to prioritize people. To understand that we don’t have to force British Columbians to choose between their economic security and their long-term well-being. Only BC United knows how to deliver both for the people of B.C.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of Fraser Valley Today or Pattison Media.