The BC Conservatives have unveiled their costed platform, breaking down how much they plan on spending, where that money will come from, and what it will go towards.Leader John Rustad touted his party's platform as superior to that of Premier David Eby and the BC NDP, noting a number of key differences between the two.According to their platform, the Conservatives hope to achieve an annual gross domestic product growth rate of 5.4%, compared to the NDP's 3.1%. That would result in a GDP of $581.45 billion with $104.66 billion in revenue by 2030, far higher than the current government's projections.Some major tax cuts include eliminating the BC Carbon Tax, cutting the Small Business Tax to 1%, and introducing a BC Rent and Mortgage Rebate. Those alone would return $3 billion, $150 million, and $900 million, respectively, to British Columbians.The platform includes a number of big-ticket spending programs, such as Get BC Building, which is estimated to cost $1.1 billion, Get BC Moving, which comes in at $610 million, and Grown in BC, which is projected to cost $90 million.By far the largest expenditure is the Patients First Healthcare program, which will cost an estimated $36.6 billion in Fiscal Year 2024-25 and jump to $37.5 billion and $38 billion in FY 2025-26 and FY 2026-27, respectively.During a press conference in Vancouver, Rustad was asked whether the fact that his initial budget appears to be as big, if not bigger, than that proposed by the NDP undermined his party's commitment to "fiscal accountability.".Rustad claimed that a big difference between the Conservatives and NDP is that the latter has been "reckless in terms of their spending," with too much focus on "ideology.""We are obviously going to be taking a significant review of where government has been spending money," he added. "We've seen a 70% increase in government budget ... We've also seen the public sector grow by almost 50%, and can anybody say after seven years that anything is better?"The Conservative leader vowed to ensure services are delivered to British Columbians, saying in no uncertain terms that, "I'm not gonna be coming in being draconian saying that there should be cuts.".Rustad also slammed the NDP for continuing to peddle the lie that a Conservative government would cut healthcare spending, noting that in the budget, there is actually an increase in healthcare spending of $3.8 billion over three years.
