BCBusiness

Loose Planks T h e M a t r i x this month's election promises to be full of promises, if nothing else. a look at what the contenders are saying on four top issues affecting b.c. by Trevor Melanson A s you may have heard, there will be a federal election on October 19—and for the ˜rst time since Stephen Harper became PM in 2006, the outcome in B.C. is anything but certain. The Big Blue Fortress—which saw 21 Tories elected in 2011, out of 36 available seats—is facing a serious threat not only from the resurgent NDP, which holds 12 seats, but also the Liberals, with two, and in some corners, even the Greens. This year also sees six new seats added to the B.C. map, throwing a lot of assumptions up in the air. So what are the three main contenders promising, on issues that matter to British Columbians, to swing the vote? istock october 2015 BCBusiness 23 John Turner LIBERALS, 1984-1990 Kim Campbell PC, 1993 Stockwell Day CANADIAN ALLIANCE, 2000-2001 Elizabeth May GREEN, 2006-present CONSERVATIVES they oppose legalization but are considering giving police the option of ticketing for possession of small amounts (rather than laying charges) if they choose. the party in power approved and supports enbridge's controversial pipeline, which would move crude oil from alberta to b.c.'s coast. stephen Harper and the conserva- tives earmarked $2.3 billion over four years for affordable housing in april's budget–$1.7 billion going toward social hous- ing, on par with previous years. in 2011, they pulled out of the kyoto protocol, the world's only climate change treaty. The current plan is to cut emis- sions 30 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030. critics (and a few reports) say the government will miss a 2020 target set in 2009. Justin Trudeau and the liberals go the furthest on this front, with plans to legalize and tax marijuana. they oppose northern Gateway and have pledged to block its construction if elected. the liberals are promis- ing a national housing strategy and have criticized the current gov- ernment for not spending enough on social housing. the liberals would meet with provinces after this year's uN climate summit to set new national emis- sions targets. Liberal leader Justin Trudeau says they'll provide funding to help prov- inces meet these goals. Pot LegaLization northern gateway CLimate Change affordabLe housing the B.c. connection LIBERALS NDP ISSUE they want to decrimi- nalize pot immediately and will consider legal- ization after studying the matter. same as the liberals. leader Thomas Mulcair has said he'll introduce legislation to stop the pipeline. the NDp plans to imple- ment a $500-million annual tax incentive, which Mulcair says will spur the construction of 10,000 cheap rental units over 10 years. the NDp wants to reintro- duce an updated version of Jack layton's climate change bill (passed by the house but later killed in the senate) to reduce greenhouse gases to 80 per cent below 1990 levels by 2050. tives earmarked $2.3 billion the ing a national housing strategy t nalize pot immediately and ization Thomas party leaDers who caMe froM b.c.

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