BCBusiness

What will you do to help businesses thrive in B.C.? APRIL 2017 BCBUSINESS 21 We've taken many actions to support private-sector growth, including making sure business has access to a deep talent pool with ex- panded training programs. Balanced Budget 2017 took another major step by exempting PST from electricity rates, saving business $164 million by 2019-20. The idea that you have to choose one or the other is false. Our priority is to work to grow the economy and protect our environment. It's a model we've proven can work, from B.C.'s revenue- neutral carbon tax, which has reduced emissions while the economy has grown, to the historic Great Bear Rainforest Agreement. In the budget, we reduced small business taxes to two per cent. B.C. has the most small businesses per capita in the country, and 5,900 new small businesses were created in our province just last year, a growth rate 1,400 per cent above the national average. We must ensure that essential protections are in place but not burden busi- ness with unnecessary red tape. Since 2001, we have reduced red tape by 47 per cent, and we have received the Canadian Federation of Independent Business's A grade six years in a row. In addition to the foreign buyer tax, we introduced the BC HOME Partnership to help first-time buyers enter the housing market. We also expanded the first- time homebuyer program, saving first-time buyers up to $8,000. And we've just committed $920 million to support 5,300 more afford- able housing units. How will you balance economic growth with environmental stewardship? Where do you stand on business taxes? What role should government play in regulating business? How will you make housing more a•ordable for British Columbians? I will create the conditions for businesses to succeed. That means offering certainty and engaging in respectful relationships. For example, by refusing to exclude workers from the foreign buyer tax from the beginning, Christy Clark really hurt businesses that were trying to recruit in-demand talent. That's the wrong approach. Economic growth without environmental steward- ship is simply robbing from the future. We have the knowledge and the technol- ogy to build our economy without undue harm to our environment, and I expect companies to utilize that. So much of our economy depends on a healthy environment; we have to protect it. Businesses benefit from the things that taxes pay for. Businesses in B.C. wouldn't get very far without roads to move their goods, health care to care for their work- ers and schools to train them. We all benefit from strong government services, so I expect everyone to contribute to them. Government's job is to protect the public and the public good. It's reasonable to expect that if you pay for a pint of beer you get your 20 ounces, not 16. And that your drinking water won't be polluted by someone dumping waste. That's regulation. People depend on it. We will tax speculators who are not contributing to B.C. and not renting their properties, and we will use the money that generates to make investments in af- fordable housing, including co-op housing. We will also be closing loopholes in the law that have fuelled specu- lation and hurt renters. We will invest in educa- tion, skills and training, giving British Columbians access to lifelong learning that supports careers in a 21st-century economy. A BC Green government will also streamline corporate and consumption taxes and ensure that the regulatory framework facilitates new 21st-century business models such as the sharing economy. We will not only look at short-term management but long-term perspectives in policy decisions and governance. True sustain- ability means meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. This core value will guide our decision-making on economic, fiscal, social and environmental issues. We will review consump- tion taxes so they support business viability and consumers' needs. The tax system has become overly complicated and needs to be updated for the 21st century. Government represents the people, and its job is to protect the public interest, which is complicated and multifaceted. Its role in business regulation is to balance these factors and work in the best interests of British Columbians as a whole. A BC Green government will ensure that everyone has access to acceptable accommodation. Ultimately, the housing crisis is a supply issue. A BC Green government will take a diversified approach, includ- ing investment in new units, taking measures to ensure that accommodation does not sit empty, and measures to address speculation and offshore ownership. ISTOCK

• Cover