B.C. Green Party Leader Emily Lowan unveiled a new tax reform platform outside the legislature on Thursday, while inside, talk swirled about the government’s intentions regarding a possible election call.
“This government is forcing austerity, claiming that the cupboard is bare and that their hands are tied,” Greens Leader Emily Lowan said on Thursday, Oct 30. “Well, folks, I found another cupboard.”
She called Premier David Eby’s threats of an early election call a “cheap trick” to push through an energy bill she says is a “gas subsidy that will largely benefit American billionaires.”
Her plan increases taxes for the ultra wealthy by adding three new tax brackets and a 30-per-cent top rate for high earners, a one-per-cent increase to the top two current income brackets, a five per cent, one-time tax on people earning more than $100 million per year, a new inheritance tax, a land value tax, and increased corporate taxes.
Lowan called fair taxation a “litmus test” for the NDP government.
“They must choose what side they’re on,” she said, “the side of austerity and the oligarchs or the side of the working class.”
Green Party MLA Rob Botterell suggested this plan could stem the tide of an increasing budget deficit, which at last count is projected to hit $11.6 billion for the current fiscal year.
“We keep asking how the Minister of Finance sees the path forward to dealing with a huge budget deficit that is forecast to continue,” Botterell said.
“The plan seems to be, let’s do LNG,” he added.
Looking for a scapegoat for an election call?
On Wednesday, Eby threatened an election if his party’s new energy legislation, Bill 31, fails to pass.
This bill allows First Nations to take an ownership stake in the North Coast Transmission Line, and it enables BC Hydro to limit some types of industrial electrical connections to the grid to address surging demand.
Eby told reporters he would “stake his government” on the bill passing.
This move comes on the heels of several weeks of turmoil for the B.C. Conservative caucus, and the latest poll from Léger — released on the same day — showing the NDP 10 points ahead of the Tories.
In 2020, mid-pandemic, former premier John Horgan had similar polling numbers and called a snap election, blaming the B.C. Greens for destabilizing his minority government. This was slightly different, though, because the NDP was in a minority position and needed Green votes to pass legislation.
Eby’s government has 47 out of 93 MLAs in the house. One of them is Speaker Raj Chouhan, who can break a tie, but that still requires every NDP MLA to be present for the vote.
On Monday, the NDP were caught off guard by a motion to delay the bill, and MLAs had to scramble back to the chamber for the vote.
If the two Green Party MLAs vote with the government, it makes it a lot easier. The Green MLAs voted with the government on the surprise Bill 31 motion on Monday, but have not committed to continued support.
And Lowan, who is not an MLA and does not have a vote, continues to make public comments that are highly critical of the bill.
“I’m doing my work on the outside to ensure that the public knows just how troubling this bill is,” she said.
The two sitting Green MLAs have said they want the bill amended.
“We’ll go into committee with an open mind, and we’ll play that against our interest in not having a subsidy for natural gas,” B.C. Greens MLA Jeremy Valeriote said Thursday.
Lowan called Eby’s election threat a “bit of a farce” and said the premier wants to “hold the province hostage” to get the bill passed.
“This government has a majority,” she said. “There’s no need to call an early election.”
B.C. Conservative MLA Peter Milobar echoed that, calling Eby’s election warning an “empty threat,” pointing out that the premier already has the votes and can pass the bill if he wants to.
“Why don’t you just call a snap election? You don’t need to manufacture one,” Milobar said. “I think it’s a lot of bluster on his part.”