BC Conservative leader Lorne Doerkson pledged Thursday that a BC Conservative government would cut provincial income tax by $1,000 for nearly every worker by exempting the first $32,000 of earnings.
He made the announcement at Sabzi Mandi supermarket in Surrey flanked by the store’s owner as well as Surrey-Serpentine River candidate Jessy Sahota and Vancouver-Quilchena candidate Carson Binda.
Doerkson said British Columbia has become one of the most expensive places to live, work and start a business, and that the NDP has raised taxes more than 40 times over the last decade. He pointed to the NDP’s first campaign announcement, a new tax, and to this week’s proposal to raise rates on higher earners, which he described as a tax increase on doctors.
The BC Conservative plan would raise the basic personal amount from $13,216 to $32,000, which the party calls the most generous in Canada. Doerkson said that is worth $1,000 a year, and that anyone earning above about $40,000 would get the full cut.
A typical two-income household would keep $2,000, about $167 a month. Someone working full-time on minimum wage would pay no provincial income tax at all. He said British Columbians would be able to earn more than anyone else in Canada before paying a cent of provincial tax.
“David Eby thinks politicians and bureaucrats know how to spend your money better than you do, and we believe exactly the opposite,” he said. The party’s first affordability commitment, he added, remains that a Conservative government will not raise taxes.
The tax cut is a campaign commitment and would require a budget change if the BC Conservatives form government after the October 24 election. Doerkson did not say how the revenue loss would be covered, and the announcement included no documented costing or offset.
