Challenges with health care, housing, and short-term rentals in the province are fixable, according to BC United Leader Kevin Falcon.
He was in 麻豆精选 Nov. 15, for a private function with retiring 麻豆精选-West MLA Ben Stewart.
Falcon sat down with the media at 麻豆精选-Mission MLA Renee Merrfield鈥檚 office.
He began by reiterating a promise to do away with B.C.鈥檚 carbon and fuel taxes if his party is elected the next government.
鈥淚 was the finance minister in 2012 who froze the carbon tax at six cents a litre鈥.C. Liberal finance ministers subsequently kept it frozen until 2017 when the NDP got elected.鈥�
鈥淭hey did two things鈥hey got rid of the revenue neutrality鈥t went from a tax shift to a tax grab鈥nd they more than doubled the carbon tax to 15 cents a litre.鈥�
Health Care
Falcon said the province needs more doctors and that thousands of international medical graduates, including many Canadians, who want to come to B.C. simply can鈥檛 because current regulations make it difficult for them to be able to practice in the province.
鈥滻鈥檝e said that a BC United government would take a chainsaw to those regulations and red tape.鈥�
Falcon said government also needs to embrace change and innovation throughout the healthcare system.
鈥淚f we continue to operate the healthcare system the way this current government is operating it, we are going to continue to see these kind of terrible results.鈥�
Housing
Falcon said several of the bills the NDP have put forward to address the housing crisis in B.C. are rushed and lack information municipalities are asking about.
鈥淪omeone like myself or Renee (Merrifield) who actually have experience in the housing sector鈥e look at those bills and realize they are not going to achieve the outcomes that they鈥檙e trying to convince British Columbians that they will.鈥�
One of the solutions he said is an NDP bill he is supportive of.
鈥淚t鈥檚 something I鈥檝e been calling for, Bill 47 which says we ought to be densifying around transit corridors. I鈥檓 just concerned that their execution of the policy is going to be a challenge.鈥�
Short Term Rentals
While he supports changes to short-term rental policies, Falcon said the legislation brought forward by the NDP hasn鈥檛 been thought through.
鈥淲e put forward four very common sense amendments to the legislation that would have improved it.鈥�
They included going after the small percentage of Airbnb owners with multiple properties.
鈥淲e said, focus your attention on those people and don鈥檛 punish the small-time players that have one Airbnb. They unfortunately rejected all of our amendments.鈥�
Falcon added the unintended consequences will be limited accommodation options for tourists and visitors.
He also suggested that many landlords have shifted from long-term to short-rentals because, under the NDP, it鈥檚 extremely difficult to evict a bad tenant.
鈥淪o they go to the short-term rentals because it鈥檚 easier and they don鈥檛 have to worry about the implications of the Residential Tenancy Act.鈥�
Falcon said many property owners have told him that they will remove their units from the market once the short-term legislation is passed.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 not a good thing for renters either.鈥�
Provincial Election
With a provincial election just under a year away, Falcon admitted that eight months after the party changed its name, it shouldn鈥檛 be a surprise that many British Columbians are unaware of who BC United is.
鈥淏y the time the next election rolls around I am very, very confident that people are going to know who Kevin Falcon and BC United is.鈥�
Falcon was also asked about voter confusion between the BC and Federal Conservative parties affecting his party鈥檚 chances in the next provincial election.
鈥淭hey (BC Conservatives) benefit from that,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f their party was called anything else they would be nowhere in the polls.鈥�
According to the 338Canada website, the most recent provincial polls have the BC United Party at 20.4 per cent, the BC Conservatives at 21.5 per cent and the NDP at 46 per cent.
READ MORE: BC United fears new density legislation will jack up housing costs
READ MORE: United premiers want carbon pricing measures to be fair to all Canadians
