British Columbians still waiting for Rustad’s costed platform with early ballots already being cast

THE NDP is mocking BC Conservative Leader John Rustad for failing to come up with his party’s costed platform.

Megan Dykeman, BC NDP candidate for Langley-Walnut Grove, noted on Saturday: “People are struggling with costs, and John Rustad can’t even come up with a dollar figure to commit to people. His promises are fairy dust.”

She added: “Rustad is hiding his plan because he knows it’s something no one wants – it’s full of costs and cuts to schools and hospitals.”

Dykeman said: “David Eby’s plan includes $1,000 for families immediately to help you pay for groceries. Rustad’s plan would force you to wait for help – and gives the most help to people living in expensive penthouses, while giving nothing to seniors who have paid off their mortgage and people living in poverty.

“David Eby and the BC NDP will continue to provide support for food bank services. Last year, we provided a $50 million infusion to strengthen food banks, food distribution and food access for people and we’ll continue to support these services for people.”

Meanwhile, a new video shows Rustad in a closed-door meeting saying that the Province is overcommitting on major infrastructure projects like hospitals and transit.

At a meeting in August with the Vancouver Regional Construction Association, Rustad was asked what he would do about the “almost unprecedented” amount of work happening in BC. He was asked: “Hospitals being built. The water treatment facilities, transit. In some ways there’s almost an irresponsible amount of work…What would the approach be to manage some of these things?”

Rustad answered: “You’re right. There’s so many projects going on right now. We don’t have the capacity to build them all at the same time.”

The NDP said that not only are Rustad’s new infrastructure promises fairy dust, but he would delay or cancel projects like the Surrey-Langley Skytrain extension.

Eby’s plan would invest $150 million over three years in SkilledTradesBC to double the trade apprentice seats from the current 26,000 to over 50,000 to train the workforce to build the infrastructure that BC needs.

Andrew Mercier, BC NDP candidate for Langley-Willowbrook, has posted the video to social media here. A full version is available here.