BOTH the BC NDP and the BC Liberals kept slamming one another on Tuesday on the issue of raising taxes.

In one of their press releases, the NDP said that BC Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson is planning a “tax review” – but won’t tell people which taxes he’ll raise or cut until after the election. But just a few weeks ago, Wilkinson said he wanted to cut taxes for the top income tax bracket.

“The chronic question is, what’s the right top marginal tax rate? The NDP like it to be up in the mid-fifties. We as BC Liberals say you shouldn’t get above about fifty per cent.” (Coastal Front Podcast, July 15, 2020)

The NDP said that this year, it asked the wealthiest British Columbians to pay a little more by increasing the top marginal tax rate (income over $220,000) from 49.8% to 53.5%. This brought BC in line with Ontario and Quebec. Cancelling that would be a $216 million tax break for the richest 1% that everyone else will pay for with service cuts and higher costs.

The BC Liberals in one of their press releases said that after a moment of unexpected honesty, voters should be more scared than ever that NDP Leader John Horgan will be digging into their pockets after the election should he win.

They said: “On increasing income taxes on average people – Horgan refused to rule out new taxes. On a road tax – Horgan said that discussion is yet to come but called it a ‘good idea’. Bottom line is Horgan has a hidden agenda but won’t come clean on his plan until after the election.”

They added: “What’s clear is if his unnecessary pandemic election power grab, in which he is trying to suppress your vote works, voters who are already worried about their future will have to deal with more taxes they can’t afford. The BC Liberals have a real plan to get BC back on track.”