THE NDP said on Tuesday that after scrambling on Monday to explain how he will pay for the $3.5 billion hole created by his tax scheme, BC Conservative Leader John Rustad has now confirmed that health cuts are a big part of the answer.

In a news release, Rustad laid out figures showing he would cut billions from healthcare spending next year alone. He claimed he would base his healthcare spending on $30.6 billion next year (2025/2026) if he is elected. The problem is that’s a $3.2 billion cut from the current planned health budget of $33.8 billion next year, the NDP pointed out.

Local candidates are also campaigning on cutting healthcare funding. A BC Conservative leaflet describes “Reduc[ing] wasteful spending and respect[ing] the taxpayer” as the solution to fix our healthcare system.

The NDP said that the money for Rustad’s new tax scheme has to come from somewhere. Tsur Sommerville, a professor at UBC’s Sauder School of Business, pointed to the risk of cuts to healthcare and other services because of Rustad’s new scheme:

“How they pay for it matters a lot. It’s often harder to cut big chunks of money because [it’s] often tied up in things like health care and schools. It’s hard to look around and find out where the fat is. I’m not entirely sure where that money is going to come from.” (CityNews)

Coming out of the pandemic, B.C.’s healthcare system does need big changes to deliver better care for people – but you can’t do that by making deep cuts to healthcare, as Rustad is proposing, the NDP argued.