Horgan says voters have clear choice between helping the rich get richer or helping people get through the pandemic

LANGLEY — A day after it was revealed that Andrew Wilkinson wants to give a tax break to the top one percent of British Columbians, John Horgan was in Langley to talk with people about the BC NDP’s record on planned health care investments and the important choice British Columbians are facing.

“The stakes could not be higher. This is about what kind of government we want to lead us as we face a second wave of COVID-19 and prepare for a brighter future,” said Horgan. “British Columbians need to ask themselves: do we help the rich get richer or do we invest to help keep people safe and secure through the pandemic? Our votes decide.”

During an appearance on a podcast a few weeks ago, Andrew Wilkinson admitted that he wants to cut $216 million in taxes for the top income tax bracket. Horgan said that fits with the priorities in the BC Liberal platform, which offers millionaires tax-free yachts but invests less than half what the BC NDP plan does in health care.

“There has never been a more important time to invest in health care and fix long-term care for seniors. That’s what our plan does,” said Horgan. “Instead of helping those that need it the least, our plan continues helping people who need it most — keeping us healthy, safe, and secure through the pandemic and beyond.”

Horgan made the comments after a roundtable discussion with people on health care and BC’s COVID-19 response. Horgan highlighted the BC NDP plan to help families with a $1,000 recovery benefit, improve health care by hiring 7,000 frontline workers for long-term care, and create 18,000 jobs building infrastructure—like the Surrey Langley Skytrain.

“Here in BC, we’ve been doing the right thing by looking after each other, even when we had to be apart,” said Horgan. “I’m asking British Columbians to vote for their local BC NDP candidate so we can keep BC moving forward—not for those at the top, but for everyone.”