UBC Economist skeptical of both BC NDP, BC Conservatives after Eby promises middle-class tax cuts

BC NDP Leader David Eby returned to the campaign trail following Tuesday night’s televised election debate, promising to cut taxes for the province’s middle class.

Speaking in Richmond Wednesday morning, Eby revisited his commitment to tax cuts, claiming his party’s plan addresses the needs and living arrangements of British Columbians.

In comparison, Eby says BC Conservatives Leader John Rustad’s tax scheme leads to “long waits” and is limited to housing costs.

“And this is one of the ways that we’re supporting people with those costs,” said Eby. “By providing immediate support through this income tax cut, rather than asking people to wait five years before seeing the benefit.”

But Tsur Somerville, a professor at UBC’s Sauder School of Business, isn’t thrilled with the logistics of the NDP’s tax plan either. He says the BC NDP have “taken a page” from the BC Conservatives’ playbook by offering a press release with minimal details.

Somerville says the NDP’s plan appears to promise a bigger tax cut to a smaller proportion of people, meaning it leaves out some of the wealthier people who would benefit from the  ‘Rustad Rebate.’

“It seems that the NDP is excluding folks with household incomes above $150,000,” said Somerville.

He says neither party has shown its work and told voters how it intends to cut taxes, fix the province’s deficit, and avoid cutting crucial services.

“At some point, you’ve got to be worried about how we afford everything, and that we may not be able to afford to give everybody their money back and then spend on everything we want to spend on,” said Somerville.

Somerville says the two parties are both “incoherent” with their promises.

“The NDP has charted a path where they’re more honest about the numbers. And those numbers are definitely larger deficits, because they’re going to be spending more and cutting the taxes,” said Somerville.

Whereas, “The Conservatives have spoken about cutting taxes, spoken about increased services, but aren’t very clear. So there’s a whole bunch more of you’re not sure what you’re getting, and so that’s kind of the trade-off here.”

—With files from Raynaldo Suarez