Back in September, BC premier John Horgan announced a snap election for the 24th of October, shocking many British Columbians. There are ten parties with candidates running this year, but only the three largest (the BC NDP, Liberal, and Green parties) have nominated candidates in the West Vancouver ridings. Now, with the election mere days away, there's never been a better time for students to get familiar with the policies of the parties running.
The NDP, headed by John Horgan, is British Columbia's current governing party. This time around, they are campaigning on a platform primarily focused on the province's recovery from the continued COVID-19 pandemic. The party promises to deliver a long term economic recovery plan and free vaccines to the public (when a vaccine is released). Of course, as students, issues such as the economy and healthcare aren't necessarily our biggest areas of concern. However, the NDP also has policies that students might be more invested in. Regarding education, the NDP promises to increase funding, improve online learning, and invest in mental health resources for students. They also have promised to address systemic oppression- including police reform and increased representation of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of colour) in the public sector. Finally, the NDP has pledged to address climate change by increasing protections of BC's wildlife, phasing out single-use plastics, and making clean energy more affordable.
The opposition party, the Liberals, is running on a platform based on making life more affordable for British Columbians by reducing taxes and encouraging more free-market business. Like the NDP, the Liberals also plan to increase mental health support for students; additionally, they pledge to provide more learning support for students, streamline the online learning model, and provide more funding to school districts. In regard to tackling crime, the Liberal Party has promised to increase the budget for public safety - meaning more funding for the police. Alongside that, they have pledged to tackle systemic oppression in a different way to the NDP, including equal pay initiatives and increased representation of BIPOC in public service jobs. Regarding the environment, the Liberals pledge to promote clean energy and protect local wildlife, while lowering the carbon tax and promoting the controversial Trans Mountain Pipeline, which has been fought against by both the NDP and Green parties, as well as many climate activists.
The smallest of the three, the Green Party, is running on a platform that is primarily focused on the environment. As a result, their policies surrounding environmental issues are far more robust than that of the other parties. The Green Party pledges to make the province carbon neutral by 2045 - redirecting oil and gas subsidies to clean energy initiatives in the process. Alongside that comes a government-funded transition program for those in the oil and forestry industries to move to clean, sustainable jobs, the increased accessibility of electric transportation, and increased funding for wildlife conservation initiatives. Regarding education, the Green Party has promised to address school district funding disparities with greater, more organized per-student funding, increased learning support and mental health resources for students, as well as providing more streamlined health and safety protocols for schools in regards to the COVID-19 pandemic. As well, students may be interested to know that the Greens are looking to implement more anti-racist curriculum requirements, including furthering the education of the indigenous peoples of Canada in schools. The Green Party is the only party of the three to outright call for the banning of conversion therapy in their platform. Furthermore, they have pledged to investigate and address the police of British Columbia, providing reforms where necessary.
In summary, while the NDP, Liberal and Green parties may overlap in policy at times, they all have their own unique perspectives on what the province should look like moving forward. Although very few students at Sentinel will be able to vote in this election, it's still important for us to know the basics of the politicians who will determine the future of our province in the coming years.
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