Kootenay-Rockies provincial candidates squared off over the weekend in a digital only all-candidates forum.
The forum includes BC Conservatives candidate Pete Davis, BC Green’s Keenan Dennehy, Norma Blissett of the BC NDP, Centre BC candidate Paul Heywood and OneBC’s AJ Wolfe.
The provincial deficit and how to balance it was a main topic in the debate, with varying ideas on how it should be done.
Wolfe said his party would balance the budget by cutting taxes.
“Our party plans on balancing the budget and we plan to do it within the first four years of the first term. We plan on doing that by reducing taxes,” he said.
“Cutting taxes by 25 per cent across every tax bracket, including corporations. There is some spending that has to be cut. There is a lot of wasteful spending, the needles the drugs, the naloxone and the free, safe drug supply. That would put a lot more money back into the system.”
Blissett said deficits are being felt across the country and that they have to be balanced without putting residents in a worse off position.
“Every province has budgeted deficits this year, so we are in good company. The BC NDP is concerned about the deficit and we intend to bring it down responsibly over time without cutting essential services,” she added.
“Our proposal is that we’re going to increase the tax marginally on individuals who ear over $200,000 a year. Yes it’s a tax increase, but it’s on four per cent of our highest earning people in the province.”
Dennehy said the Greens’ wealth tax would close the deficit quicker.
“The Greens propose a one time wealth tax that would generate $22 billion and additionally after that a wealth tax,” he said.
“We have Jim Pattison the richest man in B.C., who increased his wealth by $3 billion in two years. We aren’t into taxing people who earn an income. The BC Greens aren’t interested in taxing the hard working people at the mines up the valley. We’re here to tax people who make money just off their money.”
Davis said opening up the economy is what needs to happen.
“The only thing that’s going to make this province out of debt is our economy. The four industries that built this province, forestry, mining, agriculture and fishing. Every single one of those industries has been decimated by this government,” he said.
“In mining alone there is $90 billion of economic activity in 31 projects on the go that we can get going.”
Heywood echoed that and said staying out of the way of the public sector is crucial.
“We need to stress the message that we can’t get in the way of the private sector. We are right now with a government that is in the way of the private sector it is stalling projects, stalling progress and new initiatives. Centre BC’s plan is to have a balanced budget by 2034/35. We have a fully costed platform.”
The full all-candidates forum can be found here.
The 2026 BC Election is on Saturday, Oct. 24.
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