British Columbians can’t afford B.C. Conservative plan to make schools and hospitals “take the brunt” of their cuts, says Osborne
VICTORIA—B.C. Conservative plans for aggressive budget reductions would mean cuts to core services and skyrocketing costs for families, says B.C. NDP Health Minister Josie Osborne.
The B.C. NDP’s budget includes $3.5 billion in careful spending reductions to cut the deficit over time. The budget also maintains Canada’s lowest taxes for low and middle income earners and protects investments in core services like healthcare and education.
But the B.C. Conservatives are calling for even further cuts in spending. Although they rarely explain what they would cut, Fraser-Nicola MLA Tony Luck said yesterday that additional Conservative spending cuts would impact healthcare and education:
“If education and healthcare [are] the two biggest line items on the budget, they’re the ones that are going to have to take the brunt of this somehow.”
In addition to severely underfunding schools and hospitals during their time in power, the former B.C. Liberal-Conservative government hit working people with doubled MSP Premiums and skyrocketing car insurance rates – while raiding ICBC’s coffers to pay for tax breaks for the wealthiest.
Working families will pay thousands less in provincial taxes in 2026/27 than they did under the B.C. Liberal-Conservative government, not including major savings from reduced ICBC rates and childcare fees. The B.C. Conservatives have promised to scrap ICBC’s Enhanced Care model, which would cause car insurance rates to double.
Josie Osborne, Health Minister:
“The B.C. Conservatives are making it clear that schools and hospitals would ‘take the brunt’ of their reckless plan to cut services. This would mean firing desperately-needed doctors and nurses, making it much harder to get care. They would try to balance the budget on the backs of working people with deep cuts and higher costs, just like they did before. British Columbians can’t afford to go back to that costly approach.”