Home Rebates and Financing, and Critical Minerals Development: A Look at Early Promises on BC Campaign Trail

The B.C. NDP, Conservatives, and Green Party have already made a number of new promises since the provincial election campaign officially kicked off on Sept. 21. NDP Leader David Eby said on Sept. 25 that if elected, his government would provide 40 percent financing of the price of homes for first-time buyers. The party has also promising a new plan to bring more doctors and cut health-care wait times. This includes expanding the role of pharmacists by letting them test and prescribe for more conditions, such as strep throat and urinary tract infections. The plan also involves hiring more physician assistants and reducing paperwork for doctors. The plan would allow immediate provisional licences for doctors, nurses, and midwives trained in Canada, and allow professionals trained outside the country to get provisional licences in six weeks. The governing party also notes that over the past year, 800 new family doctors and 6,3000 new nurses have been hired....