NDP vows to raise taxes on the rich to pay for $10-a-day childcare if elected
Speaking to media Wednesday at the Terry Tayler Early Learning & Care Centre in East Vancouver, B.C. NDP leader John Horgan said if his party defeats the Liberals in May 2017, it will continue a temporary tax hike in order to provide “available, accessible and affordable” childcare provincewide.
“The challenges are immense and they’re not just about social policy,” Horgan said. “This is about the economy. Women are not getting back into the workforce after they have children because they can’t find a place for their children to be cared for. It’s an impact on the economy, it’s an impact on families and quality of life, and we need to do something about that.”
Horgan said that providing $10-a-day childcare would cost $1.5 billion annually. Horgan said it could be paid for by a temporary tax introduced in the Liberal government’s 2013 budget — a two-year increase in the personal income tax rate for those earning more than $150,000 a year. The rate was increased to 16.8 per cent from 14.7 per cent for 2014 and 2015 only.
It was expected to pull in an additional $412 million from the top two per cent of earners over three fiscal years.
A B.C. NDP government would continue that tax to help pay for the childcare program, Horgan’s press secretary, Sheena McConnell, confirmed after the press conference Wednesday.
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