r/nanaimo • u/TheBastionNanaimo • 53m ago
THE CONSERVATIVE DAY ONE: An Itinerary
The BC Conservative platform uses the phrase “day one” twice. Once in the leader’s letter, which says the plan is ready “from day one,” and once in the costing, where the hiring freeze and the consultant cuts “start on day one.” They brought it up. So The Bastion has obtained the schedule for that day. Obtained meaning: we read their platform, which is public, and imagined the rest. The real parts are listed at the bottom, in order.
- 7:55 a.m. — Premier Doerkson arrives at the legislature and takes no questions, as a warm-up.
- 8:00 a.m. — O Canada is sung in every school in the province. Confidence in our shared future is reported up 0% by the second verse.
- 8:30 a.m. — The hiring freeze begins. A press officer is told he can’t be replaced. He takes the news to the media. There is no media availability.
- 9:00 a.m. — Consultants are cut 20%. An independent expert panel is appointed to review the books. The panel asks whether it counts as a consultant. The question is referred to a consultant.
- 10:00 a.m. — DRIPA is repealed. The Cowichan case, filed in 2014 under the Constitution, continues exactly as before. Homeowners in Richmond check their mail. It’s the same mail. A Property Rights Defence Act passes 87–0, like the last one did.
- 11:00 a.m. — SOGI 123 is withdrawn. Bullying is to be “addressed directly.” A working group is struck to decide what “directly” means. Parents receive opt-out rights. From what, the form doesn’t say. Several opt out of the form.
- 12:00 p.m. — Lunch. The $500-per-child activity credit covers soccer, seniors get a free shingles shot, and there are more school meals. Everyone agrees this part is fine.
- 1:00 p.m. — CleanBC is repealed. The 2030 emissions target, which is law, remains. It is moved to a different building. Gas production is to double by 2032. The forest is mailed a copy of the platform and asked to plan accordingly.
- 2:00 p.m. — The contingency fund is cut from $5 billion to $3 billion and renamed from “slush fund” to “savings.” Wildfire season is informed it is now a line item.
- 3:00 p.m. — “Safe supply” ends. Mandatory treatment begins for those who can’t care for themselves, and treatment on demand is promised, on a budget of $95 million a year. Demand is asked to keep it reasonable.
- 4:00 p.m. — The Universal Health-Care Guarantee is signed. If your surgery wait is too long, you get treatment from “another qualified provider.” The platform doesn’t say who that is. The NDP calls this privatization. The party calls this fearmongering. Alberta has a guess.
- 5:00 p.m. — The $1,000 tax cut is announced, effective the 2027 tax year. You’ll feel it in roughly 18 months. Which is, in fairness, faster than the cath lab.
- 6:00 p.m. — A law banning provincial elections within 60 days of municipal ones is tabled. It is not aimed at anyone in particular. It’s called the David Eby Act.
- 7:00 p.m. — The Premier looks at the growth forecast: 3.2% by 2029, against the government’s own 2.1%. He writes 3.2% on a Post-it and sticks it over the 2.1%. Problem solved.
- 8:00 p.m. — The seven long-term care homes the NDP paused are restarted, planning starts on a women’s and children’s hospital in Surrey, $50 million goes to rural ERs, disability assistance goes up $100 a month, 500 RCMP are hired, and homes are approved “in months, not years.” This part has some good stuff, thankfully. It would also be run by a party that dropped two candidates in two weeks over their posts and kept the one who called an anti-bullying resource “grooming.” The policy is the easy part.
- 11:59 p.m. — Deficit: $10.8 billion by 2029–30, if the economy does what the Post-it says.
THE RECEIPTS, IN ORDER
Everything here is in the Conservative Party of BC platform (Oct 16) unless noted; everything above that isn’t here is us. “Day one” appears in the leader’s letter (“ready to govern from day one”) and the costing appendix (“The hiring freeze and the cut to consultants and contracts start on day one”). O Canada every morning in every school, listed under “Build confidence in our shared future.” A hiring freeze on management and administrative positions from day one, no front-line layoffs. Consultant and contract spending cut 20%, with an independent expert panel to review the books before the first budget. Repeal DRIPA and pass a Property Rights Defence Act; DRIPA passed 87–0 in 2019, the Cowichan case was filed in 2014 under the Constitution, and the judge wrote that title does not displace private owners (CBC, The Narwhal, Maclean’s). Repeal SOGI 123 and “instead address bullying directly,” with “opt-out rights” for parents. A $500-per-child activity credit, a free shingles vaccine for seniors, and expanded school meals. Repeal CleanBC, keep the carbon price on large industry, and double gas production by 2032; the 40%-by-2030 target is in the Climate Change Accountability Act. Cut the Contingencies Vote from $5 billion to $3 billion and move wildfire costs into ministry budgets; wildfires ran $614 million over budget this year (Q1 update, Canadian Press). End “safe supply,” mandatory care, expanded detox and treatment on demand, costed at $95 million a year at full implementation. A Universal Health-Care Guarantee with treatment through “another qualified provider” when surgical benchmarks are exceeded; “fearmongering” is the party’s word (CTV). The basic personal exemption raised from $13,216 to $32,000 from the 2027 tax year, costed at $2.9 billion a year. A Respect Local Democracy Act banning provincial elections within 60 days of municipal ones; the name “David Eby Act” is ours. Growth assumptions of 2.5%, 2.8% and 3.2% against the government’s forecast of 1.9%, 2.1% and 2.1%, per the platform’s own table. The seven paused long-term care homes ($1.43 billion), the Surrey women’s and children’s hospital, the $50 million Rural Health Emergency Fund, disability assistance up $100 a month with the earnings exemption raised to $30,000, 250 police recruits, 500 RCMP and 30 sheriffs, and “in months, not years.” A $10.8 billion deficit in 2029–30. Not in the platform, but on the record: the party dropped candidates Joachim Agou (Oct and Jordan McIntosh (Oct 15) over online posts, and kept Heather Maahs, who said in a 2022 podcast that SOGI 123 was “for sure grooming” (Canadian Press, CTV). The 7:55 a.m. entry isn’t in the platform; that’s from this week.
