Campbell promises cheap transit passes to post-secondary students

Last Updated: Wednesday, April 15, 2009 | 12:09 PM PT

CBC News

Liberal Leader Gordon Campbell rolled out his party's election platform on Wednesday in Vancouver. (CBC)

B.C. Liberal Leader Gordon Campbell rolled out his election-campaign platform Wednesday in Vancouver, promising to extend a popular subsidized transit program to all post-secondary students in the province.

Campbell said if his party wins a third term in the May 12 British Columbia election, all college and university students will receive U-Passes starting in September 2010. The transit passes, which require all registered students pay a fee with their tuition for access to public transit, were introduced to university students in Victoria about 10 years ago, and then to university students in Metro Vancouver about five years ago,

Other promises in the B.C. Liberal Party platform emphasized keeping government spending under control while increasing health-care, education and infrastructure funding.

"Now, more than ever, we need to build on the strengths that have taken our economy from the worst in Canada under the NDP to one of the strongest economies on the continent today," Campbell said.

Campaign launched

The campaign for the election officially began on Tuesday afternoon when the legislature was dissolved, but the B.C. Liberals, the B.C. NDP and other parties have effectively been campaigning in recent weeks.

"Our platform lays out a comprehensive plan to build on the solid foundation we've created over the last eight years in B.C. and to generate new investment and jobs in every region and in every sector of our economy," he said.

Campbell also promised to work with Ottawa to extend employment insurance benefits, to cut small business taxes, and to double the provincial training tax credit to $4,000 for employers.

He also took aim at crime, promising to pass legislation so that anyone arrested in B.C. on an outstanding warrant from another province would be denied access to income assistance or other government services, and would immediately be returned to that province.

Other promises in the platform, entitled Keep B.C. Strong, included:

• Reviewing the B.C. Assessment process to lower property taxes on small business.
• Creating a voluntary, defined-contribution pension plan for self-employed workers, small businesses and their employees.
• Implementing the Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement with Alberta.
• Balancing the provincial budget again within three years.
• Putting 100 per cent of all future surpluses towards eliminating operating debt.
• Offering tuition assistance to help forest workers, miners and other workers upgrade and find new job opportunities.
• Requiring wood as the primary building material in publicly owned and provincially funded buildings.
• Developing the proposed Site C Hydroelectric dam in Northern B.C. as a public asset, owned by BC Hydro.
• Moving B.C. from being a net-importer of dirty coal power from the U.S. and elsewhere to a model of clean, renewable power.
• Implementing a regional greenhouse gas cap-and-trade system by 2012 with all members of the Western Climate Initiative.
• Implementing low-carbon fuel content standards and California-equivalent tailpipe emission standards.
• Expanding community courts to other communities outside of Vancouver.
• Expanding the Bait Car program and develop other programs aimed at reducing property crime.
• Upgrading 2,000 units of affordable housing in single occupancy hotels and other facilities.
• Expanding strategies to protect species at risk.