We will take action with a comprehensive 10-year plan for affordable housing:

Building homes:

• Building 114,000 affordable rental, non-profit and co-op housing units through partnerships over 10 years, building on public land where available. As much as possible, we will build with innovative BC-manufactured wood products, creating new markets for BC wood products and new jobs in BC's forest industry-based communities.

  Protecting renters:

• Providing a new renter's rebate of $400 dollars per rental household per year.
• Closing the BC Liberals' "fixed term lease" loophole and ensure controls on rent increases are enforced.
• Passing legislation requiring fair treatment during renovations and demolitions of rental properties.

  Taxing speculators:

• Closing loopholes that let speculators dodge taxes and hide their identities, and charging a yearly 2% absentee speculators' tax to crack down on empty homes.
• Directing revenue from the absentee speculators' tax into a Housing Affordability Fund.
• Establishing a multi-agency task force to fight tax fraud and money laundering in the BC real estate marketplace.

Grow BC, Feed BC, Buy BC

• Grow BC will help young farmers access land and focus on exciting initiatives like ensuring our bee populations stay healthy and supporting fruit and nut growers.
• Under Feed BC, government facilities will increase their use of BC-grown and processed foods.
• By bringing back an enhanced Buy BC marketing program, we will help local producers market their products.

We'll encourage leadership and innovation by:

• Partnering with growers, processors, colleges and universities to develop a BC Food Innovation Centre to innovate in the processing, packaging and marketing of BC food products.

We'll expand markets for vintners, brewers and craft distillers by:

• Establishing a BC beer, wine and spirits advisory panel to grow and strengthen the industry.
• Working with local producers to expand our markets and help market our products.

We'll restore the tax on BC's highest income earners and increase the Corporate Income Tax rate by one point, putting BC's rate on par with Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. We'll also collect taxes from the property speculators who are profiting off their interference in Vancouver's housing market.

At the same time we will redirect BC Liberal waste and partisan government spending to programs that matter, like healthcare and education. We'll generate new revenue as we build new schools, roads, hospitals, housing and transit and grow our economy.

Plus we'll eliminate Christy Clark's LNG Fantasy Fund that you paid for with fee hikes and use the money to help eliminate tolls.

By making different choices, and getting our priorities right, we will make life more affordable, improve the services you count on and help create good jobs and a sustainable economy.

We'll do it while working hard to balance the budget each and every year, especially as our economy grows.

The BC NDP will create a $10 a day childcare plan. It will initially focus on children under the age of two before gradually expanding to cover other pre-kindergarten children.

This plan will be:

• Affordable: We will offer full-day care for $10 and part-time care for $7 a day, with no fee for families with annual incomes below $40,000 a year.
• Accessible: We will build a childcare system that provides safe care for every child whose family wants or needs it. All children will be welcome and licensed family homes and centres will continue to offer a range of programs that reflect the diversity of BC communities. Families can select the type of childcare that works for them.
• Quality: The $10 a day plan invests in the Early Childhood Educator workforce - helping ensure that they are well-educated, well-respected and fairly compensated.

We believe every child has the right to care, safety, permanency and connection with their culture. The BC NDP is committed to improving our system of care by:

• Providing an additional $10 million for Agreements with Young Adults, so all youth aging out of government care who need support can receive it.
• Ensuring our K-12 system has the resources to help youth in care graduate with their peers.
• Working with universities and colleges to expand the tuition fee waiver program and provide enhanced supports for former youth in care who pursue post-secondary education.
• Empowering the Select Standing Committee on Children and Youth to review the recommendations of the Independent Representative for Children and Youth and address them.

Connecting and staying with their families and communities is important for all children - especially First Nations children. John Horgan and the BC NDP will meet their specific needs by:

• Implementing the recommendations from Grand Chief Ed John's report and provide better supports to keep Aboriginal children at home and out of care.
• Ensuring that basic care standards are met for children in care and that there is a plan to connect them with their culture and community.
• Supporting delegated Aboriginal agencies so they can offer services at the same level offered to non-Aboriginal children.

Our current first-past-the-post voting system isn't working. Parties that don't get 50 per cent of the vote get all the power and the voices of minority groups often go unheard. It's time for a system where every vote counts.

John Horgan and the BC NDP would hold a referendum on changing our voting system to a proportional system. We'll ensure BC's regions are all represented fairly and we will campaign for the "yes" side.

Our commitments include:

• Contributing $30 million per year to our school system to ensure kids have the school supplies they need to succeed.
• Creating an ongoing capital fund for school playgrounds.
• Working with school districts to successfully implement BC's new school curriculum and providing new technology, lab equipment, learning material and professional development support for teachers.
• Acknowledging that a per-pupil funding model doesn't work for our diverse education system in BC and undertaking a comprehensive review.
• Replacing Surrey portables with real classrooms, building new schools in BC's fastest growing region.
• Working with local governments, First Nations and communities in every region of British Columbia to build new schools and upgrade existing ones.
• Accelerating the seismic upgrade program for BC, making schools safer for our kids should an earthquake happen during school hours.
• Upgrading schools with energy efficient lighting to reduce power consumption costs.
• Building new schools - wherever possible - with made-in-BC manufactured wood products to spur growth and create jobs in our forestry communities.
• Improving First Nations student graduation rates by developing curriculums that accurately and fairly reflect the rich history and culture.
• Providing support for, and working towards, full course offerings in Aboriginal languages.
• Implementing First Nations-focused K-12 education recommendations from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission report.
• Making mental health counselors available where schools identify a need so children can get the help they need when they need it.
• Partnering with innovative BC not-for-profits and technology companies to offer students the opportunity to learn to code in the classroom.
• Supporting the expansion of digital arts, technology and trades education, and making tools, machinery and equipment available to students.

We'll protect species at risk by:

• Bringing in an endangered species law.
• Working with the federal government, South Okanagan communities and local First Nations to create a plan to protect a large number of endangered species.

We'll increase investment in parks and camping by:

• Restoring funding for BC parks.
• Hiring additional park rangers and conservation officers.
• Building new campsites to catch up with current demand.
• Putting BC residents first in line for campsite bookings.

We'll make environmental decisions you can trust, including:

• Updating our environmental assessment legislation and processes.
• Respecting the rights of First Nations.

We'll protect clean, safe drinking water and ensure healthy communities by:

• Recognizing the right to clean, safe drinking water - and making a commitment to protect it.
• Working with the federal government to improve drinking water quality.
• Keeping cancer-causing chemicals out of our water supply.

As well, John Horgan's BC NDP government will do what's right and ban the grizzly bear trophy hunt. We'll also make permits for other kinds of hunting more fair for BC residents.

John Horgan and the BC NDP will take bold action to tackle the opioid crisis and get families and people with addictions the fast support they need. This will include:

• Establishing a province-wide strategy to ensure the widest possible availability of life-saving naloxone kits with people trained to use them.
• Enabling police efforts to disrupt the supply chain, break up major drug rings and send the perpetrators to trial.
• Advocating for increased penalties for drug dealers who knowingly distribute death-dealing drugs like fentanyl and carfentanil.
• Creating a special initiative with First Nations leaders and their communities to provide additional assistance where the impact of the crisis is greatest.
• Increasing support for first responders, including counselling for PTSD and work-related stress.

John Horgan's BC NDP will make reconciliation a cross-government priority:

Acting on the Truth and Reconciliation Commision

The thousands of residential school survivors deserve action, not just talk.

Adopting the principles of UNDRIP

We will adopt the principles of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which has been accepted by 148 nations - including the government of Canada.

Supporting Indigenous communities, culture and history

It's time to hounour, respect and promote the cultures of BC's Indigenous communities.

Keeping Aboriginal children connected to their communities

Aboriginal children deserve the same chance to thrive and stay connected to their communities as every child in BC.

Creating jobs and opportunities

We'll partner with First Nations people to build good jobs and a sustainable economy.

John Horgan and the BC NDP will take action to make our healthcare system work for you. We will make improving your access to family doctors and other medical professionals the top priority for our Ministry of Health. We'll develop a new urgent care model that gets emergency room visitors the healthcare support they need faster, and we'll help rural British Columbians with an improved medical travel allowance.

At the same time, we will:

• Reduce the cost of prescription drugs.
• Invest in new hospitals and care facilities in communities across BC, plus home care and quality long-term care for BC seniors.
• Establish Urgent Family Care Centres across BC (open evenings and weekends), to help you get the one-on-one healthcare you need with the support of a full medical team.
• Invest in more paramedics, so that no one is left waiting for an ambulance in their time of critical need.
• Implement province-wide coordination to manage and actively monitor waitlists and speed up service delivery.
• Stop the decline in rural health services.
• Fund UBC's Therapeutics Initiative properly to keep drug costs down and patients safe.
• Work with the federal government to create a national pharmacare program and bulk purchasing of medication to keep costs low.
• Remove the age restriction on the insulin pump program for British Columbians living with diabetes.

Addressing the urgent needs of people living in poverty is essential - and a moral responsibility. John Horgan's BC NDP will help by immediately:

• Reducing the depth of poverty in BC by immediately raising all income assistance and disability rates by $100 per month.
• Supporting assistance recipients as they re-enter the workforce by allowing them to keep an additional $200 per month in earnings exemptions.
• Ending Christy Clark's disability bus pass clawback, fully restoring the BC Bus Pass program for people with disabilities.

John Horgan and the BC NDP will protect temporary foreign workers by bringing in a Temporary Foreign Worker registry to give government the information it needs to protect workers. While the majority of employers are responsible, the few who are not hurt workers, damage Canada's reputation, and compete unfairly against other honest BC businesses. We'll also end the collection of illegal recruitment fees by requiring recruiters and employers to register Temporary Foreign Workers.

We'll break down barriers to success preventing immigrants from using their professional experience to find meaningful work. This includes the creation of a Centre for Newcomers to help coordinate and educate skilled newcomers in their fields and reversing the BC Liberal cuts to funding for Adult Basic Education and English language courses for immigrants.

At the same time, we'll improve support for refugees to ensure they can build happy and successful new lives here while working with the federal government to increase BC's quota under the Provincial Nominee Program and increase BC's control over the terms of qualification.

We need to restore, replace and repair schools, hospitals, roads and transit. In doing so, we'll create 96,000 real jobs and add $18 billion dollars in economic activity while helping us deliver the services people need.

Building strong communities

Quality schools, good hospitals, recreation centres and transit options are all necessities of communities large and small. We'll invest in all corners of BC, making communities stronger, spurring economic growth and creating good jobs close to home.

Cutting commute times and reducing congestion

Building a better BC means getting you to and from work and school faster and safer. We'll invest in improving roads and in major new transit projects to reduce congestion, get cars off the road and reduce our impact on the environment.

Creating technology infrastructure and innovation centres

We'll partner with universities, colleges, technical institutions and businesses to build and fund specialized innovation centres in the interior and northern BC to make sure all regions of the province benefit from jobs and investment in the new economy.

Building partnerships to fund new infrastructure

Our plan to create 96,000 jobs includes funding partnerships with the federal government, First Nations, municipalities, pension funds, financial institutions and businesses.

We'll develop and attract world-class talent by:

• Investing $100 million to expand technology-related post-secondary programs and match investments with tech-related co-op programs.
• Appointing a Chief Talent Officer.
• Ensuring every child in BC is given the opportunity to learn how they can change the world by learning to code.

We'll create better access to capital by:

• Strengthening existing venture capital and tax credit programs.
• Re-invigorating the Innovative Clean Energy (ICE) Fund to boost investments in groundbreaking new energy technologies.
• Streamlining and simplifying incentive programs and credits.

We'll build local markets for IT and software development by:

• Bringing in a cap on the value and the length of government IT contracts.
• Making government IT and software development procurement work better for companies that hire locally and have a local supply chain.
• Partnering with local governments in northern and rural communities, we will ensure local digital infrastructure is accessible.

For John Horgan's BC NDP, a strong economy is when everyone is doing better. Where life gets a little easier each month, not harder. Where people like you are rewarded for working hard, with good wages, job security and a safe place to work. This includes:

• Creating 96,000 construction jobs
• Building a sustainable economy
• Fuelling innovation in BC Tech
• Renewing our forest industry
• Growing BC agriculture
• Creating safe, responsible mining jobs
• Creating good jobs in manufacturing
• Boosing the creative economy
• Investing in tourism and recreation
• Safely developing natural gas
• Helping small businesses succeed
• Raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour

John Horgan and the BC NDP will ensure access to justice is fair, timely and affordable by:

• Hiring new court sheriffs immediately to bring the number back to a historical norm of 525 so fewer accused criminals walk away free without trial.
• Implementing the Surrey Accord and bringing together all levels of government to create a safer, healthier community and address crime, mental health, addiction and homelessness.
• Providing $500,000 a year in stable, secure funding for Surrey's Wraparound (WRAP) program to connect teens at risk of joining gangs with outreach workers, teachers and police.
• Taking pressure off the courts by reducing the number of people forced to represent themselves because of a lack of resources.
• Improving access to justice by hiring more staff for the Court Services Branch, increasing access to dispute resolutions services for families, expanding poverty law services and supporting First Nations legal services.
• Working with First Nations to set targets and take action to reduce the number of Aboriginal people facing our justice system and to reduce incarceration rates.
• Recognizing culture for its role in rehabilitation and recovery and providing culturally diverse and appropriate programming in prisons, particularly for Aboriginal people.
• Providing $8 million per year in funding to support women experiencing domestic violence, sexual assault and other crimes.

To make mental health treatment and addictions support a priority, we will create a Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions. This new ministry will work with the Ministry of Children and Families, the Ministry of Health, local governments, First Nations and the education and justice systems so patients get treatment early and effectively.

For people in crisis needing immediate help, a BC NDP government will take an "Ask Once, Get Help Fast" approach to mental health and addictions. We will ensure children and adolescents can access specially trained adolescent mental health professionals within the school system, where early identification and support can lead to healthier lives and prevent a lifetime of illness.

Since nearly 60% of people struggling with addiction also experience other mental health challenges, a BC NDP government will bring those services together to help those most in need. We'll provide access to a wide range of evidence-based and regulated treatment, including licensing our current recovery house system, enhancing supports post-detox, and improving access to harm reduction options that save lives.

For people whose health will only improve with intensive, residential-based treatment, we will reopen facilities on the Riverview lands to provide residential care.

A BC NDP government will dedicate its first piece of legislation to taking big money out of politics.

We will ban corporate and union donations and set limits on individual contributions.

We'll also ban out-of-province donations and require transparency from outside organizations advertising to influence the outcomes of our elections.

• Capping tuition fee increases at colleges and universities.
• Ensuring low and middle income students have access to the assistance they need to get the education they want.
• Making student loans interest free - current and future.
• Providing a $1,000 Opportunity Award for higher education graduates to help pay down debt.
• Supporting the UPass program.
• Making Adult Basic Education (ABE) and English as a Second Language (ESL) free again.
• Updating regulations to allow colleges and universities to build affordable on and near-campus rental housing, and ensure student renters receive the renter's tax rebate of $400 per year.
• Creating a competitive, merit-based graduate scholarship program designed to attract and retain the best graduate students, based on hard work and talent.
• Investing $50M over two years for a new graduate scholarship fund.
• Investing $100 million to expand technology-related post-secondary programs and investing in information and communications, digital media and entertainment, life sciences and health, clean-tech, IT and engineering and more.
• Partnering with universities throughout BC to build technology and innovation centres in key areas of BC's economy.

Addressing the urgent needs of people living in poverty is essential - and a moral responsibility. John Horgan's BC NDP will help by immediately:

• Reducing the depth of poverty in BC by immediately raising all income assistance and disability rates by $100 per month.
• Supporting assistance recipients as they re-enter the workforce by allowing them to keep an additional $200 per month in earnings exemptions.
• Ending Christy Clark's disability bus pass clawback, fully restoring the BC Bus Pass program for people with disabilities.

John Horgan's BC NDP will work with both the taxi industry and ridesharing services to create a truly fair approach to ridesharing in British Columbia that doesn't unfairly benefit - or punish - one group over the other. This includes:

• Working with stakeholders across BC to level up standards across the province and ensure British Columbians can count on low-cost predictable fares, accessible services, safe cars and drivers subject to appropriate criminal record checks.
• Creating a level playing field for all providers and respecting the people currently in the people-moving industry without giving one group of drivers an unfair advantage over the other.
• Developing a plan that protects passengers from price gouging, particularly after sporting events, concerts and on special occasions and holidays when demand is highest.

Giving support to seniors to stay at home as long as possible is the right thing to do. We will increase the length of home support visits and expand the scope of services provided - helping seniors stay in their homes longer, reducing stress on family friends and other unpaid caregivers.

Seniors who move into residential care can expect increased support and more accountability from providers and their staff, so they receive the high-quality, dignified relationship-based care they deserve. We will conduct a review to establish and maintain safe staffing levels that aren't disrupted by contracting out or contract flipping.

We'll develop an all-party Select Standing Committee on Seniors. This committee will be tasked with refreshing the Council on Aging and Seniors' 2006 Report, making recommendations to the Legislature and monitoring and reporting on the implementation of those recommendations.

Across British Columbia, John Horgan's BC NDP will help people get moving by:

• Working with the Metro Vancouver Mayor's Council, Translink and BC Transit to find long and lasting solutions to improve service and ensure that seniors and people with disabilities get the rides they need.
• Making much-needed investments in capital projects and buses to support transit in the Capital Regional District and working with local governments to explore the possibility of creating a regional transportation authority.
• Leading and promoting efforts to fix the E&N railway tracks so that commuter rail can become an option to eliminate gridlock in the capital region.
• Restoring the seniors' discount on BC Ferries, making it free for seniors to travel from Monday to Thursday, except on holidays; reducing fares by 15 per cent on secondary routes; and freezing fares on major routes while conducting a review of BC Ferries cost structures.
• Allowing BC shipyards to bid competitively on every new ferry built.

John Horgan's BC NDP will bring in a $15 an hour minimum wage by 2021, with increases each year. Phasing the increases in will allow businesses to adjust, ensuring that jobs aren't put at risk and that employment in minimum wage sectors actually increases - as has been the case in Seattle. Once we reach $15 an hour, we will index the minimum wage to inflation to ensure we don't fall behind.