Frequently Asked Questions – FAQ

• Is the Vancouver Island Party economically responsible?

• The Vancouver Island Party is committed to a fiscal policy that:
  1. Balances the provincial budget over the business cycle.
  2. Eliminates the provincial debt without raising taxes.

• What is Vancouver Island Party's policy on taxes?

• 1. Keep taxes on middle-income families as low as possible.
  2. Introduce tax fairness measures such as income splitting for stay-at-home couples with children.
  3. Increase the provincial guaranteed income supplement for low- income seniors.
  4. Make business taxes competitive with Canadian provinces and U.S. states.
  5. Restructure the VanIsle tax system to maximize benefits for the greatest number of VanIsle citizens.
  6. Explore a flat income tax regime.

• How will the Vancouver Island Party affect my cost of living on the Island?

• The Vancouver Island Party will move towards:
  1. Free BC Ferries rides for individuals driving or walk-on coming or going from Vancouver Island on major and minor routes.
  2. Reduced fares on automobiles and other vehicles.
  3. Substantially reduced fares for the movement of freight coming or going for merchandise payloads of 2 tonnes or more from Vancouver Island.
  4. Light rail transit (LRT) systems in all major centres of Vancouver Island.
  5. Improved bus and rail service for VanIslers who live in sparse population areas.
  6. Free and fair trade with other provinces in the New West Partnership of western provinces to reduce trade barriers and lower costs to consumers.
  7. Support the Buy Island – Grow Island” campaign of the Vancouver Island and Coast Conservation Society.
  8. Introduce a free market regime for automobile insurance and servicing for accidents, such as in Alberta, to lower premiums

• What is the Vancouver Island Party doing about job creation?

• The Vancouver Island Party will:
  1. Provide provincial government support for ‘Green” and “Clean” businesses.
  2. Support the principle of “value-added” processing on Vancouver Island by encouraging the export of products rather than raw materials.
  3. Endorse Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) as a project provided geographical and environmental conditions are favourable. Specifically, the VIP opposes tanker traffic in the Inside Passage and in the Saanich Inlet, as well as a proposed LNG plant at Bamberton.”
  4. Encourage local businesses to make their purchases for supplies, garbage disposal, lighting, etc. from other local businesses.
  5. Aim for energy independence by 2030, with 100% emphasis on renewable energy sources such as hydro, solar, wind, tidal and run of river.
  6. Negotiate lower costs for the import of electrical power from BC Hydro.
  7. Support businesses of all sizes with an environment of minimum red tape and regulatory burden.
  8. Support widespread employee profit-sharing ownership of VanIsle corporations.
  9. Working with the Government of Canada, encourage more efficient immigration of skilled workers, including recognition of training credentials from other countries.
  10. Encourage efficiency and innovation in VanIsle enterprises through greater research and development (R&D) and capital investment.
  11. Encourage governments at all levels and educational institutions to promote and incubate new businesses.
  12. Protect the right to private property.

• How will college and university students benefit from the Vancouver Island Party?

• College students can expect from the Vancouver Island Party
  1. Free tuition with proof of residency and good marks. Canadian citizenship or landed Immigrant status is also required.
  2. Preferential hiring policies for graduates to stay on the Island.
  3. Assistance to pay off student debt.

• How will the Vancouver Island Party improve labour relations on the Island?

• The Vancouver Island Party will:
  1. Promote public sector excellence with competitions for all positions.
  2. Introduce whistle-blowing legislation to ensure that those in the civil service who expose corruption and wrongdoing are protected from reprisal.
  3. Support the right of workers to organize democratically, to bargain collectively and to peacefully withdraw and withhold services.
  4. The VanIsle Party respects the role of labour and provides a place for a union representative as a member of each of its 14 Constituency Associations (CA) and its Party Council (PC) in its Constitution & Bylaws.

• What Plans does the Vancouver Island Party have for transportation on and off the Island?

• 1.The VanIsle Party supports the Government of Canada building the original 1871 Confederation Railway Across Seymour Narrows just north of Campbell River, the Discovery Islands to Bute Inlet and its Homathco River Valley to the BC Interior to connect with the Canadian National Railway (CNR) at Williams Lake. Existing CNR lines extend north from Williams Lake to Prince George and eastward to Edmonton. Likewise, CNR lines south from Williams Lake will be connected to Kamloops and Kelowna to Calgary.

  2. The VanIsle Party supports the expansion of the Esquimalt and Nanaimo (E&N) Railway, as well as Light Rail Transit (LRT) systems for different regions of Vancouver Island.

  3. The Blue Boat - “A possible restoration of the “Blue Boat” service to connect Colwood with CFB Esquimalt to serve the military and civilian community working at Naden and Dockyard. This will dramatically reduce traffic congestion in “The Colwood Crawl”. 

  4. The West Island Transportation Corridor - “An all-weather road and rail connection between Lake Cowichan and Bamfield, with a BC Ferries connection to Ucluelet. There would also be an all-weather road and rail connection from Lake Cowichan to Port Alberni.”

  5. The VanIsle Party supports the proposal of the Powell River-based Third Crossing Society to build an all-weather connector road from Powell River to just north of Squamish. This connector road would increase traffic on the existing Comox-Powell River BC Ferry. It would provide quick access for VanIslers to drive to Whistler and the BC Interior and to Vancouver and the Lower Mainland.

  6. The International Bridge Project - “An international bridge connecting Central Saanich to Anacortes, Washington, USA. This bridge would be built by the governments of Canada and the United States, supported by the governments of Vancouver Island and Washington State after appropriate assessment and consultation.”

• How will the Vancouver Island Party address social problems like poverty reduction?

• The Vancouver Island Party will:
  1. Close the widening gap between the rich and the poor.
  2. Guaranteed annual income with incentives for work.
  3. Equal pay for equal work for men and women.
  4. End child poverty.
  5. Help the homeless.
  6. Help food banks, especially at holidays like Christmas.
  7. More child care spaces.
  8. More affordable long-term care facilities for low-income seniors.

• What are The Vancouver Island Party's policies on health and healthcare?

• The Vancouver Island Party would:
  1. Encourage adoption.
  2. Protect women’s health.
  3. Provide information on post-abortion side effects.
  4. Reduce wait times at VanIsle hospitals.
  5. Offer effective palliative care.
  6. Lower costs for prescription drugs.
  7. Promote the use of generic drugs.
  8. Advocate wellness and disease prevention
  9. Introduce a provincial cycling strategy for health, tourism and the environment.
  10. Recognize that mental health should have the same priority as physical health.
  11. Increase the supply of doctors and other health care professionals.
  12. Investigate the feasibility of adding dental care to the provincial health care system.
  13. Support the medical use of marijuana.
  14. Develop a provincial policy for marijuana once the Government of Canada introduces its policy in 2017.

• What are The Vancouver Island Party's policies on education?

• The Vancouver Island Party will:
  1. Provide pre-kindergarten education at no cost to parents.
  2. Recognize the value of the stay-at-home parent and provide tax relief for families who provide homecare.
  3. Expand affordable daycare spaces as in the Quebec example.
  4. Provide grants per student to approved home schools equal to grants provided in public schools.
  5. Add financial literacy relating to budgeting, saving and investment to the provincial core curriculum.
  6. Support the teachers’ union recommendation on class size.
  7. Provide extra funding for the arts, music, sports and other extracurricular activities.
  8. Support extra funding for special needs students.
  9. Fund literacy programs.
  10. Encourage apprenticeship programs like in Germany.

• What is environmental philosophy of the Vancouver Island Party?

• The Vancouver Island Party holds a balanced philosophy that is environmentally green.
  1. Firstly, we believe that nobody is out to destroy the environment or the economy – we need both.
  2. Secondly, living within our means - a fiscally responsible approach for families, businesses and governments - is also an ecological concept.

• How will the Vancouver Island Party improve the regulation of air quality and toxins?

• The Vancouver Island Party will:
  1. Reduce air borne contaminants and pesticides. In particular, protect the essential honeybee population.
  2. Regulate substances shown to be a significant risk to human health.
  3. Put the onus on manufacturing companies to demonstrate a product’s safety before it is approved for use, as in done with pharmaceuticals.

• How will the Vancouver Island Party Manage Intensifying Threats To Our Coastal Waters?

• The Vancouver Island Party will:
  1. Support the Government of Canada and international regulatory regimes to prevent, reduce and control the release of toxic substances and nutrients into the marine environment.
  2. Encourage the Government of Canada to support ongoing domestic and international research into the effects of ocean acidification in Canadian waters.
  3. Advocate and participate in a task force with the Governments of Canada, the United States, British Columbia and Washington State to focus on pollution reduction in the Juan de Fuca-Georgia Strait region.
  4. Support the work of the Islands Trust.
  5. Endorse the Dogwood Initiative campaign to get a Citizen’s Initiative to give British Columbians the chance to vote on plans to expand pipelines and oil tanker traffic on our BC coast.

• What are The Vancouver Island Party's principles of Environmental Justice?

• The Vancouver Island Partysupports 12 principles of Environmental Justice as follows:
  1. Recognize The Importance of God’s Creation – The Earth – Ecological Unity and the Interdependence of All Species, and the Right To Be Free From Ecological Destruction
  2. Improve Regulation of Air Quality and Toxins
  3. Manage Intensifying Threats To Our Coastal Waters
  4. Protect and Conserve Freshwater Lakes and Rivers, Groundwater and Aquifers and their Associated Riparian Zones
  5. Ensure The Protection of VanIsle Parks and Marine-Protected Areas
  6. Enforce and Enhance Protection For Species At Risk
  7. Affirm the Right of All Workers To A Safe and Healthy Work Environment
  8. Protect the Rights of Victims of Environmental Injustice To Receive Full Compensation and Reparations For Damages, As Well As Quality Health Care
  9. Affirm the Need for Urban and Rural Ecological Policies To Clean Up and Rejuvenate VanIsle Cities, Towns, Villages and Rural Areas
  10. Oppose the Destructive Environmental Operations of National and Multi-National Corporations
  11. Educate Present and Future Generations by Emphasizing Economic, Social and Environmental Issues Based on VanIslers’ Diverse Cultural Perspectives
  12. Require That We, As Individuals, Make Personal and Consumer Choices To Consume As Little Of The Earth’s Non-Renewable Resources and To Produce As Little Waste As Possible; and To Make The Conscious Decision To Challenge and Reprioritize Our Lifestyles To Ensure The Health of the Natural World For Present and Future Generations

• How will The Vancouver Island Party Protect and Conserve Freshwater Lakes and Rivers, Groundwater and Aquifers and their Associated Riparian Zones?

• The Vancouver Island Party would:
  1. Recognize that in this age of climate change, water is our most precious resource.
  2. Prohibit water exports.
  3. Establish regulation and product standards to promote water-efficient technologies.
  4.Ensure secure, safe water supplies for all VanIslers.
  5. Conduct a VanIsle inventory of all polluted ground water and water bodies.
  6. Provide adequate funding for local and regional flood protection and drought management planning.

• How will The Vancouver Island Party Ensure The Protection of VanIsle Parks and Marine-Protected Areas?

• The Vancouver Island Party will:
  1. Regulate resource exploitation within Vanlsle provincial parks.
  2. Increase monitoring and protection efforts, including an addition to the number of park rangers and guides.
  3. Create and manage marine-protected areas (MPAs)
  4. Support the Vancouver Island and Coast Conservation Society advocacy of a Vancouver Island National Marine Conservation Area, as well as a Southern Strait of Georgia National Marine Conservation Area.

• How will The Vancouver Island Party stand for Democratic Reform?

• The Vancouver Island Party would:
  1. Consider proportional representation to replace the current “first past the post” system of voting.
  2. Support young people to get involved in politics.
  3. Train and support VanIsle Party activists to seek elected office at provincial, regional, municipal, school board and neighbourhood associations.
  4. Advocate public funding of political parties.
  5. Introduce a citizen’s direct initiative law with a 5% threshold (versus 10% currently) of voters in each of the VanIsle ridings in the preceding provincial election.
  6. Introduce recall legislation for MLAs, MPs and Senators.
  7. Ensure that all elected or appointed representatives of the VanIsle Party agree to and abide by a VIP Code of Representative Ethical Conduct.
  8. Redistribute Vancouver Island provincial ridings for up to 50 MLAs (up from 14), up to 12 MPs (up from 7) and 10 Senators (up from zero).

• What does it mean that the Vancouver Island Party stands for the Devolution of Powers to Regional and Municipal Governments?

• 1. The VanIsle Party believes that social bodies, such as governments, exist for the sake of individuals and that whatever individuals can do, society should not take over.
  2. The VanIsle Party also believes that what small societies, such as charities, non-governmental agencies, etc. can do, larger societies, such as governments should not take over.
  3. Consequently, wherever possible, the Government of Vancouver Island will devolve the responsibility and funding of provincial governmental services to regional governments and municipalities of Vancouver Island.
  4. At all times, due diligence will be provided to avoid duplication of government services whether provided by the Government of Canada, the Government of Vancouver Island or the local authorities.

• How will The Vancouver Island Party respect the First Nations of Vancouver Island?

• The Vancouver Island Party would:
  1. Understand and honour First Nations’ beliefs, customs and history.
  2. Acknowledge that most First Nations have close to half of their members living off reserve on Vancouver Island or elsewhere where jobs and access to public services such as health and education are more readily available.
  3. Introduce policies designed to bring hope to First Nations’ youth by supporting apprenticeship training, skills training, employment opportunities and entrepreneurial initiative. Youth with good ideas will be helped to build good and successful businesses.
  4. Support economic development projects that are environmentally sound and have community support within and outside the reserve.

• What are the benefits of having a Vancouver Island Party member representing my riding in BC?

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1-844-933-4VIP