Dr. Margaret MacDiarmid – Issues that Matter to Vancouver-Fairview

•  The BC Liberal government is investing $14 billion dollars in infrastructure projects that will build and renovate K–12 schools and post-secondary institutions, health care facilities and transportation projects.
•  The $14 billion investment in infrastructure is expected to create up to 88,000 jobs across BC.
•  The BC Liberals cut the small business tax by 44 per cent in 2008 alone, saving small business $146 million and helping them continue employing more than half of all British Columbians.
•  Accelerated infrastructure investments will get people to work on projects over the next few months.
•  The 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games are expected to generate up to $10.7 billion in economic activity. This translates to up to 244,000 people-years of employment.

•  Hire 168 new police officers, 10 new gang-dedicated Crown Prosecutors, and investing $185-million in building jail cells to keep criminals off our streets.
•  Created a 10-person police team dedicated specifically to seizing firearms.
•  BC has over 1,100 more police officers than five years ago - nearly 8,700 police officers in all.
•  We’ve returned more than $255 million in traffic fine revenues to municipalities to hire 560 additional officers.  

•  As a family physician for more than 20 years and a former president of the BC Medical Association, Margaret knows the increased spending on health care is making a difference for families throughout BC.
•  Even in the global economic downturn, the BC Liberals have protected health care investments. Health funding will increase by $4.8 billion over the next three years.
•  Vancouver-Fairview is a hub of health care – and health care investments, including:

o  Jim Pattison Pavilion Tower at VGH, opened in 2003.
o  $45-million Blusson Pavilion, the world’s largest and most advanced facility devoted to spinal cord injury research and patient care.
o  $3.7 million dollar overhaul of VGH Emergency Department.
o  A new $19-million mental health building at BC Children’s and BC Women’s Hospitals.

•  Canada Line rapid transit project will open this fall – three months early – and on budget.
•  The largest infrastructure project in BC history will give Vancouver Fairview residents a rapid transit option to get around the city and to the airport.
•  The BC Liberal government’s $14 Billion Transit Plan is focused on creating more green transportation projects for our community, with fewer emissions and less need to depend on cars.
•  More RapidBus BC express buses like the ones that roll down Broadway are a great and fast solution to commuting.

•  Cut income taxes to the lowest level in all of Canada for everyone earning up to $111,000.
•  Introduced a 5 per cent income tax cut retroactive to the beginning of 2008 – putting more money back in the pockets of BC families.
•  Eliminated provincial income tax completely for nearly 250,000 British Columbians.
•  Nearly doubled the number of child care spaces receiving operating funding to 87,000.

•  Per-student funding for the K–12 system is rising to $8,242 - the highest level in the history of the province. That’s an increase of $2,000 per-student since 2001.
•  Close to 32,000 new public post-secondary seats since 2001.
•  Tuition increases limited to the rate of inflation, giving BC the fourth-lowest tuitions in Canada.
•  Providing almost $150 million every year in student financial assistance, nearly $1.5 billion since 2001.

•  Created the Rental Assistance Program, which provides an average of $350 a month to low-income families to help with housing costs.
•  Creating more than 15,900 units of subsidized housing.
•  Provided $30.2 million to Providence Health Care’s Honoria Conway  (located at 4875 Heather Street) to build 60 assisted living units for seniors and eight units for adults with disabilities in 2008.
•  Number of community addiction beds increased by 150 per cent since 2003, for a total of almost 2,200 today.
•  Doubled Shelter Aid for Elderly Renters (SAFER) rent subsidy program for seniors providing an average an annual rental subsidy of $1,900 to over 15,700 seniors - 3,700 more than in 2001.

•  British Columbia has become a global leader on the environment - not just talk - with innovative policies that tax pollution and provide financial incentives to encourage people to walk, bike, or take transit, and take steps to reduce energy use.
•  The 2007 Greenhouse Gas Reduction Targets Act legally requires government to be carbon-neutral by 2010.
•  In 2008, the first phase of the Carbon Tax was launched to encourage a reduction in carbon emissions. Because it’s revenue-neutral, it triggered a return of $217 million in personal tax cuts, and $121 million in business tax cuts in its first stage.
•  Tax cuts will keep increasing as the Carbon Tax rate increases over the next three years, with a total of $880 million in personal and individual tax reductions in 2010/2011.