These comments are from someone looking for a political party to vote for.
Although I have voted for all major parties, I have favoured the Green Party in recent years. I believe in economic and social justice as displayed by party policy, local candidate and the leader in that order.
The quality of life and life itself ultimately depends on how humans share the free gifts of nature. Of course, nature is no longer free, as the presence and activity of people make increasing demands on what it can provide.
We sadly add to those pressures with negative actions such as climate change (floods, wildfires), resource speculation (urban sprawl, inflation), product waste (ocean plastics) and reducing wildlife and plant habitats. Political parties still do not recognize and quantify the true value of nature so waste, pollution, speculation and hoarding of nature is the result.
A case in point in this election is that all parties talk about more housing for the homeless, First Nations, renters and others. They identify many culprits such as foreign buyers but they never mention that Canadians also get unearned income and damage the environment (see above) because greed takes advantage of the undervalued and under-taxed resource base such as building sites.
The parties and ‘experts’ ignore the fact that housing sites in major cities may have site values of 75 per cent or more of total property value according to a former BC Assessment Commissioner (2017). Any positive housing program by any party will only inflate limited site values. Until governments capture the true site value of nature many social problems will continue or worsen.
The Conservatives gave us the GST in 1991 and the other parties accepted it. The Conservatives, in this election, are admitting the harm the GST can do to the economy and promise to cancel it for December.
I am still looking for a party that actively promotes the capture of the community-created value of nature and reduces the tax penalty on the production of the things society needs all year round.
John Fisher
Smithers
