The B.C. Conservatives say a future Doerkson-led government would neither introduce new provincial taxes nor increase existing ones, linking the pledge to recent provincial tax changes and public-service pressures.
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The Conservative Party of British Columbia says it will make a “no new taxes” commitment a condition of a future Conservative government, promising there would be no new provincial taxes and no increases to existing provincial taxes if party leader Lorne Doerkson forms the next government.
In a statement released Sept. 27, Doerkson framed the pledge as a response to what he characterized as rising household costs and weak results from increased provincial spending, arguing the government should not continue “ending the NDP’s endless tax grabs on working families.”
The party’s tax promise comes after changes to B.C.’s lowest provincial income tax rate that took effect in 2026. According to the Conservatives, the rate rose from 5.06 per cent to 5.6 per cent, applying to taxable income up to $50,363 and affecting taxpayers earning above that threshold as well.
The Conservatives also pointed to provincial personal tax credits that they said partially offset the higher income tax rate for some residents, including an increase to the maximum B.C. tax reduction credit for lower-income residents by $115 to $690.
Beyond the income tax rate, the Conservatives criticized a freeze on provincial income tax bracket indexing. They cited that the BC NDP-led provincial government has suspended annual inflation adjustments to bracket thresholds for the 2027 through 2030 tax years, with adjustments scheduled to resume in 2031.
The party argued that pausing bracket inflation adjustments can cause “bracket creep,” where workers who receive pay increases only enough to keep up with inflation may still see more of their income taxed at higher marginal rates despite unchanged purchasing power.
On provincial sales tax policy, the Conservatives accused the BC NDP of temporarily shelving planned expansion of the 7 per cent PST to additional professional services—including accounting, architectural services, engineering and geotechnical services, and real estate services—after announcing in their view a pause just days before a snap election call.
The Conservatives referenced an “adjustment” announced by Premier David Eby on Sept. 18, when he said the PST expansion would be paused. In that statement, Eby said delaying the changes until after what he described as the end of “Trump’s disastrous trade war” would give businesses time to navigate tariffs and bans and pivot to other markets.
The Conservative platform statement also criticized what it described as the removal of longstanding PST exemptions and cited Eby’s latest housing tax announcement, described by the Conservatives as a new tax on developers related to unsold newly built strata market ownership condominium homes.
In addition to the tax pledge, the Conservatives tied their message to deteriorating public services, especially in health care, while arguing that provincial spending has not translated into better outcomes for residents.
The announcement did not specify whether the Conservatives would reverse the recent 2026 income tax rate increase, restore annual inflation adjustments to bracket thresholds before 2031, or permanently cancel the PST expansion.
The Conservatives also did not provide a financial plan in the announcement explaining how they would fund improvements to public services while maintaining the commitment against new taxes and tax increases.
On the fiscal backdrop cited in the Conservatives’ statement, September 2026’s fiscal update projects a $13.8 billion deficit for the current year, followed by $12.7 billion in 2027/2028 and $12 billion in 2028/2029, with deficits projected to continue without a balanced budget in the forecast.
The statement also cited rising debt projections: provincial total debt is expected to reach $180.9 billion by the end of the 2025/26 fiscal year and almost $236 billion before the end of the decade, alongside repeated credit rating downgrades in recent years.
The next provincial general election is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026, about a week after civic elections across B.C. This timing places the tax pledge squarely in the lead-up to the Oct. 24 vote, with voters weighing both tax changes and broader fiscal pressures.
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