In an exclusive interview with Juno News, Carson Binda, the BC Conservative candidate for Vancouver–Quilchena and former BC director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, explains why he dropped everything to fight for British Columbians in his riding, his key priorities if elected, and addresses the fact that he’s running in the same riding as OneBC leader Dallas Brodie.
When asked what drove him to halt his four-year tenure with the Canadian Taxpayer Federation, Binda said the provincial election is “way too important” for “any British Columbian to sit out.”
“The NDP has more than doubled our provincial debt. They’re hiking taxes on families, and their platform even suggests a new tax on doctors that’ll drive away the exact types of folks we need to be attracting to BC,” Binda said.
“So after years of NDP mismanagement and decline, I think we need strong leadership for serious times, and that means stepping up to the plate.”
Binda had only positive things to say about the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, which acts as a government spending watchdog and an advocacy group on behalf of taxpayers.
“The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is a phenomenal organization, and I have nothing but respect for my former colleagues and the work they continue to do,” he said. “I spent the past four years on the front line digging up examples of NDP waste and fighting for taxpayers.”
He said during his time as a taxpayer advocate, he’s spoken to thousands of community members and business owners who “can’t afford more sky-high tax hikes and mismanagement from this provincial government.”
“Now, it also taught me how to go line by line through provincial budgets to find real savings for taxpayers. That’s exactly what the Canadian Taxpayers Federation does every single day,” Binda said.
Binda said he’s lived in Vancouver for the past eight years, and he often lived abroad during his childhood as his father worked in international development.
“I spent my childhood in conflict and post-conflict societies around the world. I lived in Yemen for a few years, Kosovo, Nigeria, and then did my entire high school in Malta before moving out to Vancouver and going to UBC for political science, where I lived in this beautiful riding Vancouver–Quilchena,” he said.
He said he and his fiancée recently moved downtown, just across from the border, to a different riding but are “actively looking for a home” in Vancouver–Quilchena, which he again considers “home.”
Binda said “affordability” is the number one issue he’s been hearing about since he started his campaign.
“Folks are being squeezed by sky-high taxes, by increased costs of everything, and this government just keeps those cost pressures snowballing on families and businesses,” he said.
Binda said he’s also hearing from British Columbians who are concerned that their private property rights are endangered by the NDP’s “Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act,” more commonly referred to as “DRIPA.”
“I’m hearing about how British Columbians want us to repeal DRIPA and protect private property rights, which is a keystone of the BC Conservative platform,” he said. “I’ve heard from folks about safe streets and the importance of having police officers and judges that prosecute criminals instead of continuing the NDP’s catch-and-release system that puts repeat violent offenders right back on the streets.”
Binda believes that the Conservative Party of British Columbia is the best vehicle British Columbians have to address those top concerns in restoring safe streets, affordability and certainty about their private property rights.
When asked about voters in Vancouver-Quilchena having two conservative voices running for the same riding with Brodie running against him, Binda said he and his team are “laser-focused” on taking down David Eby and his NDP government.
“The minor parties that are polling at five per cent and below, we aren’t concerned about them other than as a potential vote split. A vote for Dallas Brodie in OneBC is a vote for the NDP,” he said. “I think all British Columbians need to be focused on taking out the NDP and bringing back strong leadership for these serious times.”
Binda said his first priorities if elected will be to “undo the damage” of the NDP’s tax hikes.
“If you open our provincial budget and scroll to the appendix section, you’ll see that the NDP is hiking taxes on working families making $100,000 a year by about 16% this year alone,” he said. “We’re going to cancel those tax hikes. We’re going to put more money back in people’s pockets.”
He also said that BC Conservatives are going to “repeal DRIPA” and ensure there’s certainty for private property rights in British Columbia and a “clear roadmap to get major projects done and approved quickly.”
“At the constituency level, there are two schools in my riding that haven’t been seismically upgraded by the provincial government yet,” he said. “We need to get those schools upgraded so our kids are safe and secure in their classrooms.”