B.C. Green Leader Andrew Weaver calls timing of Liberal car-sharing promise incredibly cynical

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      Two young B.C. Liberal candidates in Vancouver are touting a plan to offer tax credits to members of car-sharing services such as Evo, Modo, and car2go.

      Gabe Garfinkel (Vancouver-Fairview) and James Lombardi (Vancouver-Point Grey) say the tax credit will cost the B.C. treasury about $1.5 million per year.

      “People in urban areas are looking to adopt new forms of transportation that are safe and green,” Lombardi said in a B.C. Liberal news release. “Today’s B.C. Liberals are the only party who are embracing the sharing economy.”

      Garfinkel maintained the B.C. Liberals are the "only party that has been clear—we will bring ridesharing to B.C. in December 2017."

      But these claims have been challenged by Andrew Weaver, leader of the B.C. Green party.

      “The B.C. Greens support measures to make life more affordable and to encourage the adoption of greener habits like car-sharing, but the timing of this announcement is incredibly cynical,” he said in a party news release. “Not only has Christy Clark made life completely unaffordable for Vancouverites due to her inaction on the speculative housing market, she waited until just before the election to take this action on car-sharing, and only recently took action on ridesharing as well. This is a perfect example of what is broken in B.C. politics.

      “In 2016, I was the first MLA to introduce legislation that would enable ridesharing in B.C.," Weaver continued. "Neither the B.C. Liberals nor the B.C. NDP supported it. B.C. cannot be a leader in the emerging economy if it does not adapt to technological innovation. A B.C. Green government would establish an Emerging Economy Task Force to rapidly respond to technological innovation in a way that benefits British Columbians and B.C. business, so that B.C. never falls this far behind the curve of innovation again.”

      Clark's name did not appear in the B.C. Liberal news release about car-sharing.

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