Opinion: The BC Greens say one tax will raise $22.2 billion in a year. Voters have not seen the calculation
Emily Lowan says a tax on wealth above $50 million will raise $22.2 billion in its first year. The voche.me editors list the five numbers the party has not published.
This article is the opinion of the voche.me editors. The facts it relies on are listed with their sources at the end.
British Columbia's forecast deficit is $13.8 billion. The Canadian Press called it a record. On October 5, Emily Lowan said one new tax would raise $22.2 billion in a single year.
That is $8.4 billion more than the whole deficit.
A party that says where its money comes from is doing what voters should want. So we looked for the calculation behind the figure. The BC Greens have not published one.
What the Greens promise
The party calls the plan the Fair Share Act. Its release describes two taxes on net wealth, which is what a household owns after its debts are taken off.
The first tax is charged once:
- 5 per cent on net wealth above $50 million
- 10 per cent above $100 million
- 20 per cent above $1 billion
The party estimates this raises $22.2 billion.
The second tax is charged every year after that, at 2 per cent, 3 per cent and 5 per cent on the same three levels. The party estimates $5.4 billion a year.
The release says the money can help pay for universal childcare, free public transit and housing people can afford, and can reduce provincial debt.
What is missing
The release says the $22.2 billion is the figure "after accounting for administrative costs and behavioural responses". That sentence is the whole explanation.
Daily Hive read the party's policy brief and reported on October 6 that it "does not include the underlying calculations or an estimate of how many households would pay". The report adds that the plan does not say how assets would be valued.
We read the release and the brief on October 7 and found the same.
Five numbers the party should publish
- How many households in British Columbia hold net wealth above $50 million.
- How much wealth those households hold in total.
- What share of them the party expects to leave the province or move assets out of it.
- What the tax costs to run each year.
- How the party would put a value on a private company, a farm or a building that is not for sale.
A reader with the first two numbers and the three rates can check $22.2 billion with a calculator. A reader without them has to accept the figure without checking it.
One payment, yearly bills
Childcare and public transit cost money every year. The $22.2 billion arrives once. After that, the party's own estimate is $5.4 billion a year.
The release gives no yearly cost for universal childcare and none for free transit. So a voter cannot tell whether $5.4 billion a year covers the two promises, or covers half of them.
The "98 times" claim
Ms. Lowan compared her tax with the income tax plan of David Eby. The release puts his plan at $225 million. "That's 98 times more," she said of her own.
The arithmetic is right: $22.2 billion divided by $225 million is 98.7.
The comparison is weak. The BC NDP's own figures say its plan raises $225 million in 2026/27, $925 million in 2027/28 and $1 billion in 2028/29. The change starts in the 2027 tax year, and the province's budget year ends on March 31, so 2026/27 holds the first three months only.
The Greens set their largest year beside the NDP's smallest. Set the yearly figures side by side and the result is $5.4 billion against $1 billion. That is 5.4 times.
More than five times is a large difference, and it is the figure a careful party would have used.
What can be said in their defence
A fair reader should weigh three points.
The Greens published their rates and their three wealth levels. A person can tell from the release whether the tax would reach them.
The party says its estimate already allows for people changing their behaviour and for the cost of running the tax.
The other parties have gaps too. Our article on the Conservative promises found a price on two of them.
We have weighed these points. The size of the claim is what sets this one apart. $22.2 billion in one year is the largest money figure in any party release we read for these three articles, and it rests on one sentence.
What we ask
Advance voting opens on October 16. Before that day, the BC Greens should publish the five numbers above and the yearly cost of the childcare and transit promises.
Ms. Lowan will be on the debate stage on October 14, as The Canadian Press reported. Our article on the one leaders' debate has a question for her on this.
Read the sources below and decide for yourself. The BC Green Party page lists the party's candidates. Election day is October 24, 2026.
Questions this story answers
What is the BC Greens' Fair Share Act?
It is a tax plan that BC Greens Leader Emily Lowan announced on October 5, 2026. It has two parts. The first is a one-time tax on net wealth above $50 million. The second is a smaller tax on the same wealth, charged every year after that. The party says the money can pay for childcare, public transit and housing.
What are the tax rates in the BC Greens' wealth tax?
The party's release gives the one-time rates as 5 per cent on net wealth above $50 million, 10 per cent above $100 million and 20 per cent above $1 billion. The yearly rates that follow are 2 per cent above $50 million, 3 per cent above $100 million and 5 per cent above $1 billion.
How much do the BC Greens say the wealth tax would raise?
The party estimates $22.2 billion from the one-time tax and $5.4 billion in each year after that. Its release says the first figure accounts for the cost of running the tax and for changes in how taxpayers behave. These are the party's own estimates, and the party has published no calculation behind them.
How many households would pay the BC Greens' wealth tax?
The party has not said. Its release says the tax would affect a small number of the wealthiest households in British Columbia. Daily Hive reported on October 6, 2026 that the party's policy brief gives no estimate of how many households would pay and does not include the calculations behind the $22.2 billion.
How does $22.2 billion compare with British Columbia's deficit?
The Canadian Press reported on September 14, 2026 that the province's forecast deficit is $13.8 billion, which it called a record. The Greens' estimate of $22.2 billion for the first year of their tax is $8.4 billion more than that deficit. The yearly figure of $5.4 billion is 39 per cent of it.
Does the Green wealth tax raise 98 times more than David Eby's tax plan?
Emily Lowan said so in the party's release, which compares $22.2 billion with $225 million. The BC NDP's own figures give $225 million for 2026/27, $925 million for 2027/28 and $1 billion for 2028/29. Comparing the Greens' yearly tax of $5.4 billion with the NDP's $1 billion gives 5.4 times.
What would the BC Greens spend the wealth tax money on?
The party's release says the money can help pay for universal childcare, free public transit and housing that people can afford, and can reduce provincial debt. The release gives no yearly cost for childcare or for free transit, so a reader cannot check whether $5.4 billion a year would cover them.
What do the voche.me editors ask the BC Greens to publish?
The editors ask for five numbers before advance voting opens on October 16, 2026: how many households hold net wealth above $50 million, how much wealth they hold in total, what share the party expects to leave or move assets, what the tax costs to run, and how the party would value a private company or a farm.
Who wrote this article?
The voche.me editors wrote it as an opinion article, and the conclusion is their own view. Each fact comes from a BC Greens release, a BC NDP release, or a report by Daily Hive or The Canadian Press, and every source is listed with a link at the end of the article. The arithmetic is shown in the text.
Sources
The pages this story draws on. Open one to check a claim yourself.
- BC Green Party release and policy brief on the Fair Share Act, October 5, 2026bcgreens.ca
- Daily Hive: BC Greens propose wealth taxes of up to 20% on fortunes exceeding $50 million, October 6, 2026dailyhive.com
- BC NDP: To build B.C. strong, Eby will ask the wealthy to pitch in a bit more, with backgrounderbcndp.ca
- BOE Report (The Canadian Press): B.C.'s deficit forecast up $450M to $13.8B after calculation errors on gas royalties, September 14, 2026boereport.com
- Times Colonist (The Canadian Press): NDP, Conservative, Green leaders to debate on Oct. 14 in B.C. election, October 6, 2026timescolonist.com
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