With Election Day days away, B.C. NDP leader David Eby and BC Conservatives interim leader Lorne Doerkson exchanged sharp remarks at campaign events Monday.
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With just a handful of days left to go until B.C.’s Election Day, party leaders stepped up their campaigns Monday in several cities, with a heated back-and-forth between B.C. NDP leader David Eby and BC Conservatives interim leader Lorne Doerkson.
In Vancouver, Eby affirmed his support for a united Canada, while referencing the views of voters in Alberta. “A strong, united Canada is what every single person I talked to wants,” he said. “Not everyone knows who our biggest trading partner is. It’s Alberta. We have family and friends and connections across those mountains.”
Eby then accused members of the provincial Conservative Party of supporting a B.C. separatist group. “Not one, not two, but three Conservative MLAs right now are members of a separatist Facebook group called the B.C. Prosperity Group,” he said. “Brian Tupper, Heather Moss, and David Williams are enabling and legitimizing a fringe political project in B.C. to try and separate us from Canada.”
At his own campaign event Monday, Doerkson responded quickly, saying Eby’s comments were offensive. “Mr. Eby’s attempts to impugn my patriotism and love of this country are absolutely disgusting,” Doerkson said. “The BC Conservative Party [supports] a strong and united Canada.”
Doerkson would not confirm whether members of his party were part of the separatist group, but he returned to Eby’s remarks about the Wainwright tragedy, which Eby had referenced at his event. Eby said: “We’re going to stand up as a united country for those brave Canadians and mourn with their families and support those who survived with their healing.”
Doerkson said it was inappropriate to link that event to political messaging. “It is beyond disgusting and desperate for Eby to evoke the lives of the soldiers lost over the weekend in an effort to save his own political skin,” Doerkson said. “Frankly, what is wrong with this man?”
Eby answered in an impromptu press conference shortly after, saying he would not use the tragedy for advantage. “I would never ever use the sacrifice of these young men, the grief of their families for political advantage, to attack another party,” he said.
On the campaign policy front Monday, Doerkson spoke in Maple Ridge about what he said are the Conservatives’ plans for the forestry sector. “We’re going to provide predictable access to fibre,” he said.
He said the Conservatives’ approach would focus on creating competitive tax conditions for value-added wood manufacturers and investing in skills training to expand Indigenous participation in forestry. When asked about the party’s costed platform, he said, “I think this is completely achievable,” adding, “I’ve talked to so many industries who are just waiting for a change in government to invest in this province.”
Later in Surrey, CentreBC leader Elenore Sturko highlighted affordability at her event. She said her party’s plans would save a typical two-income family more than $500 a year through tax cuts and household savings.
Sturko also said CentreBC would fund a 15 per cent increase in transit services by 2030, including additional HandyDart trips for people with disabilities, as part of restoring intercity bus services in rural British Columbia from 2029, which she said would begin under her plan.
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