B.C. NDP leader David Eby said the province called the Oct. 24 election early because a one-seat majority made governing difficult, while he also promised to freeze ICBC rates for three years.
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B.C. NDP leader David Eby defended calling a provincial election before the fixed date, saying the province’s one-seat majority made governing difficult.
Eby made the comments lined up with three of the four Richmond NDP candidates at Garry Point Park on Thursday morning. The provincial election is scheduled for Oct. 24, one week after Richmond residents choose a mayor, eight city councillors and seven school trustees.
Eby said the governing situation was “technically” a majority, but functionally every vote could become a tie because the Speaker does not vote unless a tie-break is needed.
“What that means functionally is you can’t control the schedule of the legislature and every vote the government might fall,” Eby said. He added that he believes the Conservatives tried on 13 different occasions to collapse the government, and “a couple times they came really close.”
Eby also said some members had to vote virtually from hospital beds.
In Richmond Centre, former MLA Henry Yao is running provincially after dropping out of the mayoral race in Richmond.
On housing, Eby did not say whether a 220-unit BC Housing project in Richmond called Aberdeen Rental Residences—placed on ice in March—would go ahead. He said additional housing announcements are expected later in the campaign.
Eby said the province has a “decampment fund” to address homeless camps, and he said he hopes Richmond residents elect a slate of city council candidates willing to partner with the province to “close any encampments here in Richmond, to bring people inside.” He said he has “the resources to (do that).”
Earlier Thursday morning in Steveston, Eby promised to freeze ICBC rates for three years and said he believes the B.C. Conservatives’ proposal for a “hybrid” car insurance system mixing public and private insurance would more than double the cost of car insurance.
Eby’s comments followed the NDP’s reference to the province’s no-fault insurance system, under which people injured in car crashes are compensated by ICBC but cannot sue for more compensation.
In a statement included in the report, B.C. Conservatives said their plan would provide “timely treatment and rehabilitation through no-faults benefits,” while also allowing people hurt in a crash to pursue “fair compensation in an independent court,” with safeguards against fraud and stronger independent review and appeal rights.
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