B.C. party leaders David Eby, Lorne Doerkson, Emily Lowan and others exchanged remarks on issues including health care, housing and public safety during a televised debate.
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Three of British Columbia’s provincial party leaders debated Wednesday ahead of the province’s Oct. 24 election, taking questions on issues including health care, seniors housing, public safety, Indigenous relations, housing and government financing.
New Democrat leader David Eby defended calling an election two years early, saying the prior government “was not a government that was able to deliver the big swings that you and your family need government to be taking for you” and arguing voters need “a government with representatives from every part of the province that are focused on your priorities.”
Eby also responded to online posts by Interim B.C. Conservative leader Lorne Doerkson’s campaign director, Katy Merrifield, saying her “Twitter feed at points reads like the worst corners of the dark web” and adding that she is continuing in the role despite calls from national Muslim organizations to “feel safe in this province.”
In response, Doerkson said “I will always stand up against hate” and referred to Merrifield as “a woman who survived sexual violence,” saying she removed a post and has been “very apologetic.”
Green Party leader Emily Lowan said her party would prioritize electoral change if it held the balance of power, arguing for “a better voting system” that avoids voters being “caught between lesser evils.”
After an exchange involving Eby and Doerkson over hateful comments made by candidates, Lowan said the moment felt like “déjà vu of the 2024 race,” and argued that “Our politics haven’t advanced” as she described internal divisions within the Conservatives.
Doerkson responded to Eby’s references to earlier years, saying: “The challenge that I think British Columbians have is that you continue to refer to a decade ago” and adding, “you’ve been running this province for a decade and nothing is better than it was years ago.”
On timing and campaign commitments, Doerkson said he would not provide a costed election platform if it would lead to broken promises, saying, “I do not want to introduce a platform that I break promises on.”
Eby said he could not identify areas of common ground for preventing another election with the B.C. Conservatives, adding that he would be “honest with the voters about how we’re going to pay for things” and “what we’re gonna pay for.”
Lowan criticized what she described as an LNG “gamble,” saying Eby’s approach was “betting everything on fracked gas projects that are owned by American corporations, backed by equity firms and (U.S. President Donald) Trump’s inner circle,” and asking how voters could believe B.C. would not bear losses.
CentreBC leader Elenore Sturko made remarks in video form, saying she was “not asking British Columbians to pretend that CentreBC will form government” and focusing instead on who would “hold the next government accountable.” She described CentreBC as “socially progressive, environmentally pragmatic, and fiscally responsible.”
OneBC leader Dallas Brodie also spoke in video remarks, saying his party would push for “a 25 per cent income tax cut for both individuals and corporations” and “a two per cent cut in the PST,” while also calling for an end to what he described as “land back giveaways” and for B.C. treaties to be reviewed publicly.
The debate took place ahead of the province’s Oct. 24 election.
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