On day 11 of the BC election campaign trail, BC NDP leader David Eby announced a grocery profit-margins cap plan while BC Conservative leader Lorne Doerkson unveiled a wildfire action plan.
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BC NDP leader David Eby was in Kelowna for an announcement on Friday, with a Jim Pattison Group-owned Save-on-Foods in the background.
Eby said his party will use a “price guard” that would cap profit margins on essentials including milk, eggs, cheese, butter and poultry.
The BC NDP proposal also calls for mandating clear per-unit pricing to combat shrinkflation, banning real estate controls that block competition grocery stores, and working with the federal government to open an independent food terminal in the Lower Mainland for local farmers and smaller grocers.
Eby referenced prior grocery-bill relief commitments, saying that in September 2024 he promised $1,000 per household and that in February 2025 then-finance minister Brenda Bailey said the province could not pay the so-called “grocery rebate” due to the provincial deficit.
The NDP leader also said he is facing a $13.8 billion budget deficit, while still promising a 10-cent-a-litre cut on gas and diesel.
Meanwhile, BC Conservative leader Lorne Doerkson visited a family in Summerland whose home was destroyed by the Bald Range wildfire in the summer, and he announced a Wildfire Action Plan.
Doerkson’s wildfire plan includes buying a fleet of firefighting aircraft and promising better handling of B.C.’s economy, and he said his government would not cut services.
Doerkson also said the Conservatives are promising a freeze on all taxes and a temporary cut to the 10-per-cent PST on Canadian alcohol, which he described as about $250 million a year in lost revenue.
Political scientist Stewart Prest, a lecturer at the University of British Columbia, said the plan “needs to be a little more concrete” regarding where any new funding would come from.
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