B.C. provincial election debate: Leadership, spending, ICBC and DRIPA

The only scheduled leaders’ debate leading up to the B.C. provincial election on Oct. 24 was held on Wednesday night, with many topics covered, discussed and debated.

BC NDP leader David Eby, BC Conservative leader Lorne Doerkson and BC Green Party leader Emily Lowan took part.

After opening remarks, debate moderator Shachi Kurl turned the conversation to topics that are likely top of voters’ minds.

Timing of election questioned

Eby was asked if calling this snap election was anything other than an opportunistic power grab. He said now is the time for British Columbians to have their say so they can move forward.

“Our province, our country, is facing an existential moment,” Eby said.

“And I know for your families at home, you’re feeling it, too. There’s a crucial moment for you. You want government to take action to make sure your job is protected, that we’re growing the economy. You’re supported with costs like gas and groceries… We need a government with representatives from every part of the province that are focused on your priorities, not on culture wars, not on repealing the Human Rights Code, but on the real issues that matter to you and your family.”

Leadership on the line

Doerkson, who admitted he was a little nervous ahead of the debate, said this election is about Eby’s record in the past 10 years in the legislature.

“I will lead with respect,” he said.

“I will lead my caucus with a great amount of dignity to all British Columbians. I am absolutely committed to unifying and bringing our team together, which we have done, and I’m committed to doing that for British Columbians as well.”

Lowan, the only woman in the debate and the youngest, said that while she is relatively new to politics, she is the only leader on the stage who is a renter.

“I’m the only leader on this stage who has worked a minimum wage job in the last decade, which means that I am the only leader on this stage that feels the decisions being made in the legislature, especially as it relates to the cost of living crisis and the climate crisis,” she said.

“You know, the B.C. Greens are building a formidable movement to reclaim our economy for everyday people. This means that we have a credible plan to deliver a life you can afford, care you can count on, and a fair economy. I think my youth is an asset. I think I am bringing bold ideas to the stage, and I am proud of what the BC Greens have to offer.”

Economy and government spending

B.C. is facing a record never seen before $13.8 billion deficit.

Doerkson has criticized Eby’s government for its spending and for promising a $1,000 rebate for all residents, which was then reversed due to budget constraints.

“I have made it clear that we are going to cut through red tape in this province and all of the bureaucracy that is holding us back so badly,” he said.

“The reality is we have to grow our economy in this province. It’s absolutely fundamentally the case.”

Doerkson said the government needs to support the forestry industry, LNG and the liquor industry.

Lowan said we are seeing the Eby government pour billions of dollars into gas projects and the resource extraction industry, but there is no path forward.

“We aren’t seeing a path forward from these parties on sustainable forestry,” she said.

“We know that we can keep more jobs and more profits in B.C. if we actually have communities take the reins and build value-added products here in B.C. Instead, these raw logs are being shipped abroad for the profit of foreign shareholders.

“So the BC Greens plan looks at how we can build a stable, sustainable industry right here in B.C., from green manufacturing to forestry to service.”

Eby acknowledged that his government has spent more, but they have built schools, hospitals and will balance the budget not on the backs of British Columbians.

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“I’ll make sure that we grow the economy,” he said.

“We address wasteful spending. But I have to say, to show up to the leaders’ debate after making $5 billion in promises, for the Conservative leader to be here without explaining, without giving British Columbians the dignity you at home to know where that $5 billion is going to come from.”

Eby said British Columbians need an explanation.

Cost of living

While government spending was an important topic, the everyday cost of living is on voters’ minds.

Lowan said they are proposing a one-time tax on B.C.’s ultra-wealthy, meaning households with net wealth over $50 million.

She said they would follow that with a marginal annual tax.

“That would generate $5.4 billion a year,” Lowan said.

“You know, this is the kind of ambition that we need… this is exactly what we need to rein in B.C.’s deficit to reduce wealth inequality and to ensure that we can actually bring in universal childcare, fast, free and frequent transit, and the social housing we so desperately need.”

Eby, who has been criticized in recent days for having a child in the $10-a-day daycare program, said his government has created 60,000 daycare spaces across B.C., but added that is not enough and more needs to be done to convert them to the $10-a-day model.

“Our proposal is simple,” Eby said.

“To expand it, we’ll have an announcement about how we’re going to add thousands and thousands of new spaces across the province – before and after school care. But Mr. Doerkson and his team are unable to explain how they’re going to fund the $5 billion in promises that will be coming for childcare.”

ICBC

The BC Conservatives have pledged to replace ICBC’s no-fault system with a hybrid model, which has some drivers worried that insurance premiums will go up.

“I am committed to keeping our rates very competitive in British Columbia,” Doerkson said.

“British Columbians of course want that. But on the other side of that, when you speak with a woman in the Kootenays who has lost her daughter and two of her grandchildren in a car accident that had simply a tire blow on the front end of a logging truck, and that there has been no compensation for supports for that family, no compensation for those children going forward, at this point, for the children that survived the accident.

“It’s shocking to me that we’re having this debate.”

Doerkson said they would put caps in place on what lawyers can charge clients, but he said the no-fault plan is not working.

Eby said he knows the no-fault system is not perfect.

“But the idea that you’re going to open up the doors to personal injury lawyers, again, I want to take British Columbians back to the dumpster fire of ICBC losing $1 billion a year, 30 per cent rate increases slated for British Columbians in a single year, some of the most expensive insurance,” he added.

The BC NDP is promising a three-year freeze to any increase in ICBC rates.

Prioritizing health care

Lowan pointed to Eby’s promise two years ago to connect every B.C. resident with a family doctor, but said he has failed to deliver on that promise.

“The BC Greens are the only party with a credible plan to bring community-based, team-based, preventative health care into every riding in this province,” she said.

“It is in our platform that we would bring in community health care centres into every riding. And that would mean that you could walk into your neighbourhood and you would have access to a physician, a nurse practitioner, and imaging all under the same roof.”

Eby said if there is one issue that keeps him awake at night, it is health care.

“We have an aging population,” he said.

“People are showing up at emergency rooms sicker than ever. We have a growing population. And the miraculous cures that are being offered are wildly expensive.. the big challenge we face is the shortage of health-care workers.”

Eby said they have to recruit more doctors, including from the U.S., and he is promising to triple that recruitment.

Doerkson said there are things that can be done in B.C. to help alleviate the stress on the health-care system.

He pointed to nurses who are afraid to work because they don’t feel safe in hospitals due to being attacked by strangers.

Doerkson said they have committed to making sure there will be security in emergency rooms and in hospitals.

“We will also commit a $50 million fund to bolster our ERs that are closing right now,” he added.

“There are hospitals in this province that have been closed every night for ages… It’s shocking to me to see what’s happening… British Columbians are up at night worried that their hospital is closed when they need it most.”

Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA)

Eby acknowledged this is a crucial issue in B.C. and one that has some residents concerned about property rights.

“There are two cornerstones to our success as a province,” he said.

“One is if we want to be successful, if we want to take advantage of the incredible prosperity out there, there’s only one path forward and that’s in partnership with the Indigenous people in this province. The reason why we’re leading Canada and major projects at the Major Projects Office, the reason why we’ve been able to open so many minds, the reasons why we were able to do LNG Canada Phase II, all of these projects, the reason why these things are happening is because we have entered into those partnerships that are enabled by this law.”

Eby said they are appealing recent court decisions to ensure that private property in B.C. is protected.

Doerkson said if the BC Conservatives are elected, they will repeal DRIPA.

“I’m committed to doing that for a number of reasons,” he said.

“First off, it has not helped. British Columbia has created more division on the landscape than I have ever seen in my life and this legislation is not that old.

“The reality is, is that we are more divided on this topic than ever before. There has to be a better path forward and that is through respect and relations and certainly partnerships with First Nations in this province.”

Doerkson said he is committed to that.

Lowan said that First Nations have been unequivocal in saying that the government must do the work to implement DRIPA.

“Frankly, when we talk about certainty, the uncertainty that has been sown over the last year has been from a premier who can’t seem to make up his mind, and it’s been from a Conservative party that is constantly pushing misinformation and blatant fearmongering,” she said.

“You know, we’ve seen from both parties, you know, just a willingness to engage on this bad-faith argument has no bearing on private property. It sets out the rules for government to go ahead, do their homework and bring up our legislation in alignment with B.C. laws, and the minimum standards set out by the UN on human rights of Indigenous people.”

2:24 Latest Ipsos poll shows BC Conservatives gaining ground

This debate came at a crucial time in the campaign.

An exclusive Ipsos poll, conducted with Global BC, showed that the BC Conservatives have now gained a five-point lead over the BC NDP.

“David Eby has two tasks in the leaders’ debate,” Kyle Braid, senior vice president of Ipsos, said on Tuesday morning.

“One is to create some sense of risk for people for electing a BC Conservative government. And the other is to try to persuade some of those voters who are considering either the NDP or the Greens that a vote for the NDP is the correct choice.

“Lorne Doerkson’s main thing is simply to introduce himself to voters in the province. Most people don’t know him. The other thing is quite simply just to stand up and look like a premier. That’s it.”