B.C. Premier David Eby defended his time in power and his decision to call an early election during the B.C. pary leaders’ debate, while interim B.C. Conservative leader Lorne Doerkson pushed the incumbent on the government’s deficit and tax policies, while focusing on affordability issues.
The Oct. 14 event was the only televised leadership debate between Eby, Doerkson, and B.C. Green Party leader Emily Lowan ahead of the Oct. 24 election.
At the outset of the debate, Eby was asked about the reasoning behind his decision to call a snap election two years into his four-year mandate, which is estimated to cost $90 million. Eby said given that the party has a one-seat majority, “after you appoint the speaker, it’s tied, and so every vote is potentially a vote to bring down the government.”
“When you’re unable to deliver the agenda that we need at this time … because our preoccupation was just with the government surviving another day, isn’t good enough,” Eby said.
Doerkson was asked about his leadership, given that he has only been in charge of the party for 24 days following the resignation of former leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay amid turmoil within the party. Doerkson said it was “a bit of a surprise to myself as well,” and that Eby had “called a snap election because he saw opportunity for himself, and I see opportunity for British Columbians.”
Lowan said she was the only party leader on the stage who is a renter and has worked a minimum wage job over the last decade, and therefore is 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.”
Candidate and Staff Comments
While the first question to Eby posed by moderator Shachi Kurl, president of the Angus Reid Institute, was about the election call, the first question to Doerkson was about past comments made by the Conservatives’ campaign director Katy Merrifield about Islam.
Doerkson was also asked about what kind of behaviour is unacceptable within his party, given that Merrifield made anti-Islam posts on social media earlier this year. Merrifield had made the comments after reading the accounts of young women in the United Kingdom who experienced sexual abuse from predominantly Pakistani men.
“This is a woman who survived sexual violence, and she acted out in a moment of trauma. She removed the post, and from there, I think she has been very apologetic,” Doerkson said, adding that he had given Merrifield “a moment to reflect on that.” He said that Merrifield will remain his campaign manager.
Eby responded that B.C. is a welcoming place, and Doerkson had minimized Merrifield’s comments. “Just three weeks ago, she said, ‘If you’re concerned about hate against Muslims, then you have a suicidal empathy, and that is the problem of the West.’ Her Twitter feed at points reads like the worst corners of the dark web,” Eby said.
Doerkson responded by criticizing Eby for the departure of former Post-Secondary Education Minister Selina Robinson, who is Jewish, in 2024, alleging that the B.C. NDP has an anti-Semitism problem.
“You had a woman leave your caucus because they either didn’t feel safe or didn’t feel supported,” Doerkson said.
Eby said she ousted Robinson because of comments she made about Palestine. Robinson had said that Palestine was “a crappy piece of land with nothing on it” until Israel was founded.
Lowan said the exchange felt like “déjà vu of the 2024 race,” with a divided Conservative party and an interim leader. “And we see the same failing status quo, a managed decline under David Evie, and I think British Columbians are finally ready to see this province move forward,” she said.
Finances, Healthcare
Eby was asked about B.C.’s declining finances, with the province posting a record $13.8 billion deficit compared to a $6 billion surplus four years ago. Eby charged that the previous government before the NDP came to power in 2017 had reduced funding for healthcare and schooling.
“The so-called ‘balanced budgets’ that the previous government delivered were balanced on the backs of British Columbians. We will never do that,” Eby said.
Eby has pledged to increase taxes on people making more than $190,405 if he is re-elected, and to make a new tax bracket for people making more than $1 million, which the party says would bring in an extra $1 billion a year.
Doerkson said that he would fully fund healthcare in the province while cutting through red tape and bureaucracy and supporting the forestry and LNG industries. “There is an opportunity like never before to grow income in this province. I will fully fund healthcare … but we will be looking for savings wherever we can,” he said.
The B.C. Conservatives have promised a $1,000 tax cut for British Columbians by raising the basic personal exemption from from $13,216 to $32,000.
Doerkson said that Eby could not “continue to attack the residents of British Columbia through taxation,” to which Eby responded that his province has the lowest income tax for people who earn under $150,000 of any province.
Lowan said that Eby was “taxing work and not wealth,” and was “unwilling to stand up to the ultra wealthy and ask them to pay their fair share.” Lowan said her party would implement a one-time tax on B.C.’s “ultra wealthy” with fortunes of over $50 million, along with a “marginal annual tax,” which she said would bring in $5.4 billion a year.
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