BURSTRight off the top during the first and only televised leaders’ debate before British Columbia’s provincial election, NDP Leader David Eby was forced to defend his early election call.
He says the NDP’s one-vote majority simply wasn’t cutting it, forcing his colleagues — some sick with cancer, others new parents — to vote from hospital beds just to keep the government from falling.
“This was not a government that was able to deliver the big swings that you and your family need government to be taking for you,” he said.
B.C. Conservative Leader Lorne Doerkson (technically interim leader, unless he wins and the party changes its bylaws to allow him to become permanent leader) was also put on his heels, asked to respond to comments made in a social media post by his campaign director, Katy Merrifield, in which she denigrated Islam.
He said Merrifield’s post was a reaction because of past traumas.
“This is a woman who survived sexual violence, and she acted out in a moment of trauma,” he said. “She removed the post, and from there, I think she has been very apologetic.”
Doerkson says Merrifield will stay on.
Both Doerkson and Eby seemed nervous at the start of the debate. With the parties neck-and-neck in the polls (the Conservatives hold a slim lead), both clearly have a lot to lose.
Emily Lowan of the B.C. Greens has far less experience than the other leaders, and less to lose. She is a 25-year-old activist who has never held elected office.
Debate moderator Shachi Kurl asked her to justify her qualifications.
“I’m the only leader on this stage who is a renter,” she said. “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.”
Things got suddenly spicier when Eby took an early opportunity to jump in and interrupt Doerkson to press him on his decision to keep Merrifield in the fold as campaign manager.
“Her Twitter feed reads like the worst corners of the dark web,” Eby said. “And you stand here today in the face of a call from national Muslim organizations and say, ‘Hey, we need to feel safe in this province, and she’s going to continue as your campaign director.'”
This part of the debate shunted Lowan to the sidelines, as Eby and Doerkson traded barbs.
Doerkson sought to portray Eby as a hypocrite because of former NDP cabinet minister Selina Robinson’s 2024 departure from the caucus, amid which she accused some in the NDP caucus of antisemitism.
Robinson left after facing backlash for saying Palestine was a “crappy piece of land” before the state of Israel was formed.
CentreBC Leader Elenore Sturko and OneBC Leader Dallas Brodie were not invited to participate in the debate because their parties did not meet the requirements to run candidates in a minimum number of ridings. Both were offered a chance to make a brief statement.
Sturko said her party is running to be a voice of accountability in the legislature, as a “socially progressive, environmentally pragmatic, and fiscally responsible party.”
Brodie promised OneBC would work to lower taxes and stop what she called “land back giveaways that are being done by the current government,” referring to treaties and other deals with First Nations.
Leaders make their cases on the issues
After the three leaders settled in, they tried to expand on their core narratives: Eby arguing that the Conservative Party is making promises it can’t pay for without spending cuts, Doerkson contending that Eby’s only answer to the deficit is raising taxes, and Lowan making the case that all of this is a drop in the bucket, and the wealthy must have current assets taxed.
Exchanges on specific issues were revealing.
Doerkson has promised to change ICBC’s no-fault system and again allow personal injury lawsuits.
Questioned on this, the Conservative leader made an impassioned argument for specific families injured or killed in crashes, who have not been compensated.
But Eby pressed him on the cost to ratepayers, and Doerkson would not provide an answer.
“I am committed to keeping our rates very competitive in British Columbia,” was as far as Doerkson would go toward making this commitment.
On housing, Eby came under attack from both sides, with Lowan calling him out for “broken promises,” and Doerkson coming down on him for legislating housing targets opposed by some people in some communities.
On healthcare, Doerkson was asked point blank if he would consider introducing private care options, something the NDP have often suggested Conservative politicians plan to do.
“I want a fully public system that everyone in this province can access,” Doerkson said, seeking to settle the issue.
The leaders were also asked about their plans for the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, which requires all B.C. laws to incorporate Indigenous rights. A recent court decision used this law to invalidate part of the Mineral Tenure Act, potentially opening many other B.C. laws to legal challenge.
Eby took fire for failing to keep his pledge to introduce amendments to the law from Doerkson, who wants the law repealed immediately.
Lowan, like many First Nations leaders, wants the law to remain as is.
But all three agreed that the way forward in the province is partnerships with First Nations.
Overall, Lowan and Doerkson used the debate to attempt to make the election a referendum on the work of Eby’s government, which they say includes a litany of failures. Eby responded by trying to portray himself as the adult in the room, and the others as risky.
It will be up to voters on Oct. 24 to decide.