BURSTBC NDP leader David Eby was in Surrey on Friday (Oct. 9) with a promise to hire more doctors and nurses in the province and fast-track international medical graduates.
He says an NDP government would open new health care clinics, extend hours for same-day appointments and train international medical graduates so they can practice in B.C.
“Our plan will get qualified internationally trained doctors and nurses onto the front lines while we extend hours in clinics so it’s easier to get an appointment when you need one,” said Eby, who spoke during a morning campaign event at SFU Surrey Sustainable Energy Engineering Building on University Drive, across the street from a new medical school to be built.
Eby’s Friday visit in Surrey was his second this week and the latest among B.C.’s political leaders looking for votes in the city, where the 10 ridings were split between NDP and Conservative wins in the last election two years ago, in 2024. Two NDP candidates for MLA — Amna Shah in Surrey City Centre and Garry Begg in Guildford — won by razor-thin margins over Conservative challengers.
Elsewhere this week, Conservative leader Lorne Doerkson also made two campaign stops in Surrey, on Wednesday and Thursday (Oct. 7-8), followed by CentreBC leader Elenore Sturko in the Bridgeview area on Friday.
Saturday, Oct. 24 is final voting day in the snap B.C. election called by Eby, whose six-point health care plan promises launching an accelerated “bridging to practice” training program for qualified international medical graduates already living in B.C. but unable to practice family medicine because of a lack of residency seats.
Also promised by the NDP is a plan to add 1,000 training seats for nurses, nurse practitioners, allied health workers and care aides, and support rural communities and emergency departments with offers of discounted tuition, loan forgiveness and moving expenses to attract health care professionals to underserved rural areas facing staffing shortages.
Video of Eby’s Oct. 9 announcement in Surrey is shared on BC NDP’s Youtube channel: