B.C. election campaign starts Saturday; but Eby takes bus on test run, Rustad at UBCM

VANCOUVER – The British Columbia provincial election campaign is expected to officially kick off Saturday, but party leaders have been vying for votes for months in the lead up to the Oct. 19 fixed election day.

Here’s a look at some of the issues that are expected to be front and centre over the next month and what the political parties have said about them so far.

Health Care

B.C. Conservatives promise significant changes to the system, including sending people outside the province for care, expanding private clinics, and providing compensation for workers who lost their jobs for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

The NDP defends its management of the health file, pointing to a new contract with doctors, adding 250,000 nursing hours and 835 new family doctors. Leader David Eby says for the first time in more than 20 years, fewer British Columbians are looking for a family doctor than the year previous. In the days leading up to the election campaign, the government signed an agreement with Ottawa that would see the province get an estimated $195 million to cover diabetes medication and hormone therapy, if a new federal PharmaCare bill becomes law.

The Greens want to establish community health centres in each of B.C.’s ridings to replace the current network of urgent and primary care centres,

Crime

A series of high-profile crimes involving repeat offenders has pushed the issue of public safety into the spotlight, as residents and businesses look for answers to what they say is a rapidly deteriorating situation.

Researchers and police say statistics show most crimes are down in B.C., but that hasn’t quelled the voices calling for more to be done on bail reform, enforcement of regulations and other changes to the justice system.

B.C. Conservatives are promising to increase funding to police, applying “zero tolerance” for violent, repeat offenders and appointing judges that prioritize victims’ rights.

The NDP, meanwhile, says the province has among the lowest violent crime rates against children and seniors in Canada, and pledges to invest in what it calls solutions to root causes of criminal activity such as drug and mental health treatment, support programs, health care and housing.

The BC Greens have said they’ll fund a “continuum of response” to mental health, substance use, and other complex social issues, with a focus on prevention and community-led responses. The party also says it will draft a Community Safety and Policing Act and improve officer training to “shift police culture.”

Housing

The NDP government has attempted to lower the province’s sky-high housing costs and increase supply through a range of initiatives including putting limits on short-term rentals, launching a $500 million fund for non-profits to buy rental properties, and passing legislation requiring communities to allow multi-unit housing on lots previously zoned for single-family homes.

The B.C. Conservatives say they’ll get housing costs under control by promoting the development of new housing supply “while cracking down on illegal money laundering that has inflated prices and facilitated criminal activity.”

The Green housing plan includes $1.5 billion for a non-profit housing fund and the introduction of vacancy control to cap rent increases between tenancies.

Toxic drugs

The province’s drug toxicity crisis has killed more than 15,000 people since the B.C. government declared a public health emergency in 2016.

The NDP dialed back its drug decriminalization policy earlier this year, narrowing places where people can possess small amounts of illicit drugs for personal use. More recently, leader David Eby said a re-elected NDP would open facilities to treat people involuntarily if they have concurrent mental health and addiction issues.

It’s similar to a plan that was announced by B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad days earlier. Rustad has promised involuntary care for “those at serious risk due to addiction, including youth and adults, to keep the most vulnerable safe” and says he’ll build secure treatment facilities.

Sonia Furstenau, leader of the BC Greens, says both men are walking “off every reactionary cliff” and that the province needs more investment in prevention and addressing the root causes of what’s happening in communities. She says people need secure housing, a basic constitutional right to safety, and access to health and mental health services and treatment.

Economy

British Columbia’s finance minister announced earlier this month that the deficit this fiscal year will be $1.1-billion higher than originally forecast, coming in at nearly $9 billion.

The news comes as one business leader said many British Columbians are experiencing their own “personal recession.”

Katrine Conroy defended her party’s budget as finance minister, saying it’s not the right time to balance the budget when the government needs to provide services and support those struggling over a lack of affordability.

John Rustad’s Conservatives are promising to cut “wasteful spending” and remove “useless and redundant regulations” to support small businesses.

Leaders

This is David Eby’s first election as premier and party leader. He was acclaimed as leader of the New Democrats in 2022, after the only other candidate in the race was disqualified.

John Rustad went from relative obscurity as an ousted BC United MLA to the Leader of the B.C. Conservatives. The party gained more notoriety after the BC United suspended its election campaign but Rustad is largely untested as a leader.

He faced criticism in the lead-up to the campaign for some of his party’s candidates, which include a suspended doctor who was removed after repeatedly saying COVID-19 vaccines were more dangerous than the illness, and a candidate who was replaced after sharing social media content about the “5G Genocide.”

BC Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau was first elected as MLA in the Cowichan Valley in 2017, and has been the leader of the BC Greens since 2020.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 20, 2024

British Columbians are voting in the next provincial election on Oct. 19. The NDP is hoping to hold on to power, while those on the right are running in a new political landscape after the former Opposition BC United folded and its Leader Kevin Falcon placed his support behind the B.C. Conservatives.

Here’s a look at B.C. elections over the past three decades:

British Columbia New Democratic Party, 1996

The NDP win a majority government under Glen Clark despite Gordon Campbell’s Liberals winning the largest portion of the popular vote at 41.8 per cent. Clark became leader after former premier Mike Harcourt resigned over money from charity bingo events being siphoned into the party.

British Columbia Liberal Party, 2001

The NDP and then premier Ujjal Dosanjh suffer a resounding defeat at the hands of the British Columbia Liberal party and are only able to hold on to two seats in the legislature. Former premier Glen Clark had resigned in 1999 after he was accused of receiving free renovations from a neighbour who had an application for a casino licence before the government.

British Columbia Liberal Party, 2005

Gordon Campbell’s Liberal party maintains its majority government status though the party drops from 77 seats to 46. The NDP — which came into the election without party status in the legislature with only two seats — grew its support to 33 seats under leader Carole James.

British Columbia Liberal Party, 2009

The Liberals form a majority government again, under Premier Gordon Campbell. He would resign before the next election over his government’s decision to adopt an unpopular Harmonized Sales Tax.

British Columbia Liberal Party, 2013

The Liberals win a fourth straight majority, this time under Christy Clark. She was defeated in her Vancouver Grey-Point riding by lawyer and NDP political rookie David Eby but later won a seat in the legislature in a byelection in the Westside-Kelowna riding. The BC Greens earned their first seat in the legislature, with Andrew Weaver winning in Oak Bay-Gordon Head.

British Columbia New Democratic Party in coalition with Green Party of British Columbia, 2017

The Liberals win a small minority following the 2017 election, but leader Christy Clark loses a confidence vote and resigned. The NDP’s John Horgan became the next premier, after signing a confidence and supply agreement with the support of the three Green members of the legislature. The two parties had a total off 44 seats, the minimum required for a majority.

British Columbia New Democratic Party, 2020

John Horgan calls a snap election one year ahead of the province’s fixed election date and in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Horgan tells reporters he’s calling the election early because the province can’t afford “partisan hectoring and uncertainty about whether bills will pass or not.” The New Democrats win a majority.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 20, 2024.

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Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed…

Eby ready to take campaign bus on test drive

A day before the official start, British Columbia’s election campaign sees B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad and Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau speaking to municipal leaders, while NDP Leader David Eby is gearing up to get his campaign bus rolling.

Eby spoke to local politicians yesterday at the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention, as they presented a laundry list of concerns for the provincial government at the meeting, from homelessness to the overdose crisis and more support funding.

Eby’s speech to the municipal leaders focused on his recent announcement to implement plans to introduce involuntary care of people struggling with mental health and addiction issues.

He says several city governments have already indicated they are on board with having a “secure site” to house and treat severely mentally ill and drug addicted people.

The decriminalization of possession of small quantities of hard drugs and open drug use in public areas is expected to be a major issue in the Oct. 19 election, which officially starts Saturday.

Here’s what else we’re watching…

PCs hold onto seat in Ontario byelection

The Progressive Conservatives have won a provincial byelection in eastern Ontario, retaining a seat previously held by a popular cabinet minister, though the result was much closer than the riding has seen in the past two elections.

Tyler Allsopp, a municipal councillor in Belleville, will now represent the Bay of Quinte at the legislature after winning Thursday’s byelection.

It was a race with a rapid turnaround, as Premier Doug Ford announced Allsopp as the Progressive Conservative candidate and called the byelection just five days after the seat became vacant.

Todd Smith, who was education minister at the time he resigned but had held several other cabinet portfolios including energy, represented the region through four elections. He won the last two in Bay of Quinte with nearly 50 per cent of the vote.

Allsopp’s margin of victory was not quite as wide — capturing about 39 per cent of the vote — but still decisive.

‘Huge victory’: Toronto tenants laud interim order

Tenants at two residential buildings in north Toronto have been celebrating what they call a rare victory after the Landlord and Tenant Board issued an interim order in their favor compelling their corporate landlord to fix units in need of repair.

The Landlord and Tenant Board had issued an interim order requiring Barney River Investments, which managed the properties at 1440 and 1442 Lawrence Ave. West, to do immediate maintenance work on long-needed repairs.

The decision, which the tenants’ lawyer said might be the first of its kind, came after a 10-month rent strike.

Other tenants are taking the same gamble: since May 2023, Toronto has seen a wave of such strikes in which hundreds of renters have withheld rent across the city.

First, the residents of 71, 75 and 79 Thorncliffe Park Dr. in the city’s east end stopped paying their rent. Then, tenants at 33 King St. and 22 John St. on the west side of the city did the same.

N.S. woman seeks MAID amid battle for treatment

A Nova Scotia woman has applied for a medically assisted death, saying after years of battling to receive out-of-country surgery for an illness that causes “indescribable” pain, she struggles to maintain the will to live.

Jennifer Brady completed her MAID application in June. She has lymphedema in her legs, a condition in which tissues swell from the accumulation of fluids normally drained through the body’s lymphatic system.

In an interview Thursday, the 46-year-old mother of two said she has intense daily pain, skin infections that resemble a sunburn intensified “1,000 times,” and blood infections that exhaust her to the point “you feel like you’re dying.”

However, Brady said that after she received treatment in Japan in 2022 — at her own expense — her swelling decreased, particularly in her right leg, and some symptoms were relieved. She said she believes that if she can receive the funds to pay for more surgery, her condition can improve — as will her desire to remain alive.

The possibility that her health can improve is what led to her MAID request being denied.

In a letter sent to Health Minister Michelle Thompson on July 7, Dr. Gord Gubitz, the clinical lead of Nova Scotia’s MAID program, said his team is rejecting Brady’s application because her condition is not considered “irremediable.”

Buck Shot memorial being held in Calgary

It will be the last show for longtime children’s TV star Ron (Buck Shot) Barge as a memorial is held Friday in Calgary.

For 30 years, Buck Shot and his sidekick Benny the Bear entertained Calgarians with songs, puppets, the birthday book and his nifty battered cowboy hat.

Barge died at home last month just 10 days short of his 88th birthday.

The memorial is set for noon at the Centre Street Church.

“Buck Shot” was one of the longest-running children’s shows in Canada, surpassing “Mr. Dressup,” which ran for 29 years, and “The Friendly Giant,” which aired for 27.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published September 20, 2024.