Well, at least David Eby didn’t blame Joe Biden for BC’s woes!
The NDP Leader repeatedly tried during the TV Leaders’ Debate to tie the BC Conservatives to the former BC Liberal government, defeated almost 10 years ago.
Every time he did it, it reminded me of Donald Trump, who two years into his mandate, still blames the former Democrat President for today’s US woes.
The Conservatives themselves haven’t won a BC election since 1926, so Eby focused on Liberals, under Gordon Campbell (who resigned in 2011) and Christy Clark (defeated in 2017). Conservative Leader Lorne Doerkson was elected as a Liberal MLA in 2020 and crossed the floor to join the Conservatives in 2024.
“The history is clear. When they have uncosted promises, they cut like crazy. We’ve seen this before in British Columbia,” Eby said during the debate..
“Forget an Emergency Room that’s temporarily closed, They closed whole rural hospitals,” the NDP Leader stated..
“Mr. Doerkson and his team, unable to explain how they’re going to fund their $5 Billion in promises, will be coming for child care …
“The $5 Billion plan, the $5 Billion spent, without any explanation of where the money is going to come from, as well as the commitment to drive down the deficit … means only one thing: dramatic cuts. They do it every time: next door in Alberta, they’re exploring two-tier health care where you have to pay for health care … that’s what the Conservatives are doing,” Eby said.
“Talk about fear-mongering. The reality is you refuse to talk about your own record in this province, which is one of devastation,” Doerkson said.
In fact, both the Conservative Leader and Green Leader Emily Lowan criticized the NDP’s record during its 10 years in office … including the four years under Eby.
“It doesn’t matter what we talk about: whether it’s health, forestry, it’s not going to matter. Your mismanagement of this province has been devastating” Doerkson said.
“We are going to cut through red tape in this province and all of the bureaucracy that is holding us back so badly. The reality is we have to grow our economy in this province: it is absolutely fundamentally the case,” the Conservative Leader told viewers..
“We have to get back to some basics in this province.”
And Doerkson promised a Conservative government will repeal DRIPA.
“It has not helped British Columbia. It has created more division on the landscape than I have ever seen in my life. The reality 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 partnerships with First Nations and I’m absolutely committed to that,” he said.
The Greens leader repeatedly challenged Eby/NDP’s credibility.
“This year’s election bribes are next year’s broken promises,” Lowan warned voters.
“Two years ago, Mr. Eby, you stood on this stage and promised everyone would have access to a family doctor; 1.2 million individuals do not have access to a family doctor today. This is staggering.”
“You canceled seven long-term care homes this year… British Columbians are tired of being stuck on your merry-go-round of broken promises and service cuts,” the Greens Leader said.
“Seven thousand people are leaving the province because of the cost of living crisis. and it’s because we are this cycle of broken promises and election pledges that never come to fruition, Lowan added.
“We saw that with your $1,000 grocery rebate that never came “There was the $1,000 grocery rebate that never came,” she noted.
No knockout blows … but clear differences between the three leaders/parties for voters to make their choice.
Harv Oberfeld
(🇨🇦🇨🇦Don’t let up: check the labels. BUY CANADIAN!🇨🇦🇨🇦)
(Follow @harveyoberfeld.ca on “X” for FREE First Alerts to new blog postings.)
I’m sure many politicians read this blog and also many journalists, so I want my words to reach them. People are sick and tired of being used and of hearing beautiful promises right before an election. While lies might work for the purpose of getting elected, it shows a complete lack of respect for the voter and a lack of honour.
Fixed election dates are not fixed if leaders can change the date whenever they feel it suits them. Perhaps a leader who has abused taxpayer dollars doesn’t care about the cost of an early election, but it’s a real waste of money and shows no understanding of the principle of fiscal responsibility.
Crown land is public land. To give it away without consulting the people of British Columbia goes against democratic values and is an insult to all those of the past and present who worked hard to make British Columbia the province that it is today. While it is true that native Canadians were in the province before others, they also emigrated and in fact have their origins in Asia.
It is an insult to my family, my relatives and friends, and in fact to all British Columbians to treat one group as superior to all others. While injustices did occur, they were not all committed by one side, and there were a lot of good people who contributed to the development of the province.
People who own property and have broken no laws deserve the assurance that it is theirs and won’t be taken away from them. What investor will be attracted to a province that can tell people their property is no longer theirs? The economic consequences are very serious.
Premier Eby is entitled to his own beliefs and to his vision of the province. However, many of his ideas are so extreme that he owes the voter the opportunity to give his/her opinion. That is the reason we live in a democracy and not a dictatorship. His arrogance and lack of empathy for ordinary people have made him unpopular with many.
(Response: You certainly have a right to your righteous indignation: so many times politicians lie to us or break promises so regularly. Yet, we keep voting for the same ones over and over. I give them two terms … and then I assess whether they’ve even come close to accomplishing what they promised … or time to give another leader/party a chance. Of course, that requires a willingness to switch votes … and too many people just keep voting for the same party over and over and over, even if they know they are hurting their city, province or country by doing so. Hopefully, this time, enough will be willing to change and give a new team a chance to show us what they can do, at least for one term. Ho)
Yeah, it looks to be either the BC NDP or the BC Cons.
Even though I currently have the BC Cons rated at only a grade-9 or so class running a university, that is much higher than I currently have the BC NDP rated after observing their many years in power.
From world-class BC to Kids-Fighting-Over-Parent-Created-Assets BC.
Ugh. How depressing.
(Response: I don’t think it’s that unusual that when a party… any party… has been in power for several years, they get arrogant and more secretive and adopt an attitude that they know what’s best for everyone else, rather than truly empowering or representing those people. As the expression goes: I believe a change is as good as a rest. Ho)
I watched snippets of the debate during commercial breaks in the baseball game so I have no real comment on the debate itself but I do have a couple of things to say.
We need at least one third party. But that third party, in this case the Greens with a couple of seats, have to stop pretending that they can form government. The Greens were formed as a more or less one issue party – to protect the environment. Pound that to death. Especially now when the federal Liberals and the provincial NDP are supporting things that they would have never supported even a few years ago. The environment overlaps other issues like the economy and health so they don’t have to be a say no to everything party. They just have to show what they would be fighting for in the legislature and what they would be supporting if they held the balance of power.
That is the legacy of the NDP of Douglas and Broadbent when their focus was on working class issues. That is the success of the Bloc in Ottawa. People in Quebec aren’t voting for a governing party they are voting for a voice. In my riding I only have the three parties to choose from. I hate not voting and with electronic votes scribbling a rant on the ballot is pointless, so I think this time I might vote Green for the first time just to encourage them.
Speaking of rants. I went to the local NDP office and ranted at the guy running the campaign. And did the same to the poor guy who came to our door. It was all friendly but the guy at the door who didn’t know me looked at his phone and said we have you down as a ONE. I said what does that mean? He said “strong supporter” and we laughed.
But here is what is bugging me even more. There was no need for an election two years into a majority government. The guy at the NDP office tried to explain that with a slim majority and the tragic death of Joan Philip and the illnesses of other members that majority was more tenuous. Fair enough but still, keep governing and let the opposition defeat you on a budget or a DRIPA proposal or whatever and then you have the issue to defend in an election rather than your record that many think is abysmal.
But it is even worse. The Conservatives were in chaos. CentreBC was just starting. The NDP has only won when the opposition is fractured. By calling the election, the NDP united the Conservatives and CentreBC is a non issue. In two years, especially if the NDP had made some better decisions and the projects that Carney had fast tracked were moving ahead and CentreBC was looking like a viable alternative to the Conservatives, they would have had a much better chance than they do now.
And worse yet. Whatever happens with this election, I think the viability of a centrist third party has likely been lost.
Rant over.
(Response: I believe if the BC NDP had a leader of the caliber of Broadbent, Douglas, Layton or Horgan it would be a whole different election. BC’s economy/hospitals/forest industry would not be in such dire state and the BC Conservatives would not have such fertile ground as Eby and those around him have gifted them. But as this blog’s title “Keeping it Real” promises, I shudder at what BC would be like with another four years of the Eby government! And, as you note, the “third” party have no hope of forming government (Thank God!) and the only alternative to our terrible situation is Doerkson/Conservatives and, frankly, after the debate, I’m quite okay with that. I’m sure I’d find lots to rant about with them in government, but I really think the NDP needs a rest …and a more in-touch leader. Ho)
Hearing Lorne Doerkson stating that he will repeal Dripa takes courage these days. Thats what I like and respect in a leader. Well see though if he wins and he hold to that. The hundreds of millions of BC taxpayer and revenue funded Reconciiation gravy train that it’s been turned into because of Eby and can’t forget Horgan also, needs to have the brakes applied. Eby’s though, has really sped up the gravy train. He’s such a disgusting liar when he says the is working for the interests of all British Columbians. I Don’t Think So !! What a worn out line of bull. It’s more like for the special minority. You can tell these guilt ridden activist idiots are going be up to no good with the peoples money if they win. They can’t help or control themselves. I’m happy that Lowan kicked Eby in the butt to about his despicable 1000.00 dollar grocery rebate lie and the ridiclous lies he’s spewed out about why he called a snap election. My, oh, my, I sure do hope more citizens get involved and pay attention to this guy’s selfishness, lies, hypocrisy and agenda with their tax dollars. They all BS but this one tops them all. Eby just seemed to be a bit to much hung on himself. I can just see the disrespect he really has for the the common majority of citizens in the province and how much he he will continue to stick his nose up to us and carry on with those censored backroom deals and give aways with our money. Yes, our money !!
(Response: By the way, a lot of attention has been given to the NDP promised, but not delivered, $1,000 grocery rebate. But wasn’t there also an NDP-promised, but not delivered, $400 tenant’s rebate? As I watched the debate …and all the campaign promises … I keep asking (and I’m sure other voters do too) why hasn’t Eby/NDP just done so many of the things they are now promising??? After all, they have been in government for nine years, had a majority. That’s why I think Lowan scored so well in pointing out Eby/NDP’s hypocrisy. Ho)
Interesting place we live in, many interesting items to question…
Massey Tunnel/Bridge debacle! 9 years to start the tunnel, Steveston hwy overpass is all that’s been done, no NDP bitching, you had 9 years and like Cloverdale hospital & Burnaby hospital expansion, we’ve seen bupkis…..
No increase in traffic from Massey/Deas crossing will do anything but move the traffic jam to the never expanded North Arm crossings (Knight, Oak & Arthur Lang), this is due to Vancouver Councils! No one talks about Vancouver’s assault on commuters.
Free transit for seniors??? Trying to justify the billions spent on Skytrain? I suppose it’s convenient for urban residents, closest BC Transit stop to me is 20 km away for twice daily runs to a medium sized city. 20 kms away from school bus also, 40kms/day per child…..
Interestingly, Metro Vancouver’s N Van sewage issue seems to get a pass, no attempt to obtain clarity about why the budget is far surpassed, a decade late, the Province should look at why and allow the unwashed to try to comprehend how this happened and who in the Metro cabal is going to pay professionally for the abject failure of this entire project to date? Maybe this is why no real Massey progress? Can’t flush, best not try to swim under a river that drains 1/3 of BC? Chicken little or just a little bit chicken?
Burnaby hospital upgrade, Cloverdale hospital, Richmond hospital upgrade, all promised, all stifled, still many ER closures in the interior, like this summer with Merritt threatened by Boston Bar fire, no ER should anything flare up? WTF Eby?
I had a severely ill wife during the end of BC Liberal’s reign, she passed away during Horgan’s tenure. Home care, palliative care, medical supports were all far worse for us after Horgan & Dix took over. Supports were ended because she “no longer qualified as palliative”, after a massive 4 month battle with medical bureaucrats and actually 5 days after they ended home support, she passed away, palliative enough once dead?
BC Green kindergarten party can promise anything, the realistic chance of them getting more than 2 seats is non-existent. Did Dream Weaver make a difference propping ip Horgan? Will Lowan make any real difference? Aside from CBC, does anyone even listen?
1st ICBC claim in many years, got ran into, no option but taking 50% blame, was not moving & in my lane when hit, but 50% to blame, no real recourse. Friend hurt in an accident, possibly challenging his livelihood, here’s 5 grand to go get some training, nice low premiums til you get hit! My friend was hit by a meth-head, out on Bail!
This Province is sinking in accumulated debt, will have to service that debt for many years to come, Metro’s sardine can density build out will eat up capital for decades, us unwashed hillbillies watch as you can’t flush, drive, get sick or feed yourselves down there & we get this, why don’t Metro voters straighten out the looming mess caused by the expansion of a geographically small zone into a mega density cesspool?
Off to drive on a 2 lane transCanada hwy today, the same 2 lanes that bring much of the food & supplies to Gotham!
(Response: My, my! How it all adds up! Things today move so fast that we tend not to realize how bad things have become in so many areas: your comment points out so many. Will the Conservatives solve them all … NOT! But sometimes a new perspective and new ideas is a good choice … and although I’m sure I would agree with everything Doerkson/Conservatives would do, I just believe another Eby/NDP term would be really bad for BC’s economy, tax,tax, tax policies, give-away land claims, crime/courts, health care/hospitals. Time to give the Conservatives a chance … while the NDP gets rid of Eby and refocuses on serving as a PRIORITY the middle class, working people and small businesses. Ho)
Well, that didn’t help me much.
Eby is completely out of touch, back on his heels, and Doerkson didn’t inspire me at all. Yes, the Greens have pipe dreams but Lowan was solid on presentation and poise.
The B.C. Broadcast Consortium cheated us, by not allowing Sturko and Brodie. After all, Doerkson is not yet a confirmed leader.
Until today, I was very close to not voting, but I’ll head off to the advanced poll in the morning, with three decent candidate choices in my riding; NDP, which I won’t vote for under any circumstances this time; Centre BC who I really know little about, and Greens Emily Rowan.
The conservatives have today had to turf another extremist, and I do believe there will be more. Scrapping the tunnel for a bridge will build the deficit, set that back a decade, if it is even possible. I can’t pick out any potential big ticket ministers; education, health, attorney general, and I just don’t trust them.
So, I’ll probably treat Emily Lowan like a first-round draft pick, with the hopes that if she makes the team, in a few years she will grow her game, get some toughness, and score meaningful points.
What’s to lose at this point.
(Response: I always vote when I can, because it is such an important privilege to be able to do so, even if the party/candidate I select often do not win. This time, I have to admit my primary goal is a change of government. Eby and the NDP have had nine years and I feel their record is awful. They need a time out and the only party that can defeat them is the BC conservatives. I was impressed by Lowan, but the Greens are too radical and even as the third party, their impact on government policy could hurt investment and development of BC’s economy… not something we can afford at this critical time. Ho)
Lets hope some of the undecided tuned in to that debate.
Eby came across as a tired, apologetic, “give us one more chance” leader.
Doerkson was nervous but seemed to hit his stride after a bit. No big slam dunks.
Lowan seemed impossibly young and naive. But she had some good digs at Eby.
I’m amazed that neither opposition didn’t just hammer him relentlessly on DRIPA or Healthcare, or Deficits, or his broken promises until Eby snapped.
No real winner.
Those days seem to be over.
(Response: I recognize that for individuals and families having trouble paying their rent, buying groceries etc. DRIPA may not seem to be the most important issue facing us this election. However, I believe for the economic future of BC, it’s the most critical! Especially when, in the news today, there are revelations that the NDP government has been conducting more secret discussions and negotiations that could see hundreds of additional parcels of Crown lands turned over to First Nations. Why secret? DRIPA must go and secret giveaways must end … before it’s too late.Ho)
It’s clear to me that David Eby knows he’s in trouble. He looked very uncomfortable and talked about the former BC Liberals because he can’t defend his terrible record. He may be an intelligent person, but he lacks fiscal responsibility, common sense and empathy for ordinary people.
Though he leads a person that is supposed to be for the working-class, his focus is drug addicts, criminals, people on social assistance, new Canadians, natives, environmental activists, radical students and wealthy socialists. He has overspent so much that it will take the province a long time to recover. He shouldn’t have called the early election, but if it leads to his resignation, that will be a very good result.
(Response: I keep looking for an ad by the NDP listing all the promises they have kept since since they were elected, but I haven’t seen it. And I wish someone in the “working” media or the Conservatives would put together a full list of promises made by the NDP over the last two elections but not kept: both could be fascinating! Ho)
Watched the debate last night … not much of a debate … to me the overall winner was the Green Party … she held her own, and she is not even an MLA …
(Response: She came up with some very good lines and sure embarrassed Eby/NDP for broken promises …but I found the Green ideas/proposals too “unreal” and naieve. Ho)
The optics of this are dreadful. It just confirms what I think that Eby is completely out of touch, something like Trump and the economy.
I may not like the conservatives but on my god, is this what the NDP have to offer?
(Response: Eby hardly looked like an experienced leader, comfortable defending his record. He seemed uneasy, unhappy, tired, with absolutely none of the charisma/passion he showed years ago. Ho)
I have, in the last two years, waited 10 hours after a suffering a broken shoulder and 11 hours for several abdominal pains in the Royal Columbian Hospital emergency ward, before being seen for treatment. The NDP government upped the interest rate on deferred property taxes for seniors, going from two percent below prime to two percent above prime, upping my property tax by 168 dollars a month. The Conservatives say they will put the interest rate back where it was. The Conservatives propose to up the personal exemption on provincial income tax from roughly $13,000 a year to around $32,000. That would save me around $1,000 a year. Actual pain. Actual money.
(Response: The NDP have a PROVEN record of breaking promises …as Emily Lowan (partly) outlined during the debate. The unknown is whether the Conservatives would do the same? For many like you …and me … after nine years, maybe it’s time to at least let them try? And give time for the NDP to get rid of Eby and become more mainstream. Ho)
Either vote for someone or vote against but just don’t sit on the sidelines .
Apologies for the long post, Harvey.
I pretended that I was watching this on mute at times last night and I drowned out the noise temporarily. I did that to see how they came across.
Lorne Doerkson gave me John Horgan-type vibes and perhaps if he’s successful, he could be the Tories version of John Horgan. Emily Lowan looked like she didn’t belong (just because she’s a jarring difference to Eby and Doerkson and looks young enough to be their daughter) and David Eby looked at times unbearably smug, which I believe can be politically fatal.
Now, I think Emily Lowan acquitted herself extremely well and she got out some great lines. Lorne Doerkson acquitted himself very well as well and he credibly comes across as a Premier in waiting, which the same couldn’t be said of his predecessors. David Eby took on fire, but at times he looked exasperated and perhaps I would be too knowing that there’s a good chance that in 10 days, I either severely or fatally damaged my political career and I’m running a lackluster campaign that I created.
Although, I will note that Eby trotted out the “I’m not perfect” line. Now, I remember Gregor Robertson pulling something similar off in 2014 although, I thought it came across as false then, it comes across as false even more so now. David Eby has always struck me as he’s the smartest person in the room and everyone else is nowhere close to his towering intellect. In fact, I sort of compare him to former BC Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson, who had the same vibe.
The fact of the matter is, David Eby should’ve done the right thing, resigned as Premier and leader now, let the NDP re-group under a new leader, preferably by someone who wasn’t in Cabinet before. And I truly believed he did this to save his own job.
But clearly either he or someone in the NDP campaign lacked the brains to simply not ask the Lieutenant Governor for an election before Kerry-Lynne Findlay had a chance to resign. Instead, they decided to do the drawn out lead up to the campaign and give the Tories a moment to regroup and once the dynamics changed, he should’ve just abandoned the election call and just carried on governing.
At this point, I think if David Eby is lucky, he gets a minority government. And if Lorne Doerkson wins, for his government to survive and fight for re-election, he’s going to have to put Stephen Harper like discipline and sideline the more extreme elements of the party who will likely be elected.
However, overall I’m not exactly thrilled with my choices in this election and I think Election Day will be most fascinating. Never a dull moment in BC politics!
(Response: While watching the debate, especially Eby’s performance, I couldn’t help but think how correct I was when I blogged in April that the NDP needed a new leader! (http://wp311593.wpdns.ca/ndps-only-hope-is-for-eby-to-go/) Doerkson was not scary, but not really impressive either: had the NDP done a “Trudeau/Carney”, I believe their chances of re-election would be much better. In fact, we probably wouldn’t even be in an election now! Eby has lost so much credibility. As for Lowan, she looked to me like a top university student being given a courtesy spot playing in a competition between the professors. I found the Greens’ ideas very “pie-in-the-sky” … but she delivered most of the best lines, challenging Eby’s credibility. Ho)