B.C. Election: Sparks fly over contentious issues a day after no clear winner in leaders' debate

B.C. NDP Leader David Eby speaks to B.C. Conservative interim Leader Lorne Doerkson during the B.C. election provincial leaders' debate in Vancouver Oct. 14. Photo by Ethan Cairns /B.C. Broadcast Consortium

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A day after B.C.’s three main political leaders sparred over affordability, car insurance, and health care in a debate that delivered some solid zingers — but no major knockout blows — sparks flew Thursday over contentious issues about Crown land and the Massey Tunnel.

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During a visit to Surrey, NDP Leader David Eby announced that, if re-elected, his government would make bus passes free for low-income seniors, build rapid transit from Surrey to White Rock, and continue the construction of the Surrey to Langley SkyTrain.

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Most of the questions he faced related to a leaked briefing note, first obtained by Northern Beat, showing the government is developing legislation allowing the province to transfer 400 plots of Crown land to First Nations without compensating forestry companies.

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Eby said that many of these plots of land are included in agreements stemming back years, including under the B.C. Liberal government of Christy Clark.

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Eby said the challenge “is that there’s a very significant fiscal cost associated with transferring those tenures to First Nations under these agreements.”

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He said the proposal was about reducing the cost and the burden of those obligations, and the agreements will benefit forestry, which has faced mill closures and job losses.

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Conservative Leader Lorne Doerkson had no public events Thursday, but his party released a promise to build a new women and children’s hospital in Surrey and to revisit the original Massey Tunnel replacement with a 10-lane bridge.

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“Families in the Lower Mainland are stuck in traffic every day because the NDP cancelled a bridge that should already be open. My government will build it, on time and on budget,” Doerkson said in the release.

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B.C. Green party Leader Emily Lowan, from left, B.C. NDP Leader David Eby, and B.C. Conservative interim Leader Lorne Doerkson during the B.C. election provincial leaders’ debate Oct. 14. Photo by Ethan Cairns/BC Broadcast Consor

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Eby said the Conservative’s plan to revisit Massey Tunnel replacement project would add two to four years to the project and increase the budget more than the already inflated $8.5 billion figure.

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“He’s going to cancel that and send all those workers home. Start from scratch with a new plan, new environmental assessment, new procurement, new contractors,” said Eby.

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Green Leader Emily Lowan, in what appeared to be an effort to appeal to union members and hive off support from the NDP, announced plans to improve minimum wage more than inflation every year until the province reaches a living wage, improve sectoral bargaining for unions and reverse the direct-to-consumer delivery of alcoholic beverages, which she says would open up the B.C. Liquor Distribution Branch to privatization.

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The B.C. Conservative party is promising to bring back a plan for a 10-lane bridge between Richmond and Delta, first proposed by the Liberal government in 2017. Photo by Government of B.C.

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During a spirited televised debate the night before, Eby defended his record while criticizing Doerkson for the lack of a costed platform. Doerkson and Lowan, meanwhile, focused on attacking Eby’s record on the economy, health care and Indigenous relations.

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The incumbent premier targeted Doerkson regarding his campaign manager Katy Merrifield’s anti-Islam comments on social media, and CentreBC Leader Elenore Sturko’s accusation that Doerkson’s Chilliwack-North candidate, Heather Maahs, called Sturko “immoral” for being gay.