B.C. Election: Leaders Eby, Doerkson, Lowan talk vision, economics at Vancouver Board of Trade event

The leaders of B.C.’s three largest political parties addressed a crowd featuring prominent business leaders on Tuesday, at a time of significant unease over the province’s economic future.

B.C. NDP Leader David Eby said B.C. cannot afford the “chaos” and division of a Conservative government during an uncertain period marked by tariffs and trade wars. Conservative Leader Lorne Doerkson lambasted the New Democrats for poor fiscal management leading to a record-setting $13.8 billion deficit. And Green leader Emily Lowan said her party offers the only real alternative to improve the lives of average working British Columbians, instead of a government focused on megaprojects that primarily benefit foreign corporate behemoths.

Tuesday afternoon’s event, hosted by the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade in downtown Vancouver, was not advertised as a debate, but instead an opportunity to hear directly from party leaders “as they present their vision for the province and discuss their priorities for B.C.’s future.”

The forum also served as a sort of dress rehearsal before Wednesday evening’s leaders’ debate, which will be carried on major TV and radio news networks at 6:15 p.m.

Before the leaders spoke, Tuesday’s event began with Board of Trade CEO Bridgitte Anderson presenting some grim numbers. A recent survey of Board of Trade members found nearly three quarters of respondents were “very concerned” about the state of the province’s finances, Anderson said. Eight per cent said the economic climate had already made them decide to move outside of B.C. or reduce investment here, and 23 per cent said they were considering such a move. Almost four in five said the provincial economy is on the “wrong track.”

While attendees milled about before and after the main event, some commented on the frosty reception that met Eby in the hotel ballroom packed with business leaders, just weeks after his party called a snap election for Oct. 24 at a time of high anxiety about the province’s economy.

Eby spoke first, and used the opportunity to make a series of new announcements related to economic development. He pledged $60 million to help forestry mills impacted by tariffs to protect jobs and reach new markets, and changes to allow food processing operations on ALR-designated land not suited to primary food production. His third announcement, which was met with a round of applause, was a pledge to work with the Government of Canada to build a new shipyard to “so that we can build B.C. ferries here at home.”

Doerkson, the Conservative leader, spoke next, and said that nine years of NDP government has brought repeated credit downgrades and tax increases, and “this province is, for certain, on the wrong track.”

Doerkson received a round of applause when he promised to scrap the NDP’s proposal to expand the provincial sales tax on professional services, a move he said businesses view as “an incredible challenge.” He pledged the Conservatives will pass a law requiring government to eliminate two existing regulations for every new one introduced, adding: “frankly, we can’t do that soon enough in this province.”

In Lowan’s remarks, she emphasized how she stands out from the other two leaders — and probably most of the event’s attendees — as a renter who has worked a minimum-wage job in the past decade.

“And I believe I’m the only leader here with a vision for B.C. that thinks about the next 50 years instead of the last 50,” Lowan said.

She criticized the current provincial government’s economic strategy as overly reliant on foreign-owned resource projects, and proposed to fund universal child care by taxing the ultra-wealthy.

Meanwhile, a Research Co. poll released Tuesday showed the B.C. Conservatives edging ahead of the NDP.

In an online survey of a representative provincial sample, 44 per cent of decided likely voters said they would support the B.C. Conservatives, an increase of four percentage points since Research Co. conducted a similar poll in August, a little more than a month before the NDP called the snap election. Meanwhile, the new poll showed 42 per cent said they would cast a ballot for the NDP, a two-point drop from August. The Greens were in third place, with eight per cent, down two points from August, followed by the smaller, newer parties CentreBC and OneBC, tied at two per cent.

Among likely voters, 49 per cent said they would be “very upset” if the B.C. NDP form government after the Oct. 24 election — and an equal proportion, 49 per cent, also said they would be “very upset” with a Conservative government.

The poll found a point of consensus among NDP, Conservative, and Green supporters during these discordant times: a majority of each party’s supporters agreed they were “unhappy that we are having an early provincial election.”