BC Leaders’ Debate Focuses on Key Issues: Housing Affordability and Drugs
The leaders of B.C.’s three biggest political parties discussed their plans for affordable housing, health care, and the drug crisis during a televised debate on Oct. 8.
NDP Leader David Eby and Conservative Leader John Rustad focused on criticizing each other, while Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau criticized both Eby and Rustad for a lack of leadership.
The first question posed to Eby concerned the timeline within which residents could expect to see improvements in public safety, housing, and affordability across the province. Under his leadership, more would be spent on support services, Eby said, adding that his party would deliver a tax cut to middle-income earners, and develop affordable childcare and car insurance.
The Conservative Rustad said he was concerned about how many people want to leave the province. He said he would tackle the affordability problem through his housing rebate and getting rid of the carbon tax. He also said that the provincial drug policies had failed, criticizing safe-supply policies and saying that his party would focus on treatment options.
The first question directed at Furstenau was why voters should support the Green Party. She said the other parties were not putting forward good leaders. She accused them of offering more of the same or a return to the past.
Housing Affordability
One of the first topics of debate was housing affordability, with each leader offered an opportunity to put their party’s plans forward to tackle the problem.
Rustad said that reducing bureaucracy and improving local partnerships was the answer.
Related Stories
“It takes far too long to get housing built in this province,” he said. “We’re going to come to communities with a billion dollars a year to be able to invest in things like water and sewer upgrades,” he said. Rustad also added that investment was needed for densification in communities.
Eby said that his party had a plan to build more homes in the province.
“We’re expediting construction by investing in modular housing construction so housing to build faster and cheaper,” he said. Eby added that an NDP government would preserve lower cost rental housing.
Furstenau said her party would put in rent caps on properties between tenancies, and build more homes.
“We need to build tens of thousands of units of non-market housing every year to put a check on the cost,” she said.
Drug Crisis
Another major issue that the leaders debated was the provincial decriminalisation of illegal substances and the increase in drug deaths, homelessness and addictions problems, as well as concerns over public safety.
During the debate, Eby acknowledged that the decriminalisation pilot project had failed.
“We tried it and it didn’t produce the results that anybody wanted,” he said, adding that his government “had to change course.”
Eby said his party has focused on opening treatment beds and would continue to do so if reelected.
Rustad said a Conservative government would take a different approach.
“We need to make sure that we bring an end to decriminalisation and state supply. We need to bring an end to this and to the government being a drug dealer,” he said. Rustad added his party would look to boost recovery options for those with addiction.
“We’re going to make those investments—everything from doctor-prescribed treatment to short-term recovery to longer-term recovery and to involuntary compassionate recovery,” he said.
The Green Party has said it supports drug consumption sites, and its platform lays out plans to expand these spaces. In addition, Fursteanu said they would focus on education about the issue.
“It’s really important that young people get good information, they get reliable information. We’ve seen in programs in the United States in middle schools and high schools, where when young people get the information that gives them everything they need to know about the risks and dangers, especially of opioids and hard drugs, there’s a 66 percent decline in use amongst young people,” she said.
Health Care
Party leaders were also questioned about their plans to improve health care in the province.
Rustad said his party’s solution was to retain doctors and bring back health care workers who were let go.
“We need to make sure we have a model in this province where doctors want to stay here and work,” he said. “We need to be able to make sure we deal with training and people coming into our province.”
NDP leader Eby said that more health care professionals were needed.
“We got to train up more healthcare workers. We got to recognize the credentials of those health care workers who want to work in our province from other parts of Canada and other countries,” he said.
“What we have to do is ensure that health care spending is being focused on the delivery of health care by the professionals who are trained to do it, the health care professionals in our province,” she said. Fursteanu added that they would build on the current type of centres already operating in B.C.
Economy
Leaders were also asked what their parties would do for the B.C. economy.
Rustad said his party would focus on getting “red tape” out of the way, and make investments in industry. He said that those moves should generate revenue for the province.
B.C. is prospering, Eby said, with high wages and low unemployment. He added that, if reelected, the NDP will focus on creating training opportunities, Eby said.
Taxing wealth in various forms will help bring equality to the province, Fursteanu said at the debate. She added that the Green platform proposed an 18 percent tax on profits over $1 billion, a 0.2 percent increase on school tax on properties over $3 million, and a 12.5 marginal tax on incomes over $350,000.
During the debate, Rustad was also targeted for his past comments on vaccine mandates.
“I am not anti-vaccine, I’m anti-mandate,” Rustad said during the debate. “I believe that people should have choice. It shouldn’t be thrust upon them, forced upon them, or coerced.”
B.C.’s election is scheduled for Oct. 19.
