The B.C. provincial election will be held Oct. 24.

This is your daily campaign trail update with everything you need for Oct. 16, 2020.

This page will be updated throughout the day, with developments added as they happen.

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WHERE THE LEADERS ARE TODAY

Sonia Furstenau, Green:  

The Green leader starts off her day with interviews remote from Victoria followed by a Facebook live with Richard Zussman for Global News at 11:30 a.m. She will also hold a news conference at 12:30 p.m. at the Delta Ocean Pointe in Victoria.

John Horgan, NDP

: The NDP leader is in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows this morning to make an announcement. Horgan will be joined by BC NDP candidates Bob D’Eith, Lisa Beare, and Pam Alexis.

Andrew Wilkinson, Liberal:

The Liberal leader is in Port Moody, where he will make an announcement at 1 p.m.

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TWEETS FROM THE TRAIL

.@VaughnPalmer on NDP’s handling of early-election-call criticism:
“(Horgan) and his advisers come up with lines that make him sound like a used-car salesman trying to close a deal on an old beater up on blocks in the front yard.” #BCElection2020 #bcpoli https://t.co/boK7j0MSaa

— loriculbert (@loriculbert) October 15, 2020

Well there you go. Laurie Throness is out as a BC Liberal candidate. https://t.co/Io3lYZjYJa

— Rob Shaw (@RobShaw_BC) October 15, 2020

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GUIDES AND LINKS

• B.C. Election 2020: Stay informed with our daily newsletter, delivered to your inbox every day at noon. Sign up here.

• Read the latest news on B.C. Election 2020

• Here’s how, where and when to vote

• Received a blank ballot? Here’s how to fill it out

• What candidates are running in my riding?

• Register to vote in the B.C. Election

• Find your electoral district

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CAMPAIGN TRAIL NEWS

8:30 p.m. – B.C. Green party says October fundraising shatters its previous records

The B.C. Green party says October has been the best fundraising month in its history, and there’s still a week to go until the province goes to the polls.

A statement from the party said more than $441,000 has been raised in the first 15 days of October.

That beats the previous record of just over $339,000, set in April 2017 before the last election.

The party said donors have already contributed more during the current election period than was raised throughout the entire 28-day campaign three years ago.

It said $100,000 of the donations has come in since Tuesday, when Green Leader Sonia Furstenau took part in the televised leaders’ debate.

 

5:45 p.m. – Horgan says NDP would try to get COVID-19 relief cash out by Christmas

If the B.C. NDP wins a majority in the election, John Horgan intends to recall the legislature as soon as possible to begin implementing some of his party’s campaign promises.

At the top of the list would be getting legislation passed so that the government could send out COVID-19 recovery benefits — one-time payments of up to $1,000 for families and up to $500 for individuals — by Christmas.

READ MORE

 

5 p.m. – Vaughn Palmer: Furstenau can’t blame just the NDP for failure of electoral reform

With a week to go in the campaign, Green Leader Sonia Furstenau is reflecting on one of the might-have-beens of the recent term of government.

“I would make the argument that had we succeeded in getting proportional representation we wouldn’t be in this election right now,” she told a Postmedia editorial board this week. “This election is about one party wanting all of the power. With proportional representation, you’re basically agreeing that democracy is about sharing the responsibility of governing.”

READ MORE

 

4:45 p.m. – Rob Shaw: Andrew Wilkinson promises deficit spending, tax reform

Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson painted a bleak picture of the future for B.C. workers and businesses in this pandemic as justification for a platform that calls for $31 billion in capital spending and $11 billion in tax cuts.

“This is much like a wartime economy,” he told a Postmedia editorial board on Friday. “I think when you get the information coming in from the Vancouver Board of Trade saying that one quarter of small businesses expect to close permanently within 12 months, that’s a huge wake-up call.”

Wilkinson also pointed to a survey that found 50 per cent of B.C. households expect at least one member to lose their job in the next 12 months and that 30 per cent of households can’t pay their bills now.

READ MORE

 

1:45 p.m. – Taxi association endorses NDP

The Vancouver Taxi Association, which represent most of the taxi companies in the Lower Mainland, has endorsed the NDP in the Oct. 24 provincial election.

“In the view of the VTA members, the NDP is best able to protect the interests of working people and small businesses in the province, as well as the disadvantaged and minority members of our society,” the association said in a statement.

VTA members include Black Top Cabs, Bonny’s Taxi, Burnaby Select Metrotown Taxi, MacLures Cabs, North Shore Taxi, Richmond Cabs, Queen City Taxi, Royal City Taxi, Vancouver Taxi Ltd., Vancouver Taxi and Yellow Cab.

 

12:30 p.m. – B.C. Green Leader Sonia Furstenau outlines her party’s key priorities  

Furstenau said they have been pushing for changes to long-term care, to end old growth logging and to cancel Site C.

She said her plan is to help small businesses and the tourism sector survive the winter with a rent subsidy program and grants to urgently support small tourism operators, and an immediate action on affordability and inequality, including a new grant for those paying more than 30 per cent of their income in rent.

The Greens would also push to end the practice of public money going to for-profit seniors care and stop subsidies for fossil fuel and fracking companies, while establishing a clean jobs strategy which offers a transition plan for workers in the oil and gas sector.

 

12 p.m. – “I’m in it to win it,” says ex Liberal candidate Laurie Throness

Laurie Throness, the Chilliwack politician who stepped down Thursday from the B.C. Liberal Party after his latest controversial comments, says he will sit as an independent if elected, since his name is still on the ballot.

In a statement on Facebook Friday

, Throness apologized for the damage done to his MLA colleagues and to B.C. Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson.

He said Chilliwack voters “deserve a viable small ‘c’ conservative MLA who is unafraid of the freedoms of speech and religion, who embraces the thousands of social conservatives in this riding as well as social liberals, and who advocates for free-market and affordable government solutions to public policy issues.”

He said he will inform voters that if they vote for him he will sit as an independent MLA.

“I’m in it to win it,” he said.

Throness’s name will remain on the ballot in Chilliwack-Kent and listed under the B.C. Liberals, since the deadline for candidate registrations has passed.

During a virtual all-candidates meeting in his constituency Wednesday, Throness said he didn’t feel free prescription contraception, as promised by the NDP, was a priority.

“The other thing that I feel about this is that it contains a whiff of the old eugenics thing where, you know, poor people shouldn’t have babies,” he said. “So, we can’t force them to have contraception, so we’ll give it to them for free, and maybe they’ll have fewer babies, so there will be fewer poor people in the future.”

Throness has also been criticized for advertising in a religious publication considered  homophobic and transphobic by the LGBTQ community, for appearing to support the condemned practice of so-called conversion therapy, and for appearing at anti-abortion rallies.

 

12 p.m. – Numbers released for first day of advanced voting

Preliminary turnout figures for the first day of advance voting Thursday have been released by Elections BC.

The agency says 104,937 residents voted yesterday. In 2017, 122,465 voters voted on the first day of advance voting.

There was a delay in receiving preliminary turnout figures from the following electoral districts:

• Coquitlam-Burke Mountain

• North Vancouver-Lonsdale

• West Vancouver-Capilano

Preliminary turnout figures for these electoral districts will be published tomorrow.

 

11 a.m. – Another Liberal candidate in the spotlight over a tweet praising J.K Rowling anti-trans blog

A day after

 B.C. Liberal candidate Laurie Throness

 stepped down over controversial comments, another Liberal candidate is under fire for praising a transphobic blog written by Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling .

The NDP put out a news release Friday calling on B.C. Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson to fire Langley East candidate Margaret Kunst and New Westminster candidate Lorraine Brett for anti-LGBTQ beliefs.

This summer, Brett tweeted: “J.K Rowling’s best work! Thank you @jk_rowling” in response to

her blog,

an opinion piece which has been condemned as being harmful to transgender people.

A spokesperson for the B.C. Liberal Party said a statement would be coming shortly from Brett in response to the tweet.

The tweet has been deleted but can still be found online.

 

10:30 a.m. – Vote-by-mail packages should be in the post

The more than 700,000 people who have asked for a vote-by-mail package in B.C.’s election should get their ballots into the post.

Saturday is the deadline recommended by Elections BC because the ballots must be received no later than 8 p.m. on election day, Oct. 24.

Those who don’t mail in their votes in time can drop off the completed package in person at district electoral offices, voting places and some Service BC locations.

Information on the Elections BC website shows about 25 per cent of the 717,000 ballots sent out have been returned.

The mail-out ballots requested for the election during the COVID-19 pandemic are more than 100 times the number requested in 2017, and in some ridings they make up more than 25 per cent of

registered voters.

-The Canadian Press

 

9:15 a.m. – NDP Leader John Horgan campaigns in Pitt Meadows on affordability

B.C. NDP Leader John Horgan pushed his party’s affordability plan in the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows riding Friday morning, where the race between the NDP and Liberals has been close over the years.

Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows was a key riding in the last election.

In 2017, Maple-Ridge Pitt Meadows NDP candidate Lisa Beare beat BC Liberal incumbent Doug Bing by 1,800 votes after the NDP pledged to remove the tolls on the Golden Ears Bridge.

In the three elections before 2017 votes were within 1,000 between the Liberals and the NDP. In 3013, for example, B.C. Liberal Doug Bing beat the NDP’s Elizabeth Rosenau by just 620 votes.

In Maple-Ridge Mission, NDP Bob D-Eith is looking to keep his seat after he won in 2017 by just 325 votes over two-term Liberal incumbent Marc Dalton.

On Friday, Horgan pushed his party’s plan to make life more affordable, which includes a pandemic recovery benefit of up to $1,000 for middle-class and low income families, $500 for individuals, and a plan to expand the $10 a day plan and the student grant access program.

 

5 a.m. – Poll shows NDP lead, Greens gaining momentum

The B.C. NDP continues to hold the lead in the election campaign, but the Greens may be the party to watch in final week, according to a new poll Friday.

With a week to go before the Oct. 24 election, the Angus Reid Institute poll found nearly half (49 per cent) of respondents said they will vote B.C. NDP, followed by the B.C. Liberals at 33 per cent.

The Greens, at 14 per cent, remain in third place, according to the poll. However, the pollsters say with the Green leader’s popularity surging following Tuesday’ televised debate, “it is worth noting the party is the most common second choice for voters who have not yet locked in their choice.”

The NDP are the most favoured in Metro Vancouver, where 60 per cent of residents say they will vote for the incumbents, while the Greens have support in the Vancouver Island and North Coast regions. The Liberals have most of their support in the Interior and in the Lower Mainland/Fraser Valley regions, according to the poll.

 

12 a.m. – Second leaders’ debate gets heated on taxes, pandemic, and plans for the economy

The second leaders’ debate Thursday morning saw B.C. Liberal Andrew Wilkinson take a more aggressive tone against the NDP’s John Horgan, with several fiery exchanges on issues such as pandemic preparation, taxation and mobility pricing.

Each man positioned his party as the one to lead B.C. out of the pandemic, while Green leader Sonia Furstenau took Horgan to task for calling a snap election in the middle of a global crisis.

One of the key moments came early as Horgan and Wilkinson argued back-and-forth about pandemic preparedness, with Horgan blaming the previous Liberal government for cuts to jobs in the long-term care sector and Wilkinson telling him to focus on the present.

“Once again, you’re dredging up mistruths and misstatements from 17 years ago,” said Wilkinson. “You’ve been the premier for three years, so why didn’t you get prepared for it?”

The two men talked over each other as 980 CKNW radio host Simi Sara asked them to take turns.

 

12 a.m. – Throness quits Liberals after comparing NDP contraception plan to eugenics 

Chilliwack politician Laurie Thrones, who caused controversy with his conservative social views, has stepped down as the B.C. Liberal candidate for Chilliwack-Kent.

He resigned after his latest comments — comparing an NDP campaign promise of free contraception to eugenics — touched off a round of condemnation, including among his own party colleagues.

B.C. Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson announced Throness’s resignation Thursday during a campaign stop in Coquitlam where he said the comments “were completely wrong,” and “not in keeping with the values of the B.C. Liberal party.”

“Laurie Throness has accepted that his comments were wrong and inappropriate,” Wilkinson said in a brief statement.

“It was clear that he couldn’t continue to be part of the B.C. Liberal team. The B.C. Liberal party is dedicated to a diversity of perspectives, but all party members are dedicated to inclusiveness and equality — that is not up for debate.”

 

12 a.m. –  Green leader calls for voters to rally to prevent NDP majority

B.C.’s Green leader is appealing to voters to coalesce around her party in an attempt to deny the NDP the majority that repeated polls suggest could be the outcome of the Oct. 24 provincial election.

Sonia Furstenau said British Columbians who are considering voting Green, but concerned about how that might affect the traditional fight between the B.C. Liberal and New Democratic parties, should feel safe to support her with a vote in this campaign.

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WHAT THE LEADERS ARE SAYING:

Andrew Wilkinson, Liberal:

“It was clear that (Laurie Throness) couldn’t continue to be part of the B.C. Liberal team. The B.C. Liberal party is dedicated to a diversity of perspectives, but all party members are dedicated to inclusiveness and equality — that is not up for debate.”

John Horgan, NDP:

“I take responsibility every day. You hide under your bed while your candidates do outrageous things that disintegrate the fabric of our society.”

Sonia Furstenau, Green:

“This is an election where it’s really important that if you’re inclined to vote Green, then vote Green.”

 

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DAILY POLL

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SOCIAL MEDIA STUMPING

https://www.instagram.com/p/CGY21kWBnNf/

View this post on Instagram

A recap of Tuesday (yes – it is so busy that we are two days behind!). The day began with three live radio interviews and then the Cowichan all candidates debate in the morning. Then our task was to get to Vancouver (complicated high winds and a rock slide – but we made it). Getting ready to go on live television for the leaders debate involved a make up session and lots of singing. It was an experience I will never forget. #bcgreens #bcelxn #bcelxn2020

A post shared by Sonia Furstenau (@soniafurstenau) on Oct 15, 2020 at 8:53pm PDT

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Sat down to call some supporters and this guy was at the top of my list. Professor Weaver, I’m so proud of the work we’ve done together — especially CleanBC. I’m going to miss you in the legislature. I’ve got your number for any climate advice or Rugby games in the near future. #cleanbc #britishcolumbia #bcelection #bcpoli

A post shared by John Horgan (@johnhorgan4bc) on Oct 15, 2020 at 1:32pm PDT

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VICTORIA — With a week to go in the campaign, Green Leader Sonia Furstenau is reflecting on one of the might-have-beens of the recent term of government.

“I would make the argument that had we succeeded in getting proportional representation we wouldn’t be in this election right now,” she told a Postmedia editorial board this week.

“This election is about one party wanting all of the power. With proportional representation, you’re basically agreeing that democracy is about sharing the responsibility of governing.”

Proportional representation, or PR, would make majorities less likely by giving each party the same share of the seats in the legislature as it garners in the popular vote.

The Greens’ 17 per cent of the vote in the last election would have secured 15 of the 87 seats, as opposed to the three won under the status quo system known as first past the post.

British Columbians were given a chance to vote on PR in a referendum in the fall of 2018. The status quo carried the day handily, with 61 per cent in favour and only 39 per cent voting for the switch.

The defeat was attributed in part to a rushed campaign, an overly complex ballot and confusion among the options for reform.

Furstenau’s what-if at the editorial board meeting sparked an exchange with political reporter and columnist Rob Shaw.

He reminded her how he and others suspected from the outset that the Greens were naîve about the NDP’s supposed support for PR.

“Do you feel now that this is where they always wanted to go, which is to try and seize ultimate majority power and push you out?” asked Shaw.

“I’ve always tried to find ways to see if I can make you less cynical about politics,” replied Furstenau. “But I wish that you’d actually made me a bit more cynical back then about this particular issue.

“Because when I look back on it, it does feel like it was set up to not succeed,” she conceded. “It was too complicated. It was too open to being able to be made into something that people could fear. And now I think you’re right: I think it wasn’t set up to succeed.”

Furstenau’s suspicion that the NDP crafted the referendum to fail echoed a comment from another PR supporter, Max Cameron, director of the centre for democratic institutions at the University of B.C.

“Instead of putting in place a process of broad public consultation that would have taken the issue out of the hands of politicians and let the public decide, the decision was made to hold a rushed referendum,” wrote Cameron in a piece published Thursday in The Vancouver Sun.

“Either the premier did not appreciate the complexity of the issue — and how hard it is to explain electoral systems to voters — or he had no real desire to change the electoral system.”

In addition to blaming the NDP, Furstenau ought to consider how her predecessor, Andrew Weaver, helped diminish the chances of success.

Weaver’s lack of effort was highlighted by Matt Toner, the former deputy leader of the Greens, right after the referendum result was announced.

“A tremendous setback for the Greens,” said Toner in a morning-after-the-vote interview with host Gregor Craigie on CBC Radio in Victoria. “The ground game was terrible and the results show that.”

He faulted the NDP for “playing power games” with the referendum, but didn’t let the Greens off the hook.

Rather he noted how Weaver waived the consultation provisions in the power-sharing agreement with the NDP. That left control of the referendum to David Eby, the NDP’s partisan attorney general.

“That was a terribly short-sighted choice,” said Toner. “We left ourselves at the mercy of whatever the process delivered.

“At the time, I thought this was a terrible idea,” disclosed Toner, who was still deputy leader to Weaver when the latter surrendered control to the New Democrats. “I couldn’t believe they were recusing themselves.”

Weaver pretty much confirmed Toner’s suspicion that his heart was not in the referendum process. “It doesn’t excite me,” he told Andrew MacLeod of the Tyee. “I totally support this referendum, but it is not something I’m spending all my time on.”

Weaver would also say that PR was not one of the issues that got him into politics, never mind how for many Greens it was critical to their survival.

But in light of recent events, did Weaver even want the Greens to survive his leadership?

On the same day as Furstenau lamented the failure of PR, Premier John Horgan posted a set-up video of himself chatting up “my good friend” Andrew Weaver.

“I am going to miss you in the next parliament for sure,” he told a beaming Weaver, who had already endorsed him for re-election.

“But I know you are not going to be far away,” the premier added, which had me wondering if there’s a government appointment in the offing.

“I still have some green roots,” Weaver reminded him, a remark that would surely infuriate big “G” Greens.

Weaver, formerly an advocate of the virtues of power-sharing, now seems bent on assisting the NDP to obliterate the Green caucus.

Some Greens might suspect they’re caught up in a plot worthy of spy novelist John le Carré. Except no need for them to hunt down John Horgan’s mole in their party — apparently his name was Andrew Weaver.

vpalmer@postmedia.com

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If the B.C. NDP wins a majority in the election, John Horgan intends to recall the legislature as soon as possible to begin implementing some of his party’s campaign promises.

At the top of the list would be getting legislation passed so that the government could send out COVID-19 recovery benefits — one-time payments of up to $1,000 for families and up to $500 for individuals — by Christmas.

“I would want to move as expeditiously as possible to ensure that we’re keeping people healthy and whole as we come through the pandemic,” Horgan told a Postmedia editorial board during an online meeting on Friday.

However, the timing of a fall legislative session would depend on when the election results are finalized. With hundreds of thousands of mail-in ballots to verify and count, it could be weeks before those results are available. More than 700,000 vote-by-mail packages have been requested.

Horgan also said that while revisiting a change to B.C.’s Labour Code that was not supported by the B.C. Greens last spring — forgoing secret ballots for union certifications in favour of having workers sign union cards — would be on his agenda, it’s not something that would be addressed during a fall session.

Instead, it would be dealt with “as the mandate proceeds, given the need.”

“For me, right now, the priority is the pandemic and making sure that we can protect British Columbians,” Horgan said.

The premier has taken criticism from all sides by those who considered his early election call as opportunistic because it is taking place in the midst of the pandemic, a decision he said he wrestled with. Horgan said he accepts the criticism, but thought it was important to offer the choice to the public about who they wanted to lead them through the rest of the pandemic, which will be with us for the foreseeable future.

“I try and improve myself every day,” he said. “I take criticism as constructive, and if people are characterizing me that way I’ll absorb that and try to be better tomorrow.”

Horgan emphasized the government’s pandemic response has not and is not being interrupted in any way because of the election. The $6 billion in spending that was approved by the legislature, the Treasury Board and the cabinet has not been interrupted, he said, and although the legislature was dissolved there is a caretaker government in place, led by the deputy premier, Carole James, doing the business of government.

“I don’t believe that there will be any misstep in terms of the delivery of services as a result of the election,” Horgan said.

He also believes that if the NDP form government, it shouldn’t be an issue that a wealth of experience will be lost because some MLAs decided not to run again and there will be new, and in some cases inexperienced, cabinet ministers learning their jobs in the midst of a health crisis.

They will rely on a “strong core” of veteran MLAs — for instance, Horgan is confident that Adrian Dix, the health minister, will be re-elected in Vancouver-Kingsway — and the public service to guide them.

“We have a very solid team and more to come. There are new candidates that I’m hopeful will be elected that will bring a great deal of new experience to the legislature, new energy, new ideas,” Horgan said. “And my expectation is that if the people of British Columbia choose to put their support behind my team, we will hit the ground running. I am very confident of that.”

Horgan said it’s also important to draw on the knowledge of other members of the legislature, whatever their political stripe. He said he’d be absolutely prepared to consult and work with the Greens or any other party if it advances the interests of British Columbians.

“My approach has been where I have gaps in my knowledge or my ability to meet the needs of British Columbians, I seek out that knowledge,” he said. “I want to be as informed as I can be, to make the best decisions possible. And that’s how I will operate after the 24th of October. That’s how I’ve been operating up to this point in time.”

It’s the same in the broader community, Horgan said, whether it’s working with businesses, labour groups, Indigenous communities, not-for-profits or environmental organizations.

“If there’s a good idea, I don’t care where it comes from. It’s a good idea,” Horgan said.

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jensaltman@postmedia.com

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Related

• Andrew Wilkinson promises deficit spending, tax reform
• B.C. Election 2020: NDP Leader John Horgan pushes affordability plan in Pitt Meadows
• B.C. Election 2020: With a week to go, NDP remains well ahead

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Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson painted a bleak picture of the future for B.C. workers and businesses in this pandemic as justification for a platform that calls for $31 billion in capital spending and $11 billion in tax cuts.

“This is much like a wartime economy,” he told a Postmedia editorial board on Friday. “I think when you get the information coming in from the Vancouver Board of Trade saying that one quarter of small businesses expect to close permanently within 12 months, that’s a huge wake-up call.”

Wilkinson also pointed to a survey that found 50 per cent of B.C. households expect at least one member to lose their job in the next 12 months and that 30 per cent of households can’t pay their bills now.

“We have an enormous economic mountain to climb,” he said. “And the job of government is to responsibly engage in that to make sure that we’re providing the environment in which small businesses can get by, thrive and prosper, because we’re going to have to grow our way out of this.”

The plan bears little resemblance to a platform you would expect of the fiscally conservative Liberals.

Creating that environment for recovery will require at least five years of deficit spending and an $11-billion holiday from the provincial sales tax.

In addition to temporarily suspending the PST, Wilkinson has promised to replace the speculation and vacancy tax on empty homes, saying it punishes B.C. cabin owners.

He reiterated his promise to review all 23 taxes brought in by the NDP.

He wouldn’t specifically say which of those taxes he wants to eliminate, except the employer’s health tax, which replaced Medical Services Plan premiums paid by individuals.

“There will be no return to MSP premiums,” said Wilkinson, noting that the employer’s health tax pays only $2 billion of B.C.’s annual $23 billion health budget. “Health care is comprehensively paid out of general revenue.”

Many of the new taxes will likely stay in place for the time being, as Wilkinson conceded that “this is not a time to be saying, ‘abandon all revenue sources.’”

“We’ll seek to get back to a balanced budget within five years of a vaccine, that to us is a pragmatic and responsible approach to financing government services,” he said.

The Liberal leader vowed to push forward with a 10-lane bridge between Richmond and Delta, even though the mayors of many of the communities it would serve have endorsed a tunnel instead.

“We had an approved bridge, it was already under construction and $95 million was spent and there’s six kilometres of preload sand that’s still out there covered in weeds,” he said.

The objections of local First Nations to the tunnel would probably result in “decades of litigation,” he added.

“We say it’s time to be decisive and get on with the project … to relieve the biggest traffic jam in Western Canada.” he said.

Wilkinson’s seemingly off-the-cuff promise to hold a referendum in Surrey over the city’s switch from the RCMP to a municipal police force was the result of old-fashioned campaigning.

“That’s the attraction of elections as you get out and meet people on the doorstep,” he said. “We were surprised just how strongly people felt on the doorstep throughout Surrey, saying they didn’t know what’s going on with this police transition and particularly didn’t know the cost.”

“If it’s their No. 1 issue, then let’s give them a chance to have a say in it,” he added. “First of all, get full, transparent information out there. Secondly, have a referendum so the people of Surrey can decide on this.”

Wilkinson defended his handling of candidates with socially conservative views, an issue the NDP has consistently weaponized against the Liberals during this election campaign.

Chilliwack-Kent candidate Laurie Throness resigned this week as a Liberal candidate after comparing free birth control for “poor people” to eugenics.

“I heard yesterday at lunchtime about Laurie Throness’s statement. I was on the phone with them within two hours to end his candidacy,” he said. “That happened within 30 seconds on that phone call, so that was a decisive move.”

The Liberals were already back on their heels after attacks on candidate Margaret Kunst, one of three Langley councillors who voted against a motion to create a rainbow crosswalk.

Friday, the New Democrats struck again, accusing New Westminster candidate Lorraine Brett of transphobia for tweeting her approval of a controversial blog post by author J.K. Rowling.

“I gather the NDP is criticizing one of our candidates over something that she read in the past,” said Wilkinson, adding that he had not yet familiarized himself with the content of the blog.

“Over the years there are lots of controversial things said in a big-tent party that tries to accommodate many different views,” he said. “But there are some core values: equality, fairness, opportunity and respect for all British Columbians.”

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While it is important to ask about the impact of homophobic and anti-LGBTQ comments by candidates in an election poll, such questions are also being described as “somewhat symbolic” by an official for one of the province’s leading LGBTQ organizations.

More critical are the policy changes made behind the scenes to support LGBTQ issues and communities, said Joel Harnest, manager of programs and community engagement for

Qmunity

.

Harnest was responding to the results of a question asked in

a poll conducted for The Vancouver Sun

that found 58 per cent of voters were less likely to support a party with candidates who made homophobic and anti-LGBTQ comments before the provincial election.

“While it is an important question to ask, it is somewhat symbolic,” Harnest said. “What happens below the surface? What happens beyond the statements of support or affirmation? What happens beyond political parties marching in Pride parades?”

Harnest asked whether, for example, any party is showing “some degree of leadership and courage” to ban conversion therapy, a discredited practice to try to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity.

“It is a dangerous, outdated practice that overwhelmingly impacts youth,” he said. “It can absolutely degrade one’s mental health, sense of safety and security and self. We know that the outcomes of conversion therapy are, more often than not, ongoing depression, clinical anxiety, suicidal thoughts and ideation, and in worst-case scenarios, completion of suicide.”

Qmunity

, based in Vancouver, describes itself as B.C.’s Queer, Trans, and Two-Spirited Resource Centre.

The

Leger poll

released earlier this week found that seven per cent of respondents were more likely to support a party whose candidates have made homophobic and anti-LGBTQ comments, 28 per cent said it wouldn’t change their likelihood of support, and 58 per cent that they would be less likely to support a party with candidates who made such comments.

The largest group least likely to support a political party whose candidates expressed such views were voters aged 18 to 34, at 69 per cent.

People were asked the question to gauge how voters have responded to recent controversies involving two Liberal candidates.

In Langley East, B.C. Liberal candidate Margaret Kunst has been criticized for voting against painting a rainbow crosswalk between the RCMP detachment and the school board offices. Fellow Liberal candidate Laurie Throness in Chilliwack-Kent has also been criticized for defending an article supporting conversion therapy.

Harnest said awareness of LGBTQ issues have increased as have those relating to anti-Black racism, the legacy of residential schools and decolonization.

He said he has noticed a dramatic change in awareness of LGBTQ issues in particular during the five and a half years he has worked with Qmunity.

“In that time alone, the cultural awareness, the sensitivity, the affirmation provided to LGBTQ+ folk has increased exponentially,” Harnest said.

Qmunity

is holding Proud 2 Vote, a virtual province-wide townhall, on Oct. 20 from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Hamish Telford

, a political science associate professor at the University of the Fraser Valley, said LGBTQ issues around the two Fraser Valley candidates plus recent sexist comments by Jane Thornthwaite, the Liberal candidate in North Vancouver-Seymour, have “definitely derailed” leader Andrew Wilkinson’s campaign.

“I think it has put into jeopardy some of the ridings that Liberals hold,” he said. “I think it has hurt the party quite seriously.”

He said the combination of the NDP riding higher in popular support than the party’s historical norms and the recent controversies have threatened Thornthwaite’s seat and aren’t helping other Liberal candidates in the city of Vancouver such as Sam Sullivan and George Affleck.

He said Mary Pollock’s seat in Langley is also vulnerable as the community’s demography has changed because of millennial voters with urban values moving to the area for affordable housing.

“I think it makes it considerably more difficult for the Liberals in certain ridings,” he said.

Overall, the

Leger poll

found that the NDP led by Premier John Horgan have the support of 50 per cent of voting adults, the Liberals 35 per cent, and the B.C. Green party 12 per cent.

The findings in the poll are based on 1,100 people randomly sampled from Leger’s online panel or by phone interviews between Oct. 6 and 9.

kevingriffin@postmedia.com

NDP Premier John Horgan took a calculated risk in calling an early election in B.C. and breaking a deal with the Greens to support his minority government.

It looks like he may get what he wants: a majority government.

Horgan has received considerable blowback for calling an “unnecessary” election during the coronavirus pandemic. But it has not eroded his party’s standing in the polls.

With a week to go in the Oct. 24 election, Horgan’s NDP has polled well ahead of the B.C. Liberals, anywhere from a 12- to an 18-point lead, depending on the survey.

The 338Canada.com website — which provides statistical analysis based on opinion polls, electoral history and demographic data — projects the NDP will win 56 seats, the Liberals 29 and the Greens two.

The poll aggregator accurately predicted the outcome of the recent New Brunswick election and has had a 90 per cent success rate predicting riding wins over five elections, including the last federal election.

Polls have been wrong in B.C. before, but political observers say it would take some unusual revelation to undermine Horgan’s commanding lead this late in the campaign.

“It would seem that the premier’s gamble is going to pay off,” said Richard Johnston, a political-science professor emeritus at the University of B.C. “I think the secret is in the poll response in the question of whom British Columbians trust the most to manage the pandemic — and (Horgan’s) got a huge advantage.”

B.C. Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson and B.C. Green Leader Sonia Furstenau have attempted to smear Horgan for calling an election a year earlier than it was scheduled in law. Both have said Horgan has called the election purely in his own political interest and that they should be governing, not campaigning, in the middle of a pandemic. Both have said that Horgan can’t be trusted.

But the criticism simply has not stuck.

In surveys, including a Leger poll conducted for Postmedia just before a televised leaders debate this week, respondents have said they don’t agree with the election call. But that hasn’t translated into voters turning away from the NDP or increased support for the other parties.

In the Leger survey, respondents say what is most important is a party with a credible plan that invests in services such as health care, education and child care. Also critical is a stable, experienced government to ensure the province continues to get through the COVID-19 pandemic keeping British Columbians safe and the economy moving.

That favours Horgan and the NDP and mirrors what happened in the New Brunswick election where support for the Conservatives, who won a majority, did not change throughout the campaign, says Andrew Enns, executive vice-president of Leger.

“Wilkinson is definitely on the outside, looking in,” said Enns.

A Research Co. poll also conducted before the televised debate showed respondents believed Horgan was the leader better suited to handle COVID-19, health care, education, the economy and jobs, energy, housing, poverty, homelessness, accountability, crime and public safety.

Furstenau was considered better suited on the environment.

Wilkinson did not take the top spot in any category.

Research Co. president Mario Canseco said he does not remember this happening in previous elections where categories are more evenly split among leaders, with the Liberals taking top spot on the economy and jobs.

“I think this really shows the overpowering aspect of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Canseco. “We’ve never had an election with an incumbent premier arriving with an approval rating higher than 50 per cent. … Horgan is now regarded as someone who can handle almost everything.”

PST gambit

A week into the snap election, Wilkinson tried to move the needle of support with the largest tax cut proposal in B.C. history. 

He announced his party would eliminate the seven per cent provincial sales tax for one year and then peg it at three per cent until the economy recovered.

The idea is to provide savings to families — the Liberals estimated it at as much as $1,700 a year — and cause increased investment and purchases. The NDP’s antidote to this was to announce a $1,000-a-family pandemic recovery rebate.

But the PST elimination comes with a big hit to the province’s revenues: $7 billion in the first year and $4 billion a year when it is partly restored. It will add to an already projected $12 billion deficit this fiscal year and expected continuing deficits for years to come.

NDP spending announcements — including the $1,000 rebate — will also add billions to the deficit.

But Sanjay Jeram, a Simon Fraser University political scientist, said the “bold” PST elimination policy proposal did not change support for Wilkinson and the Liberals.

“Obviously, all the pressure was on the Liberals and the Greens to try to try to break the narrative, the kind of momentum the (NDP) had. And I would say that both have somewhat, at least so far, seem to have failed,” said Jeram.

Similarly, a pitch to open up ICBC’s monopoly on auto insurance to private companies in the hopes of lowering rates appears to have failed to resonate with the public.

While the NDP’s handling of ICBC has not been without its critics — and has increased rates, particularly for some young drivers — the Liberals have been denounced for not taking steps to deal with the Crown corporations’ mounting financial problems when they were in power for 16 years.

The Liberals also carry baggage from their handling of the housing crisis when prices skyrocketed in the years before the 2017 election, say political observers.

Also on the list of items the Liberals have been criticized for is not dealing effectively with money laundering in B.C.

“For many people, I think 2017 (when 16 years of Liberal rule ended) is still too fresh in their memories,” observed Jeram.

An odd position

As a result of the pandemic, the B.C. Liberals have also found themselves in the odd position of arguing that they are the better party to spend more public dollars.

It’s an unusual position for a party that has in the past blasted the NDP for their spending practices and argued they were the better fiscal managers.

Hamish Telford, a political scientist at the University of the Fraser Valley, says it may leave the Liberal’s historical core of fiscal conservatives scratching their heads and open them up to loss of votes where there are Conservative party candidates.

“(Wilkinson) wants to argue that the NDP is not doing enough. That more needs to be done to address the economic recession that we are now in. And so he is proposing to borrow a lot more money to get us out of this economic doldrums that we’re in.

“And the Liberal party for 16 years under (former premiers) Gordon Campbell and Christy Clark and finance ministers like Mike de Jong stood for doing less and lowering debt and deficits,” said Telford.

Wilkinson has also faced criticism over his handling of sexist comments by B.C. Liberal Jane Thornthwaite towards NDP candidate Bowinn Ma, and controversy involving LGBTQ+ rights and two Fraser Valley Liberal candidates.

These controversies have hurt Wilkinson in a couple of ways, said Telford.

Firstly, it has derailed his message, forcing him to answer questions about the controversies rather than focus on his policies.

Secondly, with the NDP polling so high, it directly puts normally safe Liberal seats, such as Thornthwaite’s North Vancouver-Seymour riding, in jeopardy. It doesn’t help the Liberals’ prospects in Metro Vancouver, for example, in ridings such as Vancouver-False Creek where Liberal incumbent Sam Sullivan’s seat is at risk of falling, said Telford.

It could also put Fraser Valley ridings that were considered safe for the Liberals in jeopardy, he said.

Of 14 ridings that are key to an NDP majority identified by Postmedia, in 12 of them the NDP have a safe seat, are likely to win or voters are leaning toward the NDP, according to 338Canada.com.

“If these other ridings fall, if (the Liberals) lose ridings in the valley, if they lose North Vancouver-Seymour, you know, this could be an NDP landslide,” said Telford.

Other political observers believe despite the commanding NDP lead in the polls, the seat count will be closer.

“I don’t think (the Liberals) are in danger of being obliterated. I think they may lose a few seats. But I think they’re still going to be where you’d expect,” said Jeram, the SFU political scientist.

Return to minority?

Furstenau has made a pitch several times that voters should place their support behind the Greens to return another minority government.

She says minority governments produce better, more co-operative governments.

While pundits say she scored some points in the televised debate against Horgan and Wilkinson, the question remains whether the Greens can gain enough support to win any more seats or simply hold the three seats they have on Vancouver Island.

Johnston, the UBC political scientist, said Furstenau very smartly made an argument during the debate that if you want a harmonious legislature, you need to vote for the Greens.

The question is, did enough people watch the debate or follow coverage of the debate to have Furstenau’s impression make a difference in how they vote, noted Johnston.

And then there’s the issue of whether people have already voted with the use of mail-in ballots and can’t change their vote if they wanted to, he said.

Nearly 700,000 mail-in ballots have been requested and as of mid-week Elections B.C. had received 138,000 of those ballots.

With a week to go, said Johnston, all that is left is for the parties to reinforce their messages.

ghoekstra@postmedia.com

twitter.com/gordon_hoekstra

B.C. NDP Leader John Horgan pushed his party’s affordability plan in the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows riding Friday morning, where the race between the NDP and Liberals has been close over the years.

Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows was a key riding in the last election.

In 2017, Maple-Ridge Pitt Meadows NDP candidate Lisa Beare beat BC Liberal incumbent Doug Bing by 1,800 votes after the NDP pledged to remove the tolls on the Golden Ears Bridge.

In the three elections before 2017 votes were within 1,000 between the Liberals and the NDP. In 3013, for example, B.C. Liberal Doug Bing beat the NDP’s Elizabeth Rosenau by just 620 votes.

In Maple-Ridge Mission, NDP Bob D-Eith is looking to keep his seat after he won in 2017 by just 325 votes over two-term Liberal incumbent Marc Dalton.

On Friday, Horgan pushed his party’s plan to make life more affordable, which includes a pandemic recovery benefit of up to $1,000 for middle-class and low income families, $500 for individuals, and a plan to expand the $10 a day plan and the student grant access program,

He estimates the NDP plan will save an average family of four earning $60,000 to $80,000 a year an additional $3,400 a year, but that includes the pandemic recovery benefit and assumes the families have kids that travel on public transit.

He acknowledged that not all the measures will help all families but said he thinks some will including cutting ICBC rates by $400.

At a news conference Friday, Horgan also addressed questions about a call for another Liberal candidate to be fired over a tweet praising a controversial blog by Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling.

In response to the widely-condemned blog written, BC Liberal candidate Lorraine Brett tweeted: “J.K Rowling’s best work! Thank you @jk_rowling”

Brett responded on Twitter Friday, acknowledging that in June she responded to a piece by J.K. Rowling that was based on her own personal experiences and drew much attention.

“I think it’s important to hear different ideas in a fair and open society. The BC Liberals have been unequivocal in our support for the LBGTQ community and worked hard to advance an agenda that builds a better and more tolerant British Columbia. I am running as a BC Liberal because I share these views,” said Brett.

“It seems to me a bit late and a bit of a failure of leadership on behalf of the BC Liberal Party and it does beg the question that if Mr. Throness is inappropriate, as I believe he is, then what about the other anti-LBGTQ candidates that are on the Liberal ballot? That’s the question I think voters will be asking today.”

More to come..

ticrawford@postmedia.com

Advance polls have opened across B.C., and for those who have not yet cast a ballot in the provincial election, Elections B.C. touts voting in person is a safe option.

British Columbians can visit polling stations to vote early until Oct. 21, and then again on Election Day, Oct. 24. Since the election is taking place in the midst of the global COVID-19 pandemic, Elections B.C. has worked with the provincial health officer and WorkSafeBC to develop safety plans.

“I think the process will generally be familiar, but with that pandemic layer over top of it,” said Elections B.C. spokesperson Andrew Watson.

Casting a ballot at a Surrey voting location, in the gymnasium of a church, on Thursday morning took less than five minutes and required no physical contact.

Watson said Elections B.C. has tried to choose voting places that are larger and support physical distancing and a one-way flow of foot traffic. Schools are also only being used for voting on weekends.

Although there were just a handful of people voting, there were green X’s on the ground outside the church entrance and just inside to show people where to stand if they needed to line up.

Near the door, an information officer — wearing a mask and face shield — made sure voters had identification and directed them to sanitize their hands and take a mask if they needed one before seeing a voting officer. Voters are encouraged to wear masks, but they are not required.

In previous elections, one would normally see two officials sitting next to each other at a voting station, but that has been changed. In the church gym, there were five voting stations spaced far apart around the perimeter, with one official at each.

Watson said the procedures at voting stations have also changed to reduce contact.

Voting officers in Surrey, clad in masks and sitting behind plastic screens, asked to see voting cards and identification, which were held up to the clear barrier, and then had voters make a verbal declaration that they were eligible to vote instead of signing a book.

Voters do not need to remove their masks when presenting identification. Watson said there are no security concerns on this issue because under the Election Act, people are not required to show photo ID to vote — instead, they can provide two pieces of ID that show their name, one of which must include their address.

The officers at the church handed voters ballots, which they marked behind a cardboard privacy barrier next to the voting station. People can use the pencils provided or bring their own pen or pencil.

When they were finished, voters held up the folded ballot to the voting officer to show it was the same ballot they were given, ripped off the attached stub, placed the ballot in a box and the stub in a paper bag before leaving through the designated exit.

“We encourage voters to look at their options and take advantage of the in-person opportunities, if they choose,” said Watson. “The safety measures we’ve put in place, we have a lot of confidence in them.”

Watson doesn’t expect the safety measures to lead to longer waits to vote in person.

“We’ve seen a huge uptick in vote-by-mail package requests, and we’ve added the extra day to hopefully spread traffic out over the period. So I think our expectation is that most voters will still only spend a few minutes in the voting place,” Watson said.

For those not comfortable voting in person, either in advance or on election day, there is still the option to vote by mail — although time is running out.

Voters can request a package

online

or by calling Elections B.C. As of Wednesday night, Elections B.C. had received 710,000 requests for vote-by-mail packages.

It is recommended that voters request a package by Oct. 17. After that date, people will only be able to request a vote-by-mail package from a district electoral office.

To be counted, ballots must be received by 8 p.m. on Oct. 24. They can be mailed or dropped off at any voting place, district electoral office or participating Service B.C. office. As of Wednesday night, 148,200 vote-by-mail packages had been returned, or 21 per cent of those issued.

B.C. Election 2020: Stay informed with our daily newsletter. Sign up here.

jensaltman@postmedia.com

twitter.com/jensaltman

Related

• Throness resigns from Liberals following comments on NDP contraception plan
• Vaughn Palmer: Furstenau beats Horgan hard with early-election stick

VICTORIA — B.C.’s Green leader is appealing to voters to coalesce around her party in an attempt to deny the NDP the majority that repeated polls suggest could be the outcome of the Oct. 24 provincial election.

Sonia Furstenau said British Columbians who are considering voting Green, but concerned about how that might affect the traditional fight between the B.C. Liberal and New Democratic parties, should feel safe to support her with a vote in this campaign.

“This is an election where it’s really important that if you’re inclined to vote Green, then vote Green,” she said Thursday.

“What we’ve seen in the ridings in 2017, where Andrew (Weaver), Adam (Olsen) and I were elected, is that those Green votes delivered to all of B.C. a better form of governing in this province. And that’s what’s going to be really essential.

“I hope we don’t end up with a majority on the other side of this, but if we do, I think it will be very quickly apparent that we’ve lost something incredibly valuable in how our legislature works, and that we will slide back into the kind of hyper-partisanship.”

The call for support comes after a TV leaders’ debate Tuesday and a radio debate Thursday in which Furstenau was considered by many political experts to be the winner, based on her thoughtful answers and what appeared to be a heartfelt reflection on race and white privilege.

The Greens carried that momentum into a platform launch Wednesday, which called for increases to income security, a move toward basic guaranteed income, a shift to a zero-carbon economy by 2045, rent support, equal pay legislation, small business rent subsidies and the phase out of private seniors care homes. The Greens estimate costs at $10 billion over three years.

In a wide-ranging interview with a Postmedia News editorial board Thursday, Furstenau reflected on the successes and regrets of a power-sharing arrangement that gave John Horgan’s NDP to votes needed to govern over the past 3.5 years.

Horgan had promised not to call an early election as part of the confidence and supply agreement, but broke that deal last month when he abruptly announced a snap vote.

Horgan tried to blame the Greens for not co-operating on certain legislation, but Furstenau has said he’s being dishonest and trying to rewrite history as he attempts to grab power during a public health crisis.

“He would rather have all the party power in the legislature,” she said Thursday.

“I am of course deeply disappointed. And I think voters should just ask that fundamental question — do we want to give somebody who’s motivated to call an unnecessary election out of a desire to have unlimited power in the legislature, should we give them that unlimited power? I don’t think we should.”

The Greens did achieve some successes in the power-sharing deal, with the CleanBC environmental plan, an innovation commissioner, changes to the professional reliance model for engineering reports on environmental projects, and other reforms, said Furstenau.

Yet numerous polls indicate the NDP may be on track to a majority, and the Greens face the prospect of losing their remaining two seats.

That wouldn’t be the case if B.C. has chosen to reform its electoral system in the 2018 referendum. But the public rejected the idea, with blame largely centred on the NDP governments overly complex ballot and options for reform.

“We made a mistake in how we arranged the proportion representation effort,” she said.

Upon reflection, Furstenau said it’s clear the NDP hoped electoral reform would fail so the party could end up in its current position — on the verge of winning a majority and having ultimate control of the legislature under the old system.

“When I look back on it, it does feel like it was set up not to succeed,” she said. “I would make the argument that had we succeeded in getting proportional representation, we wouldn’t be in this election right now.”

Furstenau also said she’s disappointed the NDP chose to proceed with building the Site C dam, which is now over-budget and facing myriad engineering problems.

“We thought that they would follow the evidence — that’s what they campaigned on,” she said. “I’m less naive now. I would say that the capacity to ignore evidence and to only hear the evidence that you want to hear is problematic for the NDP. And what informs their decision making is different from what informs our decision making.”

Furstenau said she looks back at the confidence and supply deal with the NDP with some elements of regret, because former Green leader Andrew Weaver was so controlling in his negotiations.

“There were a lot of a lot of moving parts, very fast moving parts in those first few weeks after the 2017 election,” she said.

“And the way that decisions were being made, I would not do that again. You know, there were times during press conferences that a B.C. Green position got put out and it hadn’t been discussed as a caucus or as a team. And I think that we could have been far more strategic, we could have been far more thoughtful, there was a lot of things that we could have done differently.

“The leader at the time very much had most of the say of what unfolded in those weeks. And I would approach things very, very differently. I am a collaborative and inclusive leader, I am, do not think that I’m imbued with any kind of special powers, because I’m a leader of a political party.”

rshaw@postmedia.com

twitter.com/robshaw_bc