“The NDP simply threw in the towel and let forestry workers and forestry-dependent communities suffer on their own,” he said.
The northern part of Vancouver Island typically votes NDP, b
ut Wilkinson seemed to be hoping disgruntled forestry workers would give him a boost.
“The NDP’s only response (to the strike) has been to offer money for people to leave the industry,” said B.C. Liberals candidate Norm Facey, a millworker who is running against the NDP’s Michelle Babchuk in the riding vacated by Claire Trevena.
“The B.C. Liberals offered a five-point plan to help revitalize the industry, to keep people working in the industry and keep communities thriving. All we’ve got is silence from Horgan,” he said.
The NDP also took heat in another northern riding Saturday after
saying North Coast B.C. Liberals candidate Roy Jones Jr. Cheexial, who is Haida, was not well-liked in his own community. Cullen then went on to laugh about Jones Jr.’s nickname.
Cullen apologized at the beginning of a Zoom conference Saturday, saying his comments were “inappropriate,” before going on to attack Wilkinson’s past involvement in a lawsuit against the City of Prince Rupert. As a lawyer, Wilkinson represented Sun Wave Forest Products when the company sued the city in a dispute about its mill site.
Green Leader Sonia Furstenau also took the chance to talk forestry on Saturday, with a stop in Metchosin, where she pledged to make major changes to the industry, including tenure reform, ending logging of old-growth trees in high-risk ecosystems, and generating more jobs and revenue from what is harvested.
“We are overdue for a fundamental shift in how we manage our forests,” she said. “The NDP tinkered around the edges, but refused again and again to make the much-needed changes to forestry in B.C., instead continuing with status quo policies that are disastrous for communities and the environment.”
NDP Leader John Horgan was in the B.C. Interior, where he announced a cancer treatment centre in Kamloops to eliminate the need for some patients to travel to Kelowna for treatment.
On Saturday morning, Horgan spoke with a cancer survivor who recounted how she had to get up at 6 a.m. to catch a shuttle from Kamloops to Kelowna for a 10-minute treatment before waiting three hours for the shuttle back to Kamloops. She would arrive home late in the afternoon and “collapse” from exhaustion, she said.
Horgan said the new cancer centre, which would receive $450 million in funding in the first three years, will “save countless hours and a countless amount of stress” for patients.
The B.C. Liberals are also promising to improve cancer care in Kamloops.
Both Kamloops ridings are held by the B.C. Liberals, with candidates Todd Stone and Peter Milobar hoping to retain their seats.
In the afternoon, Horgan also spent time in Merritt, Oliver and Penticton, where he discussed health care and child care, while Wilkinson was in Delta to show support for B.C.’s tourism workers. Furstenau made an appearance at the Duncan farmers’ market.
The views, opinions and positions expressed by columnists and contributors are the author’s alone. They do not inherently or expressly reflect the views, opinions and/or positions of our publication.
The B.C. provincial election will be held Oct. 24.
This is your daily campaign trail update with everything you need for Oct. 17, 2020.
This page will be updated throughout the day, with developments added as they happen.
WHERE THE LEADERS ARE TODAY
John Horgan, NDP
: The NDP leader is campaigning in Kamloops and the South Okanagan today. Horgan will make a healthcare announcement in Kamloops at 9:15 a.m. He also has scheduled stops in Merritt, Penticton and Oliver.
Andrew Wilkinson, Liberal:
The Liberal leader is on Vancouver Island today and will hold a media availability at Inland Kenworth, a heavy truck and machinery dealership, in Campbell River at 10 a.m.
Sonia Furstenau, Green:
The Green leader is in downtown Duncan this morning at a farmer’s market. Then she will hold a news conference at Witty’s Lagoon Regional Park in Victoria at 12:30 p.m.
TWEETS FROM THE TRAIL
Vaughn Palmer: Furstenau can’t blame just the NDP for failure of electoral reform https://t.co/lyyg8RrMyU
Mounties in Surrey are investigating after receiving a report of damage to Liberal candidate for Surrey-Guildford Dave Hans’ political campaign office in Surrey.
Surrey RCMP say officers received a report at around 10:15 a.m. Saturday of a broken window at 107-15380 102A Avenue in Surrey.
It was believed to have happened overnight Friday. Mounties do not have any suspects.
NDP candidate Nathan Cullen is apologizing for insensitive comments he made about B.C. Liberals candidate Roy Jones Jr. Cheexial, who is Haida, before a recent all-candidates meeting.
“He’s not well-liked — he’s Haida — in his own community,” said Cullen. “The guy’s going to get bedrock 20 per cent.”
He then went on to laugh about the Jones Jr.’s supposed nickname, saying “his name is Kinkles….”
Cullen offered the apology Saturday morning on Twitter as well as at the beginning of a media availability on Zoom.
“A story recently surfaced about some comments I made… about Roy Jones Jr., which I unreservedly apologize for. They were inappropriate.”
He said he had spoken to Jones Jr. and other Haida leadership to apologize.
Jones Jr. is the B.C. Liberals candidate for the North Coast. Cullen is the NDP candidate for the Stikine riding. Cullen faced controversy when he was chosen to represent the riding, with some saying his nomination went against the NDP’s equity policy.
In a tweet, Ellis Ross, the B.C. Liberals candidate for Skeena, called Cullen’s comments “disgusting.”
“NDP claim to be indigenous allies and champions of reconciliation but this is the worst I’ve ever heard,” he wrote. “Roy Jones Jr is a good man and a good friend. The NDP division strategy should not be allowed in our native and non native communities.”
12:30 p.m. – Greens outline plan for sustainable forestry
Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau says they would end logging of old growth forest, undertake tenure reform and give more authority to local communities and First Nations.
“We are overdue for a fundamental shift in how we manage our forests. The NDP tinkered around the edges, but refused again and again to make the much-needed changes to forestry in BC, instead continuing with status quo policies that are disastrous for communities and the environment,” she said, in a statement.
“Nowhere is the urgent need for change more apparent than in how we manage our old growth. We would take immediate action to end the logging of old growth forests in high risk ecosystems across the province. We would fully implement the recommendations of the Old Growth review panel in partnership with First Nations, and establish the funding needed for conservation and to create new opportunities for communities.”
12 p.m. – Conservative leader Trevor Bolin responds to Liberal accusations
Conservative leader Trevor Bolin has issued a statement after the Liberals shared a Workers Compensation Board report about sexual harassment at one of his stores.
“It is unfortunate that with the political fortunes of the BC Liberals collapsing, that they have chosen to turn their focus on an event that was already hard enough for the families involved,” Bolan said, Saturday.
Bolin says a staff member accused another staff member of sexual harassment, and accused his store of wrongful dismissal with the board.
An investigation occurred in which WCB was provided with all policies at the store, and procedures as well as the actions taken to investigate the complaint, he said.
“The staff member however, who was the victim, was later let go for her subsequent actions towards the General Manager. She claimed wrongful dismissal, saying she had been terminated due to the complaint. This was not true.”
He said the former staff member was dismissed for yelling at the general manager, after the internal investigation was finalized, which was being reflected in actions at the workplace and with other employees.
“At the end of the day the Workers Compensation Board found the sexual harassment complaint, against another staff member, was dealt with. A monetary fine was implemented, as was a reference letter which I completed inside the timeline set out, for the wrongful dismissal,” he said.
“The policies in place at my stores, and my own nature, stand against harassment, bullying and racism. I pride myself on the atmosphere my businesses provide to my staff, many of whom have been with me for many years.”
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.
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.
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.”
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.
“I try and improve myself every day … I take criticism as constructive, and if people are characterizing me that way I’ll absorb that and try to be better tomorrow.”
Andrew Wilkinson, Liberal:
“We have an enormous economic mountain to climb … 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.”
Sonia Furstenau, Green:
“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.”
DAILY POLL
SOCIAL MEDIA STUMPING
From Port Moody to Burnaby to Vancouver-Fraserview, we had an amazing day meeting with local candidates and small businesses. I’m so proud of our @bcliberals team and we’re going to keep working hard every single day to earn your vote. #BCpoli#BCelxn2020pic.twitter.com/6sAYDrFusd
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NDP candidate Nathan Cullen is apologizing for insensitive comments he made about B.C. Liberals candidate Roy Jones Jr. Cheexial, who is Haida, before a recent all-candidates meeting.
“He’s not well-liked — he’s Haida — in his own community,” said Cullen. “The guy’s going to get bedrock 20 per cent.”
He then went on to laugh about the Jones Jr.’s supposed nickname, saying “his name is Kinkles….”
Cullen offered the apology Saturday morning on Twitter as well as at the beginning of a media availability on Zoom.
“A story recently surfaced about some comments I made… about Roy Jones Jr., which I unreservedly apologize for. They were inappropriate.”
He said he had spoken to Jones Jr. and other Haida leadership to apologize.
Jones Jr. is the B.C. Liberals candidate for the North Coast. Cullen is the NDP candidate for the Stikine riding. Cullen faced
when he was chosen to represent the riding, with some saying his nomination went against the NDP’s equity policy.
In a tweet, Ellis Ross, the B.C. Liberals candidate for Skeena, called Cullen’s comments “disgusting.”
“NDP claim to be indigenous allies and champions of reconciliation but this is the worst I’ve ever heard,” he wrote. “Roy Jones Jr is a good man and a good friend. The NDP division strategy should not be allowed in our native and non native communities.”
DISGUSTING.NDP claim to be indigenous allies and champions of reconciliation but this is the worst I’ve ever heard. Roy Jones jr is a good man and a good friend. The NDP division strategy should not be allowed in our native and non native communities https://t.co/dCk6DohOoh
NDP candidate Nathan Cullen is apologizing for insensitive comments he made about B.C. Liberals candidate Roy Jones Jr. Cheexial, who is Haida, before a recent all-candidates meeting.
“He’s not well-liked — he’s Haida — in his own community,” said Cullen. “The guy’s going to get bedrock 20 per cent.”
He then went on to laugh about the Jones Jr.’s supposed nickname, saying “his name is Kinkles….”
Cullen offered the apology Saturday morning on Twitter as well as at the beginning of a media availability on Zoom.
“A story recently surfaced about some comments I made… about Roy Jones Jr., which I unreservedly apologize for. They were inappropriate.”
He said he had spoken to Jones Jr. and other Haida leadership to apologize.
Jones Jr. is the B.C. Liberals candidate for the North Coast. Cullen is the NDP candidate for the Stikine riding. Cullen faced
when he was chosen to represent the riding, with some saying his nomination went against the NDP’s equity policy.
In a tweet, Ellis Ross, the B.C. Liberals candidate for Skeena, called Cullen’s comments “disgusting.”
“NDP claim to be indigenous allies and champions of reconciliation but this is the worst I’ve ever heard,” he wrote. “Roy Jones Jr is a good man and a good friend. The NDP division strategy should not be allowed in our native and non native communities.”
DISGUSTING.NDP claim to be indigenous allies and champions of reconciliation but this is the worst I’ve ever heard. Roy Jones jr is a good man and a good friend. The NDP division strategy should not be allowed in our native and non native communities https://t.co/dCk6DohOoh
The riding B.C. Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson has visited the most this campaign is not one he is hoping to snatch from the NDP. Rather it’s a seat his party is desperately trying to keep: Vancouver-False Creek, a Liberal stronghold held by two-term incumbent Sam Sullivan, a former mayor of the city.
The NDP thinks the seat is prime for flipping and Leader John Horgan has been there twice. His candidate Brenda Bailey, a tech entrepreneur, has been by his side at several high-profile announcements and even co-hosted the party’s daily news conference Thursday when Horgan had no public events.
Wilkinson making five stops in this riding is one of several examples of time spent playing defence in existing seats, while an increasingly confident Horgan is on offence in some Liberal-held territories.
“L
ook at where the leaders have been going,” said Max Cameron, a UBC political scientist.
“From that, … among the ridings that the NDP hopes to pick up are several of the ridings on the Island that went Green and possibly some ridings in the Lower Mainland that they might want to take from the Liberals.”
, the NDP has the backing of about half of decided voters, the Liberals have around one-third support and the Greens just over 10 per cent. A third poll released Thursday suggests the leaders’ debate on Tuesday gave a slight boost to the Greens, but did not shift the popularity of the other two parties.
In B.C., though, we must be cautious about polls. They all incorrectly predicted the NDP’s Adrian Dix was a shoo-in for premier in 2013, yet the Liberals’ Christy Clark won.
Still, Kimberly Speers, a professor in the University of Victoria school of public administration, believes the
re is a “good possibility” the NDP is
poised to form a majority, despite the party facing initial backlash over calling an early election during a pandemic. Speers said New Brunswick’s Conservative premier, who was also riding high in the polls, faced similar criticism when he called a snap election in August, but voters still handed him a majority last month.
In B.C.’s 87-seat legislature, a party needs at least 44 seats to form a majority. In the 2017 provincial election, the Liberals took 43 and the NDP 41, but Horgan became premier by forming a coalition with the Greens, who had three seats. The coalition government provided Horgan with a bare-minimum majority.
As of Friday, the independent electoral-projection website 338Canada estimated, based on several polls, that Horgan could reap a majority of
this time to 30 for the Liberals and two for the Greens.
If the orange wave materializes, it is expected to roll through much of Metro Vancouver, Vancouver Island, B.C.’s northwestern corner and parts of the southeast. That would leave a very fractured province, with the Liberals’ seats potentially spanning from the northeastern tip through the centre of B.C. to the Interior, and leaving few MLAs in urban areas besides pockets of the North Shore, Delta, White Rock, Langley and Abbotsford.
We are still several days away from the Oct. 24 election, so the political landscape could still change.
“If the polls are to be believed, there are going to be a lot of first-time NDP voters. And some of them may chicken out on election day,” said a University of the Fraser Valley political scientist, Hamish Telford. “So the final results might be a little closer than what the polls are anticipating. On the other hand, this might be one of those sort of historic elections where one party gets decimated.”
Should the pollsters prove accurate, the NDP could pick up 10 or more additional seats. If that’s the case, which ones are in play? We spoke to political analysts and experts to compile this list:
Vancouver-False Creek
: The riding has been Liberal since it was formed in 2008, but the margins of victory have narrowed every election, and Sullivan won by just 415 votes in 2017. As density has increased in the downtown riding, the number of voters in single-family homes has being eclipsed by younger people in highrises, who may be more inclined to support NDP promises around rent, transit and the environment.
Coquitlam-Burke Mountain:
The Liberals snatched this seat from the NDP in 2017 by just 87 votes, the closest electoral finish of the last election. It seems a likely seat for the NDP flip, especially since the other two Coquitlam ridings are both orange. Wilkinson was in the riding on Thursday, and Horgan was there Sept. 29.
Richmond-Queensborough:
This was another squeaker victory for the Liberals in 2017, with former TV reporter Jas Johal winning by just 134 votes. The four Richmond seats have traditionally been safe Liberal territory but it’s possible three could switch this year. The NDP narrowed the Liberals’ margin of victory in
Richmond-Steveston
and
Richmond South Centre
in 2017, and the Liberal incumbents are not running for re-election. While 338Canada suggests the three ridings are “likely” or “leaning” NDP, Telford thinks Johal should keep his seat.
Chilliwack-Kent
: This riding has largely been a Liberal fortress, but controversial Liberal incumbent
on Thursday after comparing contraception to eugenics. Throness will remain on the ballot, but if he wins he will sit as an independent. Who will benefit from this the most isn’t clear: longtime city councillor Jason Lum who is running as an independent or NDP candidate Kelli Paddon. In the neighbouring riding of
is running for the Conservatives and could steal enough of the right-leaning vote from Liberal incumbent John Martin to allow the well-known NDP candidate, school board chair Dan Coulter, to march up the middle.
Langley:
Even though Liberal Mary Polak has held this riding since 2005, Horgan has campaigned here. Telford said many families are moving into the growing area, so it’s changing politically from “Fraser Valley conservatism to more urban,” and NDP promises to
and build affordable housing may appeal to voters. Liberal veteran Rich Coleman, who held
Langley East
since 1996, retired and has been replaced by township councillor Margaret Kunst, who has been harshly criticized for voting against a rainbow sidewalk.
, the son of the late longtime Langley-Aldergrove Conservative MP Mark Warawa, is running for the Conservatives in Langley East. “If we have a problematic Liberal and a strong Conservative, vote splitting could potentially lead to an NDP victory,” Telford said.
Oak Bay-Gordon Head:
This riding was won handily by former Green leader Andrew Weaver in 2017, but he divorced the Greens to sit as an independent and has now endorsed the NDP. Many observers believe the NDP’s popular candidate, former Victoria MP Murray Rankin, could turn it orange. Another question is whether the Greens can keep their other two seats: Leader Sonia Furstenau’s
Cowichan Valley
and Adam Olsen’s
Saanich North and the Islands
. Speers predicted they will be close races, noting both the NDP and Liberals have put up strong candidates, but believes the seats will remain Green. Cameron, though, thinks the Greens could be wiped out.
Fraser-Nicola:
Originally an NDP riding, the Liberals won it in the past two elections, although by just 500 votes in 2017. The NDP is fielding a strong candidate in First Nations lawyer Aaron Sumexheltza, although he faces some challenges after the entire Fraser-Nicola riding association resigned and
after his appointment. Wilkinson has visited this rural riding twice in an election where the leaders are not travelling very much.
Skeena
: The NDP held this riding for three terms until First Nations leader Ellis Ross won it for the Liberals in 2017, and has been a high-profile MLA fighting for economic development for the area. Wilkinson flew to Kitimat on Wednesday to support Ross, and Horgan has been in the riding twice to back his candidate, Nicole Halbauer, an Indigenous woman and former chair of a Terrace college.
Vancouver-Langara:
This riding has long been held by Liberals, and the incumbent, Michael Lee, performed well in
. And yet, the 338Canada website lists it as “NDP leaning.” Lee, along with Sullivan in Vancouver-False Creek, may face voter backlash over the delayed resignation of Throness, and Kunst remaining a candidate. This week’s Leger poll found two-thirds of respondents who live in Vancouver are less likely to support a party with candidates with homophobic and anti-LGTBQ views. Horgan has campaigned in Lee’s riding and if — and this is still a big
if —
the Liberals lose both these urban seats, it would leave Wilkinson as Vancouver’s only Liberal MLA, in Vancouver-Quilchena.
to try to retake them. Most analysts believe the NDP incumbents can hold all six, and potentially gain one more: Surrey-Cloverdale held by two-term Liberal incumbent Marvin Hunt, who will be challenged by the NDP’s Mike Starchuk, a former firefighter. Cloverdale is a fast-growing area of Surrey, where the average household income is just over $100,000 and the average age is 37, according to a City of Surrey profile.
North Vancouver-Seymour
: This riding has been dominated by Social Credit and Liberal MLAs for decades, but three-term incumbent Jane Thornthwaite had to apologize after making sexist comments about North Vancouver-Lonsdale NDP MLA Bowinn Ma. Thornthwaite could lose support from the bad publicity but also because Ma has raised the NDP’s profile on the North Shore. Ma, who snatched her riding from the Liberals in 2017, has
Of course, if the NDP forms a majority, Horgan’s power as premier will be much different. For the past 3½ years, legislation required support from the Greens and therefore he didn’t really do anything that “raised eyebrows” in the public, UBC’s Cameron said.
“If you hand the NDP a majority, what you’re doing is you’re giving them a much longer leash than they had until now. If you’re comfortable with that, by all means. If you want them on a shorter leash, maybe distribute your vote in such a way as to diminish the likelihood of that happening.”
