Close X
Saturday, November 30, 2024
ADVT 
National

B.C. NDP Leader David Eby launches election campaign a day early in key battleground

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 20 Sep, 2024 01:35 PM
  • B.C. NDP Leader David Eby launches election campaign a day early in key battleground

New Democrat Leader David Eby has launched his British Columbia election campaign a day early, making the key battle ground of Surrey his first stop. 

The fixed election date of Oct. 19 means the campaign doesn't officially start until Saturday. 

However, Eby boarded the bus on Friday with his youngest daughter, Gwen, in a baby carrier, accompanied by his wife, Cailey Lynch and their two other children. 

His NDP-orange campaign bus is covered in photos of people, with Eby standing in the centre, along with slogans that say, "action for you," "homes you can afford," and "better health care."

Both B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad and Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau spoke to municipal leaders at the annual Union of B.C. Municipalities Convention Friday, just as Eby was launching his election campaign.

Rustad told delegates that he would get rid of the carbon tax and the low carbon fuel emissions standard, saying the moves would improve affordability.

"It's making us uncompetitive. It's a huge cost structure, and the Conservative Party of British Columbia is committed to getting rid of those costs and returning that money back to people to be able to deal with the affordability," he said.

His statement comes just a week after David Eby said that if Ottawa dropped the legal requirement for carbon pricing, then his New Democrat government would also drop the tax on consumers.

Furstenau told reporters after her speech that the other party leaders are offering "a lot of fear and a lot of anger and a lot of finger pointing."

She said a minority government would mean "built-in accountability" for the party in power.

"We have a real opportunity in British Columbia in this election to not give any party all of the power, to not have a winner-take-all outcome," she said. "We see when we have majority governments in this province, they do not deliver on what they promise, but they do a whole bunch of things that they didn't promise, and they do it without being able to be held accountable by the legislature or by the people of B.C."

Furstenau said there is a disconnect between what the other provincial leaders are promising on carbon pricing and what municipalities are experiencing.

"We hear from elected representatives about the ongoing and incredibly expensive impacts of climate change-driven events. We cannot at this point backtrack on the idea that carbon pollution doesn't cost us. It costs us enormously." 

Eby spoke to local politicians on Thursday, as they presented a laundry list of concerns for the provincial government at the meeting, from homelessness to the overdose crisis and more funding to support growing pressures on municipalities. 

MORE National ARTICLES

Highway 99 overnight closure in Delta

Highway 99 overnight closure in Delta
The provincial government is warning drivers about lane closures overnight on Highway 99 in Delta. Crews will be moving a large industrial crane across the highway for the 78th-Street-Interchange construction project.

Highway 99 overnight closure in Delta

BC Hydro begins filling reservoir as Site C dam megaproject nears completion

BC Hydro begins filling reservoir as Site C dam megaproject nears completion
BC Hydro says it has begun filling the reservoir created by the massive Site C dam project in northeastern British Columbia. The provincial electric utility says in a statement that the filling of the reservoir is one of the last steps toward starting operations for the controversial dam project, located about 14 kilometres southwest of Fort St. John, B.C.

BC Hydro begins filling reservoir as Site C dam megaproject nears completion

West Coast Express commuter trains resume Monday as rail staff ordered back to work

West Coast Express commuter trains resume Monday as rail staff ordered back to work
Metro Vancouver's transit authority says the West Coast Express commuter train service shut down last week due to the Canada-wide rail stoppage will resume operations this week. TransLink issued a statement saying services will resume their normal schedules starting Monday, although there may be some delays "due to freight traffic backlog."

West Coast Express commuter trains resume Monday as rail staff ordered back to work

Canada to hit China with tariffs on electric vehicles, aluminum, steel

Canada to hit China with tariffs on electric vehicles, aluminum, steel
Canada is moving to match the United States with new tariffs on electric vehicles made in China in a bid to keep the cars from getting a significant foothold in the North American market. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau outlined the plan at the federal cabinet retreat in Halifax on Monday, promising to increase import taxes on Chinese-made EVs to 106.1 per cent on Oct. 1, up from 6.1 per cent.

Canada to hit China with tariffs on electric vehicles, aluminum, steel

Canada to restrict low-wage foreign workers, consider lower immigration targets

Canada to restrict low-wage foreign workers, consider lower immigration targets
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is urging businesses to hire Canadians as his government announces new restrictions to limit the number of low-wage temporary foreign workers in the country. Ottawa is also considering whether to reduce its annual targets for permanent residency — a potentially major shift on immigration policy for the Liberals.

Canada to restrict low-wage foreign workers, consider lower immigration targets

Canada's two major railways resume service as railroaders return to work

Canada's two major railways resume service as railroaders return to work
Trains began to trundle along the tracks of Canada's two major railways on Monday after the federal labour board ended a four-day work stoppage that snarled supply chains and upended commutes. Amid a bitter labour dispute, the Canada Industrial Relations Board on Saturday ordered Canadian National Railway Co. and Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. to resume operations and 9,300 workers to return to their posts at 12:01 a.m. ahead of binding arbitration set to begin this week.

Canada's two major railways resume service as railroaders return to work