Tuesday October 6, 2020 | VICTORIA, BC [Last update 2:30 pm]
Profile by Island Social Trends | Mary P Brooke, Editor
Today Tuesday October 6 is Day 16(*) on the Election BC campaign trail, almost half-way through already! (*calling September 21 as Day 1, the day the election was called).
The Provincial General Election Day is on Saturday October 24. Advance voting and voting-by-mail are available. Elections BC info.
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic which requires physical distancing, most campaign activities are done remotely online, both for the media and the voter audiences.
All Candidates Meetings are posted on the Island Social Trends Events page.
BC NDP: Platform launch: Today in Vancouver NDP Leader John Horgan unveiled the BC NDP party platform which includes 154 commitments … of which” 60 are brand new and the rest building on the work we’ve already started” he told media and livestream viewers. Key points include a $1,000 one-time recovery benefit, a rent freeze until 2022, a renter’s rebate for households earning under $80,000/year (if not already receiving rental support), and free transit for children under the age of 12. A key announcement is a commitment to develop a second medical school in BC, to shore up the number of doctors in the province. With a hub-and-spokes approach, Horgan said the school would likely be based in Vancouver with outlying campuses in other areas (already there is medical training at UNBC and UVic).
Pre-launch (9:30 am post): Today BC NDP Leader John Horgan will launch the BC NDP platform at 10 am from the Pinnacle Hotel Harbourfront in downtown Vancouver. | Last night in his online town hall, NDP compared BC Liberals to the NDP: “It’s all bottom line for them, for us it’s all about people.” Yesterday Horgan said the future COVID vaccine (when and as it comes) will be “available free to every person in BC who wants it”. Also on the October 5 call was NDP candidate Adrian Dix (Health Minister during the 2017-2020 NDP government) talking about the government having developed urgent primary care centres, hiring more health-care staff, and dealing with PPE as part of the COVID pandemic crisis.
BC Liberal: Today BC Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson addressed media live on Facebook at 9:30 am, from Maple Ridge. He said that auto insurance under a BC Liberal government would be available from both private insurers as well as the no-fault system under ICBC that the NDP brought in under the Horgan government; he emphasized that the insurance rates for new and young drivers are too high which creates unaffordability for youth who need vehicles to get to work or school. Wilkinson claimed that the NDP government damaged the forestry sector, closing 45 mills temporarily and 12 mills “forever”.
BC Green Leader Sonia Furstenau today held a press conference at 12:30 pm from Douglas Park in Vancouver focussing on early childhood education, training for ECE educators, free child care for children under age 3, additional support for working parents who choose to stay home with children under age 3, and work-life balance to enable these choices.
Yesterday she issued a platform for improving the health care system, including to build an affordable and accessible mental health-care system . On Sunday Furnsteau spoke about housing affordability and food security.
A televised leaders debate will be held on Global TV on Tuesday October 13 from 6:30 to 8 pm.
