Here are five things to know about B.C.'s only televised election debate
British Columbia's three main party leaders took part in the only televised debate on Wednesday night, trading barbs, criticizing their opponents' policies and making their pitch for votes.
Here are five take-aways from the debate between interim B.C. Conservative leader Lorne Doerkson, NDP Leader David Eby and Green Party Leader Emily Lowan:
Conservatives tried to bring down his government 13 times, Eby said.
Eby said neither he nor his party have been perfect while in government, but he defended his snap election call, saying he needed a stronger mandate to respond to tariff threats from the United States.
"This was not a government that was able to deliver the big swings that you and your family need government to be taking for you," he said.
Doerkson said his plan would benefit British Columbians with the lowest incomes
Doerkson said he would pay down the forecasted provincial deficit of $13.8 billion by supercharging the economy without introducing new taxes or raising existing ones.
He also defended plans to give British Columbians a tax cut, which he said would inject $2 billion into the provincial economy.
"When we give a break to business in British Columbia, they spend," he said. "They create an economy."
Top priority to advocate for a better electoral system, Lowan said.
Lowan said her party would push for election process if it held the balance of power in a minority government.
"A voting system where we're not caught between lesser evils, where we are choosing between broken promises or service cuts. And I think we can find that system in proportional representation."
Eby leaves a trail of broken promises, his opponents said.
Doerkson said B.C. residents no longer believe Eby.
"You have had a decade to try to fix what's happening in this province," Doerkson said.
Lowan noted Eby's decision to slow construction on seven long-term care projects.
"This year's election bribes are next year's broken promises."
Eby promised last week that the seven projects are back on track.
A surprise appearance by party leaders who didn't meet the threshold to take part in the debate.
CentreBC Leader Elenore Sturko and interim OneBC leader Dallas Brodie delivered taped messages near the end of Wednesday's debate. They were once caucus colleagues within the Conservatives but split off.
Sturko described her party as socially progressive and fiscally responsible, saying she would bring a centrist voice to Victoria.
Brodie said her party would push for a 25 per cent income tax cut for both individuals and corporations, while promising to end the "greed and corruption" of what she called the reconciliation industry.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 15, 2026.
By The Canadian Press | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Fry and Sim face off in Vancouver, but other mayoral candidates reject spoiler label
Vancouver mayoral candidates Ken Sim and Pete Fry view each other as their main rival in the battle for City Hall.
But while recent polling suggests the mayoral race is indeed a faceoff between incumbent Sim and two-term Green Councillor Fry, there are three other big-name candidates who reject the label of spoiler.
Kareem Allam — Sim's former chief of staff turned litigation adversary — is running with the Vancouver Liberals, which is not affiliated with the federal party.
"The pollsters don't always get it right. Municipal government is also the hardest level to poll. It's got its tricks and nuances, especially in an at-large system," he said in an interview Tuesday.
The Vancouver race culminates Saturday, when municipalities across British Columbia go to the polls.
Interest in the Vancouver race appears high. The City of Vancouver says more than 103,000 people have voted in advance, up 60 per cent from roughly 65,000 voters over five advance days in 2022.
Sim, who is campaigning for a second term as mayor with the right-of-centre ABC Vancouver, said while he would be the first to admit he didn't get everything right during his tenure, he believes he can lead the city in the right direction.
"We've gotten some pretty significant things done, but there's way more work to do," he said in an interview Wednesday.
Other candidates include Rebecca Bligh, a two-term councillor who helped get Sim elected with ABC Vancouver in 2022 and is now running with Vote Vancouver, and TEAM candidate Colleen Hardwick, a former councillor.
Allam, Hardwick and Bligh all rejected the notion their candidacies could split the centre or centre-right vote.
"The question is not left or right. The question is about who we are serving at city hall," Hardwick said Tuesday.
Bligh said she was running to govern for Vancouver's ignored middle class, and polling did not change how she campaigned.
"It's anyone's race," she said in an interview Wednesday.
Fry, son of longtime Liberal MP Hedy Fry, has acknowledged benefiting from the narrowing of the progressive field, after the withdrawals of William Azaroff from OneCity Vancouver and Stephanie Allen for COPE Vancouver.
After ending his candidacy, Azaroff appeared at City Hall with Fry, who praised him for running a serious campaign that "raised real issues" such as housing, small business and affordability.
"I think folks are excited to be able to talk up a viable alternative to Ken Sim as the mayor of Vancouver and really reset," Fry said in an interview Tuesday.
He added that Azaroff's withdrawal was recognition that he was the person best suited to defeat Sim.
Bligh said she's a progressive candidate with a centrist platform. Meanwhile, Allam said he believed he was taking votes from Sim and Fry equally.
The candidates' platforms all emphasize quality-of-life issues, including affordability and public safety. Sim's promises include a zero per cent property tax increase.
The election ballot also includes two plebiscite questions on public safety.
The non-binding questions ask voters if they're in favour of the city "strengthening its laws to forbid open-air hard drug use in public spaces," which is already illegal in B.C. The other asks if the city should ask the province to convert portions of the old St. Paul's hospital into a "secure medical facility" with 100-plus involuntary care beds.
Hardwick called the questions a "populist election tactic," while other critics said they aren't realistic.
Sim said strengthening the city health bylaw — regulating conduct such as smoking in common areas — would allow officers to issue tickets or confiscate drugs without arrests. The involuntary care question, he said, is about asking the province to fulfil its accountability to people who pose a risk to their own safety or others.
Fry said he supports managing drug use in public spaces, but differs from Sim in believing that people should be diverted to supervised consumption sites or shelters.
His platform focuses on housing, transportation and the economy. "Folks should be able to have a good life in this city, he said.
Bligh said Sim's property tax freezes protect wealthy landowners and undercut critical services. She said she would work with the federal government to leverage city-owned land and provide free transit for youth.
Hardwick said the key to livability in Vancouver is effective city planning. She said she wanted to repeal the city's official development plan and re-establish neighbourhood planning offices
Allam said he wants to bring youth back to Vancouver by improving affordability through jobs and housing, and investing in parks and community centres.
He said his platform cuts across ideologies, and distanced himself from Sim, who filed a lawsuit in May 2025 alleging Allam falsely accused him of drinking and driving.
Sim faces his own defamation lawsuit from councillor Sean Orr, filed after falsely accusing Orr of distributing illegal drugs in comments to Chinese-speaking reporters.
Trials in both cases are far off.
For now, the focus is on the ballot box.
"I think people will be surprised at the results," Allam said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 15, 2026.
By Marissa Birnie | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Health ministers set to meet in Winnipeg after Ottawa announces funding extension
Canadian health ministers meet in Winnipeg today after the federal government announced it would extend funding for mental health, addictions and home care by one year.
Federal Health Minister Marjorie Michel made the announcement on social media late Wednesday, saying the extension represents $1.2 billion in funding.
The existing funding was set to expire next year.
Manitoba Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara is to host provincial and territorial counterparts today, and Michel is to co-chair Friday's meeting.
Provincial health ministers had said they were worried about "profound and negative" effects on patients and health-care jobs if the federal funding agreements weren't renewed in this year's budget.
Provinces and territories also raised concerns about the future of the Canada Health Transfer as the federal budget states the minimum growth rate will drop to three per cent from five per cent in 2028.
Asagwara says after meeting with Michel that she has shared the unanimous concerns of health ministers and is keen to hear more on federal health funding.
"I am thrilled to be able to say that I feel Minister Michel has been listening," Asagwara said Wednesday.
"I look forward to hearing some news from the minister on this, we all do."
Linda Silas, president of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions, said funding commitments should be a priority.
She said the federal government can't lose sight of the importance of health care as it ramps up spending on defence and other priorities.
"There has to be a just balance, and we have to see our health-care system as an investment, as a human rights issue, and as proud Canadians, it's the core of our fabric, and we need to hear our prime minister speak more loudly about it."
The Canadian Medical Association said in a release Wednesday that the meeting is an important opportunity for the federal government to provide certainty on funding to provinces and territories.
The association said strong and reliable federal funding to maintain universal health care is foundational to growing Canada's economy.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 15, 2026.
By Ian Bickis | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.