A person takes a selfie with a sign seen outside the house of billionaire Lululemon founder Chip Wilson, in Vancouver, on Monday, October 7, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ethan Cairns
VANCOUVER – The leaders of British Columbia’s three major political parties are facing off in the only televised debate of the provincial election campaign.
NDP Leader David Eby, B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad and Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau are making their cases in a 90-minute debate that’s being moderated by Angus Reid Institute president Shachi Kurl.
The debate at CBC’s Vancouver studio is being broadcast on all major TV networks with less than two weeks to go before election day on Oct. 19.
All three leaders spent the day preparing for what could be a pivotal moment for the campaign, with the B.C. Conservatives and the NDP locked in what polls suggest will be a close race.
Supporters outside the studio cheered on the leaders as they made their way inside.
Eby arrived on the party’s election bus with wife Cailey Lynch and about two dozen supporters, Rustad was greeted by a largely youthful crowd waving blue party placards and Furstenau arrived with a handful of supporters.
At times, the NDP and B.C. Conservative supporters appeared to be in a friendly contest to out-cheer each other.
Rustad earlier today released his party’s proposals for dealing with the toxic drug crisis in the province, which include cutting wait times for voluntary treatment and creating a virtual program to connect people with addiction specialists.
He also says his party wants to redevelop and repurpose the Riverview Hospital in the Vancouver suburb of Coquitlam, a provincially-owned psychiatric institution that closed in 2012.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 8, 2024
