British Columbia leaders offer competing economic ideas in front of business leaders

The leaders of the two major parties running in British Columbia's election pitched business leaders with infrastructure commitments, including a new shipyard and promises of tax cuts.

NDP Leader David Eby and Conservative interim leader Lorne Doerkson appeared at a Greater Vancouver Board of Trade event on Tuesday along with Green Leader Emily Lowan to speak for 10 minutes each and then take pre-selected questions in advance of the Oct. 24 election.

Eby said his party would build a new shipyard in partnership with the federal government, so new B.C. ferries and other vessels, such as icebreakers, can be built in British Columbia. 

His appearance came just hours after he faced more questions about his family's use of $10-a-day childcare. 

He said earlier Tuesday that he and wife Cailey Lynch, a doctor, didn't need the daycare discount that has only reached a minority of parents in the province.

Eby said they wanted other families to benefit after the centre switched to the subsidized rate, so they made a donation to the facility. 

While Eby initially declined to reveal the size of the donation, his campaign later said that the family will have contributed $8,000 between 2024 and the end of 2026 for both of their children who are at the facility. 

Eby promised business leaders that in addition to building a new shipyard his government would make permanent a manufacturing jobs fund worth $60 million that was announced days before he called an election. 

His government would also expand food processing opportunities across the provincial Agricultural Land Reserve.

Doerkson told the crowd that his party would supercharge the provincial economy by cutting taxes and trimming permitting times for large investments. 

He said a Conservative government would establish a 120-day approval process for capital projects worth more than $250 million, permanently cancel the proposed expansion of the provincial sales taxes, and exempt machinery, equipment and software from PST for three years.

Green Leader Emily Lowan pledged to implement a new industrial strategy that would lessen B.C.'s dependence on exploiting natural resources, while the party's proposed tax on the ultra-wealthy would help pay down the deficit and provide public services.

Bridgitte Anderson, president of the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, moderated the event and opened it by revealing the results of a survey that asked its members about their top concerns.

Anderson said 78 per cent of those who responded to the survey said the provincial economy is heading in the wrong direction, while 74 per cent expressed concerns about the deficit, which was forecast to hit $13.8 billion. 

Eby said that the challenges facing the business community are not unique to the province, and the question facing the province right now is how to get through this existential moment, referring to the trade war with the United States. 

 "We're going to stand up, we're going to protect, and we're going to build," he said. 

Standing up, he said, means in part that U.S. liquor won't be back on local shelves until there is a fair deal for the provincial forest sector. It also means standing up against U.S.-style politics coming to British Columbia, he added.

Eby said his party would also protect British Columbians against high prices by regulating profits on basic grocery items and the cost of fuel.

"But let's also be frank: the path forward for us as a province is to build," he said.

A change in government, he said, would cast doubt on projects worth $130 billion.

 "We cannot afford chaos," he said. 

Doerkson said British Columbians are ready for a change, pointing to business concerns about the economic direction of the province and the deficit. 

"We're spending a lot, but we are not seeing the results that British Columbians expect," Doerkson said. 

"Four out of five of you are not confident in the provincial government's economic strategy, and what troubles me the most of all, is more than 30 per cent (of board members) say that their businesses have considered moving outside of British Columbia."

Doerkson said Conservatives are ready to govern and will create the conditions for economic growth. 

"With a Conservative government, you will have an ally in Victoria," he said. 

Both Eby and Doerkson faced pointed questions about their financial plans. 

When asked about the deficit, Eby said his party would release a fully-costed platform and reduce the deficit over time, without giving an exact time frame. 

But the Conservatives have made billions of dollars of unfunded commitments, and that the party is on track to almost double the deficit, without citing concrete figures, Eby said. 

"The only way to achieve that and drive down the deficit is massive cuts to public services," he said. 

When Anderson asked Doerkson about his plans for the deficit without raising new taxes, he said his party would cut red tape, while fully funding health care. 

"The part that we are forgetting in this province is what happens when we create GDP and that is overlooked all the time," he said. Doerkson said two per cent growth would probably generate $11 to $12 billion worth of GDP. 

Lowan questioned both Eby's and Doerkson's focus on resource projects. 

"This is the politics of imagination and hope that is desperately needed when times feel bleak. This is not the time to hunker down in old ideas."

A televised leaders' debate is set for Wednesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 13, 2026.

By Wolfgang Depner | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.