Eby says Conservatives acting like they’ve won B.C. election, as Doerkson fundraises

SURREY — NDP Leader David Eby says the B.C. Conservatives are behaving “as if they’ve won” the provincial election by focusing on fundraising instead of taking questions from the media in the last days of the campaign.

Final voting day is on Saturday, but interim Conservative leader Lorne Doerkson did not take questions from reporters on Tuesday and had no media availability scheduled Wednesday.

Instead, he had two fundraising events on his agenda, after five others in the past week, as the Conservatives push for donations to counter what they call NDP attack ads.

Eby said at a campaign stop in the election battleground of Surrey that Doerkson had “gone into hiding.”

“The Conservatives are conducting themselves as if they’ve won the election, but they do not deserve anybody’s vote,” he said.

The Conservatives said Doerkson would return to public campaigning on Thursday with an announcement and media availability in Metro Vancouver, followed by a rally in Surrey.

The party also said Doerkson would not take questions from media on election night.

“Should the Conservative Party of B.C. be in a position to form government, a media availability with the leader will be arranged for Sunday, Oct. 25,” the party told media outlets on Wednesday.

Surrey, with its 10 seats, will likely be crucial in the election.

Voting in the election is already well underway.

Advance voting was to close at 8 p.m. Wednesday, and Elections BC said about 711,000 people had voted in the first five days of early polling, down by about 9 per cent compared with the first five days of advance voting in 2024.

Eby said Conservatives would roll back projects important to the region, including a new tunnel under the Fraser River. The Conservatives say they will build a bridge instead.

“We are building the Massey Tunnel, not cancelling and sending people home, driving up costs and waits for drivers,” Eby said.

He said every seat in Surrey is crucial, calling it “a city that has been underappreciated and neglected by previous governments.”

During remarks at a Surrey seniors’ care home, Eby warned of health care cuts should the Conservatives come to power.

“They have committed to spending a lot of money, but they have also committed to paying for it with health care cuts, millions of dollars in health care cuts, which will make things so much more challenging,” he said.

The Conservatives have not said exactly what they would cut to achieve savings that they outline in their platform.

The party’s platform says they would fix health care in B.C. with policies including a pledge to keep rural emergency rooms and maternity wards open, via flexible staffing and a $50-million “rural health emergency fund.”

The B.C. Green Party made two announcements on Vancouver Island Wednesday.

Leader Emily Lowan said the Greens would bring in new protections for those living in housing subject to long-term leases that aren’t protected under law.

Andrew Appleton, the Green candidate in Oak Bay-Gordon Head, announced a tuition freeze and a funding overhaul for post-secondary institutions if the Greens were to form government.

Eby had appealed to Green voters on the weekend to vote New Democrat, saying a vote for the Greens could make the difference between an NDP and Conservative government.

The leader of another minor party, CentreBC’s Elenore Sturko, was asked Wednesday about strategic voting and if it could have an impact on the election.

But Sturko said her party doesn’t mesh with either the NDP or the Conservatives.

“We are fiscally responsible,” Sturko said as she referred to the NDP’s $14-billion deficit.

She said her party is socially progressive, unlike the B.C. Conservatives, who have dumped two candidates during the campaign for online remarks. One said a car that drove through a pro-Palestine protest “should have reversed” over them too, while another said Hitler killed “lots of Jews” not because he “hated them specifically” but because there were so many of them.

“We are a party that is inclusive, a party for everyone, and we’re willing to stand up for British Columbians no matter who they love, who they pray to, or where they come from,” Sturko said.

“And so, I think the choice is clear if you’re looking for a true centre party with liberal values.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2026.