B.C.’s Eby promises relief at gas pumps, while Conservative Doerkson praises pipeline

Promises to lower the cost of gasoline from B.C. New Democrat Leader David Eby and praise for a planned pipeline from Conservative interim leader Lorne Doerkson fuelled British Columbia’s snap election campaign on Thursday.

Eby’s platform for relief at the gas pumps comes in two parts: a temporary reduction of the provincial motor fuel tax by 10 cents per litre on both gasoline and diesel, and a permanent “price guard” to regulate the price at the pumps.

The leader said the measures would save the average two-car family up to $100 per month, but would also cost the provincial treasury about $250 million, with additional details forthcoming.

The fuel promise was criticized by Lorne Doerkson, the interim B.C. Conservative leader, who reminded reporters that Eby made a financial promise before the 2024 election that he didn’t keep.

“Just two years ago, there were promises made for a thousand-dollars of relief to families and to homes and to people in this province, and he failed to deliver that, and I think he needs to answer that,” Doerkson said.

Eby had promised a direct rebate of $1,000 to the average household as one of his campaign’s signature planks in the 2024 election.

In February 2025, then-finance minister Brenda Bailey said that government could not pay the so-called “grocery rebate” because of the provincial deficit.

Asked whether voters could trust his promises, Eby pointed to the elimination of the carbon tax, which he said was “probably the largest” tax cut in provincial history at $2 billion.

He acknowledged that “circumstances” changed after the 2024 election but said they’ll “make sure the tax cut actually reaches the pockets” of B.C. residents.

The NDP’s proposed measures against price gouging mirror rules that already exist in Atlantic Canada, where they have worked, he added.

“We’re going to ensure stability for gas prices, predictability and transparency,” Eby said. “These are pieces that have been missing, and as a result, British Columbians are paying too much for gas.”

Eby said Thursday that if the NDP was re-elected in the Oct. 24 election his government would ask the B.C. Utilities Commission to set the maximum price that fuel stations can charge.

It would be updated weekly as the benchmark price for crude oil fluctuates, he said.

“Yes, government needs to step up and say, ‘we’ll reduce the tax on gas in this time to support families,'” he said. “But also, government needs it to use its force. We need to use our authority. We need to use our rules to make sure that British Columbians are not gouged.”

Big oil and gas companies have been exploiting conflicts overseas to make record profits, leaving ordinary drivers and truckers paying the price every time they fill up, Eby said.

He made the announcement at a gas station in Surrey, a riding-rich area that the NDP needs to win if it’s to form government.

Doerkson spoke at a campaign event in Vancouver, where he praised the federal government’s decision to designate the Pacific Link pipeline a project of national interest.

He said his party supports a second pipeline from northern Alberta to B.C.’s southern coast, because the world desperately needs Canadian energy.

“We welcome it because British Columbia’s economy desperately needs a boost. And the events of the last few years have shown just how important this is to be self-sufficient,” Doerkson said.

Eby said during a later media availability that the province has an important role to play in the pipeline process to protect the interests of B.C. residents, “but we also recognize that our projects, our priorities, need the same level of attention from the federal government,” he said.

That is why, Eby said, his province fought so hard for the Canada-British Columbia Co-operative Prosperity Agreement announced in July.

The accord calls for federal investments worth about $20 billion into infrastructure and resource projects across B.C.

The B.C. Green Party announced a high-profile candidate on Thursday as it released its platform on the toxic drug crisis.

Former B.C. chief coroner Lisa Lapointe will run under the Green banner in Saanich South, the same riding where former Global TV reporter Richard Zussman will run for the NDP.

Lapointe was B.C.’s chief coroner for 13 years and made recommendations to save lives, some of which were rejected by the NDP government.

“I recognize that the toxic drug crisis will only be solved when politicians are willing to show leadership; when regulated alternatives are available, when voluntary treatment is available when people need it, and when people who use drugs have the same access to resources, medical care, housing, dignity and respect as anyone else,” Lapointe said in a statement issued Thursday.

She said in testimony to a B.C. Supreme Court last December at a constitutional challenge by founders of a compassion club that the NDP government ignored multiple recommendations from experts to create a safer drug supply that did not require a prescription.

The judge in that case tossed out criminal convictions for the founders this week and gave the government six months to rework the law because the act that prohibited them from selling safer drugs “criminalizes life-saving conduct” by the pair.

Lapointe’s name has not yet appeared among the 11 candidates officially running for the Greens.

CentreBC has five official candidates, while OneBC has two official candidates.

All three parties say their candidate count is higher than that, but all are under 20 each and the cut off to register candidates looms on Oct. 3.

Elections BC lists 55 official candidates for the B.C. New Democrats, while there are 45 people confirmed for the Conservatives as of Oct. 1.

Both parties say on their websites that those numbers are much higher and both appear on track to field candidates in all 93 ridings.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 1, 2026.