Campaigning has officially begun in British Columbia and New Brunswick as politicians hit the campaign trail over the weekend, promoting their parties’ plans for the elections.
In B.C., the election campaign period officially started on Sept. 21.
NDP Leader David Eby, whose party is currently in government, started his day at his party’s
Richmond campaign office on Sept. 21.
“I believe in the potential of British Columbia,” Eby said in a
video posted on the X platform on Sept. 20. He also defended his government’s time in office.
“We’ve added more homes per capita than any province over the last seven years. We’re building four times more rental housing than the province of Ontario. And while rents across Canada are going up, our rents provincially are finally, finally starting to come down,” he
said on Sept. 19. He added on social media, “Instead of cutting, we’re building. Instead of firing, we’re hiring. Instead of turning away, we’re listening. That’s our commitment to communities because working together is how we get the job done.”
Conservative Party of B.C. Leader John Rustad started his campaign at Vancouver’s Crab Park on Sept. 21.
The Conservatives have enjoyed a rapid rise in a short span of time since last year, overtaking the Official Opposition B.C. United, which eventually merged its campaign with the Conservatives to win against the governing NDP.
On the first official day of the campaign, Rustad
said on social media, “Here’s some things I’m going to cut: - Housing costs - Carbon Tax - ER room wait times - Killer not-so ’safe' supply drugs - Eby’s crackpipe vending machines - NDP drug dens.” He added, “Here’s some things I’m not going to cut: - Healthcare - Education - Policing - Everything else.”
Green Party leader Sonia Fursteanu said she is looking forward to meeting voters and offering an alternative to the Conservatives and NDP.
“We’re not here to play the same old political games. We’re here to put people first. The only way to do that? Elect more Green MLAs,” Furstenau said in a Sept. 21 news release.
“We’re hitting the streets, meeting voters face-to-face, and listening to what really matters to them. The BC Greens are not just a party, we’re a movement. And when people mobilize, we win.”
Recent polls have the NDP and Conservatives neck and neck. According to a Sept. 16 Leger
poll, 44 percent of voters said they’ll vote for the NDP and 42 percent said they’ll vote Conservative. Eleven percent said they’ll be voting Green.
The biggest issues for voters in the election are housing affordability, health care, inflation, rising interest rates, and the economy, Leger said.
The B.C. provincial election will be held on Oct. 19.
New Brunswick
New Brunswick’s provincial election officially got underway on Sept. 19, when Premier Blaine Higgs
met with Lt.-Gov. Brenda Murphy to formalize the election period.
The vote is scheduled for Oct. 21. If re-elected, it would be Higg’s third term in office.
Higgs, leader of the Progressive Conservatives, spent the first day of the campaign in Edmundston.
“We discussed our HST cut and the importance of having strong voices at the table in the North,” he said in a Sept. 20
post on X. He also said on Sept, 19, “Our PC Team has cut taxes, reduced the debt, supported an economic turnaround and made record investments in health care, education and infrastructure…with more to do.”
The Liberal Party of New Brunswick has made several campaign announcements since the writ was dropped, including
eliminating the provincial sales tax on electricity bills for homeowners and
cutting the tax on multi-housing construction to spur housing development.
Party leader Susan Holt also announced they would offer retention
payments to provincial nurses.
New Brunswick Green Party Leader David Coon says the other two parties have kicked “problems in healthcare, housing and climate down the road,” and that his party will “implement the solutions that are already at hand to fix the problems New Brunswick is facing.”
“I am proud to say New Brunswickers will see themselves reflected in our slate of candidates: women and men in equal numbers, indigenous people, Acadians and anglophones, immigrants, and members of the LGBTQ+ community,” Coon
said on Sept. 18.
A recent
poll found support for the provincial Liberals was slightly ahead of that for the Progressive Conservatives, with 35 percent of voters saying they will cast a ballot for the NB Liberal Party and 32 percent saying they support the Conservatives. The Green Party in New Brunswick had 10 percent of voter support.
The Canadian Press contributed to this report.
