Leaders’ debate: Eby’s $1,000 cheque never came. 1.26 million still have no family doctor. The $6.3B deficit he forecast for this year is now $13.8B.

01 The scorecard: Doerkson won three of six rows, Eby two and Lowan one

Lorne Doerkson won the debate. He won three of the six rows: accuracy, rural relevance and the backcountry. Eby won two, concrete commitments and talking about his own plan, and Lowan won one, for answering the questions most directly. Every rule is applied in the same words to all three leaders.²

Row, and the rule	Doerkson	Eby	Lowan
AccuracyEvery checkable claim rated True 1, Mostly true 0.75, Misleading 0.25, False 0; the mean, out of 100. Unverifiable claims not scored.See the evidence	68Wins	65	59
Answered the questionFor each question put to a leader: a position on the issue asked within the first 75 words scores 1, later or half-answered 0.5, never 0; the mean, out of 100.See the evidence	67	59	73Wins
Concrete commitmentsPromises that name a specific measure and an amount, a date or an owner. Most wins.See the evidence	2	7Wins	5
Own plan, not attacksShare of each leader’s words about his or her own plan and record, against words about opponents.See the evidence	47%	61%Wins	53%
Rural, resource and recreationMinutes of speaking turns that dealt with forestry, mills, rural B.C., mining, LNG, resource revenue, land tenure or recreation.See the evidence	8.7 minWins	3.4 min	4.5 min
On the backcountry (record)Five evidence tests from our public-land scoring: commitment, owner, money, Hansard record, life on the land. Out of 5.See the evidence	3.5Wins	2.5	1.5
Rows wonEqual weights, decided before scoring: a debate has no one purpose that should count double.	3 of 6	2 of 6	1 of 6

Accuracy: Doerkson 68, Eby 65, Lowan 59. Two re-checks since the first count moved the scores: the Health Minister’s own April 2026 figure of 1,259,425 people without a family doctor makes Doerkson’s and Lowan’s “1.2 million” true, and Eby’s line that “the idea that we cancelled social housing is simply not the situation” was added to the ledger and rated Misleading.³

02 The claims that did the most damage to the truth

Every claim below links to the moment in the broadcast, so you can watch it said.

David EbyMisleading1:24:47 ▶ Watch

“In August, as a result, zero reports of extortion.”

Surrey Police statistics dated 17 August showed two extortion threats and one extortion-related shooting so far that month. The fall from 44 threats in January is real; “zero” is not.⁵

David EbyMisleading0:07:42 ▶ Watch

“13 times the conservatives tried to bring down our government, including three weeks after the last election.”

The first Conservative non-confidence motion came on 26 February 2025, four months after the election. Budget and supply votes are confidence votes too, and the Conservatives opposed them, but no published count reaches 13.⁶

Emily LowanFalse0:28:17 ▶ Watch

“The vast majority of that revenue comes from individuals making $190,000.”

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives’ modelling puts 54% of the new revenue on people earning over $1 million and 86% on the top 1%.³

Emily LowanFalse1:36:01 ▶ Watch

The 2017 referendum Eby wrote “narrowly failed,” and “the last time we were in a surplus, it was in a green coalition.”

The referendum was in 2018 and lost 61.3% to 38.7%, and B.C. ran surpluses under the NDP majority in 2021/22 and 2022/23.³

Lorne DoerksonMisleading1:41:09 ▶ Watch

“42,000 people have lost their jobs in the last two months.”

Total employment fell by 25,700 in August and September. Full-time employment did fall by about 42,700, partly offset by part-time gains.³

03 What Eby said on stage, and what his government did

Eby has led the province since November 2022 and sat in its cabinet since 2017, so his lines on Wednesday can be set against a record. These are the sharpest contrasts we could document. Each is his own words, with the record beside them.

David Eby1:00:08 ▶ Watch

“We connected 400,000 people with the family doctor. The registry filled up again. We have to recruit more doctors.”

The record

In the 2024 campaign the NDP promised that “everyone who wants a family doctor or nurse practitioner gets one by the end of 2025.” In April 2026 his own health minister counted 1,259,425 British Columbians without one. Eby did not mention the promise.⁷

David EbyMisleading0:53:47 ▶ Watch

“The idea that we cancelled social housing is simply not the situation.”

The record

Budget 2026 took $1.4 billion out of the housing strategy, cancelled the open intake of the Community Housing Fund and postponed future intakes indefinitely. Metro Vancouver counts 486 units cancelled and 1,484 paused. Projects already approved continue.⁸

David Eby1:10:45 ▶ Watch

“Now that we standardized and ensured the health authorities are in hand and deliver not just those, but another one as well.”

The record

His Budget 2026 paused seven long-term care homes with 1,223 beds. In April his government cancelled the construction contracts for four of them. Restarting them is a campaign promise made on 5 October, not a government decision.⁹

David EbyMostly true0:29:26 ▶ Watch

“British Columbia has the lowest income tax for people who earn under $150,000 in all of Canada.”

The record

That is close to true, and it is true after his own Budget 2026 raised the lowest income tax rate from 5.06% to 5.60% and froze the brackets to 2030. The government’s own estimate is that 60% of filers pay more this year.¹⁰

David Eby1:45:06 ▶ Watch

“We always will be committed to fight for you on groceries and drop the costs of you and your family.”

The record

In 2024 he promised every household a $1,000 grocery rebate. His government cancelled it in February 2025, before a dollar was paid, citing U.S. tariffs.¹¹

David Eby0:24:58 ▶ Watch

“I’ll make sure we grow the economy, address wasteful spending.”

The record

He inherited a surplus in 2022/23, first reported at $704 million and since restated to $960 million. His government now forecasts a record $13.8 billion deficit for 2026/27, after a spreadsheet error overstated natural gas revenue by $1.46 billion over five years and after several credit-rating downgrades.¹²

David EbyMostly true0:35:04 ▶ Watch

“We’ve created tens of thousands of spaces, 60,000, actually … Our proposal is simple. To expand it.”

The record

His government counts “nearly 59,000” more licensed spaces since 2018. Its Budget 2026 also paused the enrolment of new providers in the $10-a-day program.¹³

David Eby0:44:48 ▶ Watch

“It’s not just LNG. You know, we’ve approved nine mines.” He did not say forest, forestry, logging or mill once.

The record he did not mention

On his watch the timber harvest fell from 47.7 to 37.7 million m³ (2022–2025) and forest-sector GDP from $6.19 billion to $5.04 billion. His government’s 45-million-m³ harvest goal is still listed as “in progress.” The industry counts at least 21 lumber mills closed since 2023. Tariffs and prices are part of it, and the steepest fall came in 2023.¹⁴

04 The money: the costed plan, and the record behind it

Eby said twice that his platform is costed. 0:36:36 ▶ Watch 0:54:34 ▶ Watch

Our view. On these numbers, the spending is out of control. The deficit has grown every year since he took office, from a surplus to a record $13.8 billion. Taxpayer-supported debt has more than doubled since 2022/23, and debt-to-GDP has gone from 15% to 30%. Interest is now the fourth-largest line in the budget, at a forecast $6.3 billion. Spending has grown 93% since 2017/18 against 51% for population and prices combined. The government’s stated reasons are public-service growth for “improvements in services” in health care and education, and this year wildfire costs, refundable tax credits and U.S. tariffs.

Doerkson’s fiscal claims, against the data

Lorne DoerksonUnverifiable0:28:32 ▶ Watch

The NDP has brought in 40 new taxes.

A Conservative talking point (“raised taxes more than 40 times”) with no independent count; increases are not all new taxes.^↗

Lorne DoerksonMostly true0:28:32 ▶ Watch

Eby promised a $7 billion deficit and it is at 14.

Budget 2024 forecast $7.9 billion for 2024/25; the 2026/27 forecast is now $13.8 billion.^↗

Lorne DoerksonMostly true0:45:46 ▶ Watch

Direct revenue from the forest industry could be likened to the tobacco tax.

Budget 2026: forest revenue $521 million against tobacco tax $311 million, down from $1.89 billion in forest revenue in 2021/22. Close, not equal.^↗

Lorne DoerksonMisleading0:46:32 ▶ Watch

The only plan Eby has put forth is to tax residents more, with a new tax aimed at doctors.

The NDP plan raises the rate on all incomes over $190,405 from 2027 and adds a bracket over $1 million; it is not aimed at doctors, and the same plan includes a $280 million gas-tax suspension and about $1.26 billion a year of new spending.^↗

Lorne DoerksonMisleading0:55:26 ▶ Watch

Seniors who age in place face a new punitive tax.

Budget 2026 raised the interest on property-tax deferment loans to prime plus 2% compounded. It costs seniors more, but it is loan interest, not a tax.^↗

Lorne DoerksonMisleading0:57:08 ▶ Watch

The NDP put PST on wool socks.

Budget 2026 ended the PST exemption on yarn and fabric for making clothing; finished adult socks were already taxable.^↗

Lorne DoerksonMisleading1:41:09 ▶ Watch

42,000 people have lost their jobs in the last two months.

Total employment fell 25,700 in August and September. The 42,000 matches full-time losses only, partly offset by part-time gains.^↗

05 The economy they did not talk about: outdoor recreation now out-earns forestry

The leaders spent about 26 minutes on the deficit, taxes and the cost of living. Not one of them mentioned the part of the rural economy that is still growing. In 2024 outdoor recreation added $6.65 billion to B.C.’s economy and supported about 86,000 direct jobs, more than the whole forest sector’s $5.44 billion that year, and the forest sector fell again in 2025.¹⁵¹⁴

Words usedDoerksonEbyLowan

Deficit or debt113

Tax, taxes, taxation27159

Cost of living, afford099

Groceries183

Doctor(s)338

Housing or homes235416

Jobs534

Forestry, forest, mills, logging1102

Mines, mining, LNG3113

Police, crime, extortion563

Rural, the North, the Interior130

Public land, backcountry, recreation, parks, hunting, fishing, trails, tourism110

Named an opponent or the opponent’s party413517

What the counts show. Eby’s attention went to housing, groceries and the cost of living, and on the resource economy to mines and LNG (11 mentions) rather than forestry (0), while the mills closed. Doerkson talked about taxes more than anyone (27) and was the only leader to keep returning to forestry (11), but he never said “cost of living” or “afford.” Doerkson also named his opponents most often (41 times). On public land, the backcountry and recreation, the three said almost nothing at all.

06 Every claim, rated

All 80 claims we checked, with the reason and the source for each. Each timestamp opens the broadcast at that moment.³

Lorne DoerksonAccuracy 68 · 21 claimsDavid EbyAccuracy 65 · 39 claimsEmily LowanAccuracy 59 · 20 claims

Lorne DoerksonAccuracy 68/100 · 21 claims checked, 17 rated

Time	What was said	Rating	Why, and the source
0:11:10 ▶ Watch	Some of the campaign director’s posts were as long as two years ago.	Unverifiable	The dates of the posts Eby cited were not found.↗
0:16:58 ▶ Watch	An NDP MLA left Eby’s caucus because she did not feel safe or supported.	True	Selina Robinson quit the caucus in March 2024 citing antisemitism; Eby said she “did not feel safe.”↗
0:16:58 ▶ Watch	Eby wrote a book about how to sue the police.	Misleading	He wrote the BC Civil Liberties Association’s Arrest Handbook, a guide to rights on arrest, not a guide to suing police.↗
0:16:58 ▶ Watch	The past attorney general has racism on her social media; an NDP candidate is denouncing police.	Unverifiable	No reporting of either was found. Niki Sharma is the sitting Attorney General.↗
0:19:59 ▶ Watch	The NDP’s antisemitism training came only after Robinson left.	Mostly true	Training was refused before she left; any later training is undocumented.↗
0:28:32 ▶ Watch	The NDP has brought in 40 new taxes.	Unverifiable	A Conservative talking point (“raised taxes more than 40 times”) with no independent count; increases are not all new taxes.↗
0:28:32 ▶ Watch	Eby promised a $7 billion deficit and it is at 14.	Mostly true	Budget 2024 forecast $7.9 billion for 2024/25; the 2026/27 forecast is now $13.8 billion.↗
0:31:14 ▶ Watch	Eby has been running this province for a decade.	Mostly true	The NDP has governed since July 2017 and Eby has been premier since November 2022.↗
0:42:05 ▶ Watch	ICBC is making money now that is not going back to drivers.	Mostly true	ICBC earned $1.5 billion in 2025/26; the last rebate was in 2024, though basic rates are frozen to 2027.↗
0:45:28 ▶ Watch	You watched forestry collapse in this province.	Mostly true	At least 21 mills closed since 2023; the allowable cut fell from about 50 to 35 million cubic metres. “Collapse” is rhetorical but the decline is severe.↗
0:45:46 ▶ Watch	Direct revenue from the forest industry could be likened to the tobacco tax.	Mostly true	Budget 2026: forest revenue $521 million against tobacco tax $311 million, down from $1.89 billion in forest revenue in 2021/22. Close, not equal.↗
0:46:32 ▶ Watch	The only plan Eby has put forth is to tax residents more, with a new tax aimed at doctors.	Misleading	The NDP plan raises the rate on all incomes over $190,405 from 2027 and adds a bracket over $1 million; it is not aimed at doctors, and the same plan includes a $280 million gas-tax suspension and about $1.26 billion a year of new spending.↗
0:55:26 ▶ Watch	Seniors who age in place face a new punitive tax.	Misleading	Budget 2026 raised the interest on property-tax deferment loans to prime plus 2% compounded. It costs seniors more, but it is loan interest, not a tax.↗
0:57:08 ▶ Watch	The NDP put PST on wool socks.	Misleading	Budget 2026 ended the PST exemption on yarn and fabric for making clothing; finished adult socks were already taxable.↗
1:01:46 ▶ Watch	The Ashcroft hospital is no longer a hospital; it is now an urgent care centre.	True	Interior Health converted it to an urgent and primary care centre in September 2022.↗
1:15:06 ▶ Watch	There are issues with docks in Pender Harbour.	True	The shíshálh–Province dock management plan covering about 330 private docks has been in dispute since 2024.↗
1:20:53 ▶ Watch	Fish Lake was turned down by the federal government.	True	Ottawa rejected Prosperity in 2010 and New Prosperity in 2014; the courts upheld the rejection.↗
1:23:16 ▶ Watch	A visitor was pushed into traffic; gunfire in a restaurant.	Unverifiable	No coverage of either October 2026 event was found; the search index may lag.↗
1:41:09 ▶ Watch	42,000 people have lost their jobs in the last two months.	Misleading	Total employment fell 25,700 in August and September. The 42,000 matches full-time losses only, partly offset by part-time gains.↗
1:42:51 ▶ Watch	People earning under $32,000 will pay no provincial tax under his plan.	Mostly true	The plan raises the basic personal amount to $32,000, so they would pay no provincial income tax; the full $1,000 saving reaches only earners above about $40,000.↗
1:46:04 ▶ Watch	1.2 million people are without doctors.	True	The Health Minister told the legislature that 1,259,425 British Columbians had no family doctor or nurse practitioner as of April 2026.↗

David EbyAccuracy 65/100 · 39 claims checked, 28 rated

Time	What was said	Rating	Why, and the source
0:06:09 ▶ Watch	With a one-seat majority, once the Speaker is appointed the House is tied.	Mostly true	47 NDP, 44 Conservative, 2 Green; with an NDP Speaker the sides sit 46 to 46 only when the Greens vote with the Opposition. The Speaker cast an exceptional number of deciding votes.↗
0:06:09 ▶ Watch	NDP members voted from hospital beds, including Joan Phillip, dying of cancer, at 4:30 a.m., and Darlene Rotchford with a newborn.	Mostly true	Rotchford voted hours after giving birth and Phillip voted remotely while seriously ill (she died 28 Aug 2026). Reports give sepsis, not cancer, and no 4:30 a.m. vote was found.↗
0:07:42 ▶ Watch	The Conservatives tried 13 times to bring the government down, including three weeks after the last election.	Misleading	The first Conservative non-confidence motion came on 26 February 2025, four months after the election, not three weeks. Budget and supply votes are also confidence votes, and the Conservatives opposed them, but no published count reaches 13.↗
0:16:14 ▶ Watch	The Conservative campaign director called New York’s mayor a “jihadist mayor” and posted “suicidal empathy” three weeks ago.	Unverifiable	Coverage confirms a deleted post attacking Islam; no source for these two posts or their dates was found.↗
0:17:35 ▶ Watch	Doerkson dodged the media for five days.	Unverifiable	No source establishes a five-day absence.↗
0:17:48 ▶ Watch	The Chilliwack candidate told Elenore Sturko she was immoral for being gay.	Misleading	No report of that exchange was found. On record: Heather Maahs hosted a group that calls homosexuality immoral at the legislature, and called same-sex content in school books “grooming” in 2022.↗
0:18:53 ▶ Watch	Every NDP MLA goes through antisemitism training.	Unverifiable	No public record found; in 2024 the Premier’s office declined Robinson’s request for such training.↗
0:19:50 ▶ Watch	Selina Robinson made unfortunate comments about Palestine.	True	In February 2024 she called pre-1948 Palestine “a crappy piece of land with nothing on it” and apologized.↗
0:19:50 ▶ Watch	“I asked her to step down from cabinet.”	Mostly true	At the time it was framed as her resignation, which he accepted; she said she was pushed.↗
0:24:58 ▶ Watch	The previous government closed 250 schools; the NDP built or expanded 250 schools with 60,000 seats.	Misleading	Closures run 171 to 267 depending on source. The government’s own March 2026 release counts 47,000 new seats since 2017, not 60,000.↗
0:24:58 ▶ Watch	A new hospital in Fort St. James, as well as 23 other new or expanded hospitals.	Mostly true	The Fort St. James hospital replaced a 1972 building meant to be temporary. The Province counts 30 new or improved facilities since 2017, 14 complete.↗
0:24:58 ▶ Watch	The Conservatives have made $5 billion in uncosted promises.	Unverifiable	No published tally reaches $5 billion. The NDP costs the $1,000 tax cut at $2.5 billion; the total is the NDP’s own figure.↗
0:29:26 ▶ Watch	B.C. has the lowest income tax in Canada for people earning under $150,000, and the second lowest at $200,000.	Mostly true	The Finance Ministry says lowest for earners under about $149,000, even after Budget 2026. The $200,000 ranking was not confirmed.↗
0:30:04 ▶ Watch	Under the BC Liberals nine in ten care homes failed the minimum standard of one bath a week.	Misleading	The nine-in-ten figure (254 of 280 homes) is about the 3.36 hours-of-care staffing guideline, not bathing.↗
0:30:04 ▶ Watch	The BC Liberals closed whole rural hospitals.	Unverifiable	Only a union tally (71 hospitals downgraded, downsized or closed, 2002–04) was found; no primary list of closures.↗
0:35:04 ▶ Watch	The NDP created 60,000 child care spaces.	Mostly true	The Province said “nearly 59,000” in May 2026.↗
0:35:04 ▶ Watch	Heather Maahs said she wants to eliminate the child care program.	Unverifiable	She has criticized the $10-a-day model; no statement that she would eliminate it was found.↗
0:36:36 ▶ Watch	The new top-bracket tax costs someone on $200,000 less than $4 a week.	Mostly true	($200,000 − $190,405) × 2% is about $3.69 a week. It is a rate increase on existing brackets plus a new bracket over $1 million, and a platform proposal, not law.↗
0:41:54 ▶ Watch	Before no-fault, ICBC was losing a billion dollars a year with 30% rate increases slated.	Mostly true	ICBC lost $1.3 billion in 2017/18. Thirty per cent was a possibility in the 2017 EY review, which recommended 15–20%, not a scheduled increase.↗
0:43:15 ▶ Watch	The ICBC review committee heard from 144 people.	Unverifiable	No published count of presenters was found.↗
0:43:43 ▶ Watch	Car insurance in Alberta or Ontario is more than double B.C.’s.	Mostly true	An ICBC-commissioned study found Alberta higher on all 30 driver profiles and in some cases double. Average premiums tell a different story, and Ontario was not shown to be double.↗
0:44:48 ▶ Watch	LNG Canada Phase 2 will be 30% cleaner than the best facilities in the world and generate $28 billion for the Province.	Mostly true	LNG Canada projects 35% lower emissions (a company projection). Eby used $28 billion at the investment announcement; no independent source for the provincial share.↗
0:44:48 ▶ Watch	Nine mines approved in the 18 months since the critical minerals ministry was set up.	Unverifiable	No government tally of nine was found; reporting counts six major mine permits in a year.↗
0:51:09 ▶ Watch	Rents have fallen year over year for 24 months in a row.	True	The Province, citing Rentals.ca, reports a 26-month streak of B.C. rent decreases.↗
0:51:09 ▶ Watch	5,000 brand-new condos are sitting vacant with developers.	Mostly true	CMHC counted 4,376 completed unsold condo apartments in the Vancouver area in May 2026. That is Metro Vancouver, not all of B.C.↗
0:51:09 ▶ Watch	The speculation and vacancy tax opened up 10,000 homes for rent.	Mostly true	He understated it: the Province credits about 20,000 condos returned to rental, though attribution to the tax alone is contested.↗
0:53:47 ▶ Watch	“The idea that we cancelled social housing is simply not the situation.”	Misleading	Budget 2026 took $1.4 billion from the housing strategy, cancelled the open Community Housing Fund intake and postponed future intakes indefinitely; Metro Vancouver counts 486 units cancelled and about 1,500 paused. Approved projects continue.↗
0:53:47 ▶ Watch	4,000 social housing units will start or complete this year.	Unverifiable	No BC Housing or government figure for 2026 was found.↗
0:56:15 ▶ Watch	The Conservatives would get rid of the foreign buyer tax and the speculation tax, and voted to repeal them.	Misleading	No Conservative vote to repeal either was found. The finance critic called for scrapping the speculation tax in April 2026; nothing on the foreign buyer tax.↗
1:00:08 ▶ Watch	300,000 were on the family-doctor registry and the NDP connected 400,000 people.	Mostly true	About 310,000 registered at launch; about 410,000 connected since 2018 by April 2024. The counts depend on the measure.↗
1:00:08 ▶ Watch	800 American health care workers connected with jobs in B.C.	Unverifiable	The official count was 414 hires in March 2026. Only Eby’s own campaign remarks give 800.↗
1:10:45 ▶ Watch	The seven paused long-term care homes were wildly over budget.	True	Budget 2026 paused seven projects (1,223 beds); the Finance Ministry cited costs as high as $1.8 million a bed.↗
1:11:49 ▶ Watch	Health authorities proposed long-term care at $1.8 billion a bed.	Mostly true	The real figure is up to $1.8 million a bed. Both Eby and Doerkson said billion.↗
1:19:30 ▶ Watch	Fish Lake was approved in the dying days of the Clark government over First Nations’ objection; exploration was successfully challenged in court; nothing was built.	Mostly true	The exploration permit came under Clark over Tsilhqot’in objection and the mine was never built, but the Court of Appeal upheld the permit in 2019.↗
1:21:32 ▶ Watch	A record for exploration, and more mines opened than ever before in the last 18 months.	Unverifiable	Exploration spending of $751 million in 2025 is a nominal record; no source supports more mines opened than ever.↗
1:24:47 ▶ Watch	Surrey extortion: in August, zero reports.	Misleading	Surrey Police statistics dated 17 August showed two extortion threats and one extortion-related shooting so far that month. The fall from 44 threats in January is real.↗
1:27:39 ▶ Watch	Riverview closed under the BC Liberals.	Mostly true	It closed in 2012 under the Liberals; the wind-down began under the NDP in the 1990s.↗
1:32:55 ▶ Watch	Doerkson voted for an act literally called an act to repeal the Human Rights Code.	Mostly true	The Conservative caucus, Doerkson included, voted for first reading of OneBC’s Human Rights Code Repeal Act in February 2026. It was a first-reading vote, not a vote to pass it.↗
1:43:31 ▶ Watch	Doerkson wrote a secret letter to trial lawyers; his plan would double rates.	Mostly true	His 29 September letter promising to restore the right to sue was leaked by the ICBC workers’ union. “Double” is an NDP projection.↗

Emily LowanAccuracy 59/100 · 20 claims checked, 20 rated

Time	What was said	Rating	Why, and the source
0:23:23 ▶ Watch	Resource industries are down to 7% of GDP and 3% of jobs.	Mostly true	Plausible for primary extraction alone; broader measures put it at 11%. She called them revenues; they are GDP and job shares.↗
0:23:23 ▶ Watch	Lottery and liquor bring in more revenue than LNG.	True	Budget 2026: gas royalties $942 million against lottery $1.27 billion and liquor $950 million.↗
0:26:31 ▶ Watch	The NDP promised 50% of resource royalties and captures 11% on gas, a $3-billion-a-year gulf that LNG corporations walked off with.	Misleading	Treaty 8 chiefs estimate 11–14% under the new regime, which takes effect in 2027. No source for $3 billion a year, and royalties are paid by gas producers, not LNG plants.↗
0:28:17 ▶ Watch	The vast majority of the NDP tax’s revenue comes from people making $190,000.	False	CCPA modelling: people earning over $1 million pay 54% of the new revenue, and the top 1% pay 86%.↗
0:29:55 ▶ Watch	The NDP tax raises $225 million next year.	True	The NDP projects $225 million in 2026/27, rising to $925 million the year after.↗
0:33:28 ▶ Watch	70,000 workers leave B.C. every year because of the cost of living.	Misleading	Gross out-migration is about 45,000–65,000 a year and net migration has been positive for three quarters; nothing ties all leavers to cost of living.↗
0:33:28 ▶ Watch	Wealth taxes in Spain, Sweden and Massachusetts show the ultrawealthy don’t leave.	Misleading	Sweden abolished its wealth tax in 2007 and Massachusetts taxes income, not wealth. The evidence on flight is mixed.↗
0:42:59 ▶ Watch	Calling the election paused the ICBC review panel.	Mostly true	The committee’s work stopped at dissolution; it ended and must be reappointed.↗
0:43:56 ▶ Watch	The NDP bets on fracked gas projects owned by American corporations backed by firms in Trump’s inner circle.	Misleading	True of Ksi Lisims (Houston-based Western LNG, backed by Blackstone); LNG Canada’s owners are not American.↗
0:46:16 ▶ Watch	LNG Canada Phase 2 will generate 150 jobs.	Misleading	About 90 permanent jobs plus 150 contractor roles, and up to 4,000 at peak construction.↗
0:49:21 ▶ Watch	A third of British Columbians are renters.	True	About 33% of B.C. households rented in the 2021 Census.↗
0:49:21 ▶ Watch	Vacancy control was brought in by the Barrett government in the 1970s.	Mostly true	The Barrett NDP passed rent controls tied to the unit in 1974; they ended in the early 1980s.↗
0:52:32 ▶ Watch	Budget 2026 cancelled the $1.4 billion Community Housing Fund.	Mostly true	$1.4 billion was reallocated; the current intake was cancelled and future intakes postponed. Approved projects continue.↗
0:58:23 ▶ Watch	In 2024 Eby promised everyone would have access to a family doctor.	Mostly true	He said everyone who wanted one would have one by the end of 2025 “at the pace we are going.”↗
0:58:23 ▶ Watch	1.2 million people do not have a family doctor.	True	The Health Minister told the legislature that 1,259,425 British Columbians had no family doctor or nurse practitioner as of April 2026.↗
1:10:09 ▶ Watch	Eby cancelled seven long-term care homes this year, including Squamish.	Mostly true	Seven were paused in Budget 2026 and four construction contracts were cancelled; Squamish is paused, not cancelled.↗
1:26:17 ▶ Watch	The B.C. Supreme Court just ruled the NDP’s involuntary care plan unconstitutional.	Misleading	The July 2026 ruling struck down the Mental Health Act’s forced-treatment provisions, a long-standing law, not the NDP’s new expansion specifically.↗
1:31:39 ▶ Watch	Green candidate Lisa Lapointe was chief coroner for 13 years.	Mostly true	She retired in 2024 after 13 years. Bonnie Henry has backed safer supply but has not endorsed the Green plan.↗
1:36:01 ▶ Watch	The 2017 referendum Eby wrote narrowly failed, and the last surplus came under a Green coalition.	False	The referendum was in 2018 and lost 61.3% to 38.7%. B.C. also ran surpluses under the NDP majority in 2021/22 and 2022/23.↗
1:41:46 ▶ Watch	Eby’s $1,000 grocery rebate cheque never came.	True	Promised in the 2024 platform and cancelled in February 2025.↗

07 Where the time went

81.5 minutes from the three leaders; 21.2 from the moderator

Doerkson

29.7 min

Eby

30.4 min

Lowan

21.4 min

08 Conduct: Doerkson kept his campaign chief, and Eby padded his attacks with unsupported claims

0:03:53–0:20:49 ▶ Watch · Doerkson 4.8 · Eby 4.6 · Lowan 2.4 min · Doerkson held the floor longest

The moment

David Eby0:18:53 ▶ Watch

“Anti-semitism is unacceptable. Every one of our MLAs goes through anti-semitism training.”

No public record of that training exists, and Selina Robinson says the Premier’s office turned down her 2024 request for caucus-wide antisemitism training. Asked twice whether the training came before or after she left, Eby never said.

Eby’s case for the snap election leaned on numbers that do not hold. He said the Conservatives tried “13 times” to bring down the government, “including three weeks after the last election.” The first Conservative non-confidence motion came on 26 February 2025, four months after the vote, and no published count reaches 13.^↗ His “tied” legislature is closer to the truth, but the House split 46 to 46 only when the two Greens sided with the Opposition.^↗ He also said Joan Phillip was “dying of cancer” when she voted at 4:30 a.m.; reports give sepsis as the illness, and no 4:30 a.m. vote was found.^↗ Asked twice why the election was anything but a power grab and why he overrode municipal objections, he opened with an “existential moment” and then with why he “signed up for politics.”^↗

Doerkson’s answer on extremism was to keep the campaign director who posted “F” Islam. Asked whether she would stay, he replied “she is,” after Eby had publicly asked him to remove her.^↗ His counterattacks did not hold either. He said Eby “wrote a book about how to sue the police”; the book is the BC Civil Liberties Association’s Arrest Handbook, a guide to rights on arrest.^↗ He accused “the past attorney general” of racism on social media, but no reporting of that was found, and Niki Sharma is the sitting Attorney General.^↗ Eby asked him three times whether calling a gay colleague immoral was hate before he said “I would see that as hate for certain.”^↗

Eby’s own record on antisemitism was the weaker ground. Robinson quit caucus in March 2024 and said the Premier’s office had rebuffed her request for antisemitism and anti-Islamophobia training for all MLAs.^↗ Eby said on stage that he “asked her to step down from cabinet”; at the time it was presented as a resignation he accepted, and she said she was pushed.^↗ His attack on Chilliwack candidate Heather Maahs also went past the record: no report shows her telling Elenore Sturko she was immoral for being gay, although Maahs did host a group at the legislature that calls homosexuality immoral and called same-sex content in school books “grooming” in 2022.^↗

13 Eby’s count of Conservative attempts to topple his government; the first non-confidence motion came four months after the election, and no published tally reaches 13.

David Eby0:07:42 ▶ Watch

“13 times the conservatives tried to bring down our government, including three weeks after the last election.”

The record

The first Conservative non-confidence motion was on 26 February 2025, about four months after the October 2024 election. No published tally of confidence votes reaches 13.^↗

David Eby0:17:48 ▶ Watch

“Your candidate in Chilliwack confronted a fellow MLA, her colleague, Elenore Sturko, and told her that she was immoral for being gay.”

The record

No report of that exchange was found. On record, Heather Maahs hosted a group that calls homosexuality immoral at the legislature and called same-sex content in school books “grooming” in 2022.^↗

Lorne Doerkson0:16:58 ▶ Watch

“You wrote a book about how to sue the police.”

The record

Eby wrote the BC Civil Liberties Association’s Arrest Handbook, a guide to a person’s rights on arrest, not a guide to suing police.^↗

What was dodged

• Eby on Why the snap election is not an opportunistic power grab. He opened with an “existential moment” and reached the one-seat-majority argument only later.
• Eby on Why overriding municipal objections is leadership, not a failure to listen. He talked about why he entered politics and needing a strong mandate, and never addressed the municipal elections or the voter confusion.
• Doerkson on Why voters should believe he is ready to be premier. He spent his opening on thanks and nerves, and gave his case for readiness only at the end.
• Lowan on What policy she would give up to make a minority legislature work. She named proportional representation as a priority to win but no policy she would sacrifice.

Every rated claim in this section

• Eby0:06:09 ▶ WatchMostly true
  With a one-seat majority, once the Speaker is appointed the House is tied.
• Eby0:06:09 ▶ WatchMostly true
  NDP members voted from hospital beds, including Joan Phillip, dying of cancer, at 4:30 a.m., and Darlene Rotchford with a newborn.
• Eby0:07:42 ▶ WatchMisleading
  The Conservatives tried 13 times to bring the government down, including three weeks after the last election.
• Doerkson0:11:10 ▶ WatchUnverifiable
  Some of the campaign director’s posts were as long as two years ago.
• Eby0:16:14 ▶ WatchUnverifiable
  The Conservative campaign director called New York’s mayor a “jihadist mayor” and posted “suicidal empathy” three weeks ago.
• Doerkson0:16:58 ▶ WatchTrue
  An NDP MLA left Eby’s caucus because she did not feel safe or supported.
• Doerkson0:16:58 ▶ WatchMisleading
  Eby wrote a book about how to sue the police.
• Doerkson0:16:58 ▶ WatchUnverifiable
  The past attorney general has racism on her social media; an NDP candidate is denouncing police.
• Eby0:17:35 ▶ WatchUnverifiable
  Doerkson dodged the media for five days.
• Eby0:17:48 ▶ WatchMisleading
  The Chilliwack candidate told Elenore Sturko she was immoral for being gay.
• Eby0:18:53 ▶ WatchUnverifiable
  Every NDP MLA goes through antisemitism training.
• Eby0:19:50 ▶ WatchTrue
  Selina Robinson made unfortunate comments about Palestine.
• Eby0:19:50 ▶ WatchMostly true
  “I asked her to step down from cabinet.”
• Doerkson0:19:59 ▶ WatchMostly true
  The NDP’s antisemitism training came only after Robinson left.

Verdict. Eby came out worse on the record: his justification for the election and two of his sharpest attacks rest on claims the record does not support, though Doerkson kept a campaign director whose posts he could not defend on their merits.

09 Deficit: Eby’s own costing still leaves a $12B deficit in 2028/29; Doerkson named no specific cut

0:20:49–0:31:33 ▶ Watch · Doerkson 2.4 · Eby 2.9 · Lowan 3.2 min · Lowan held the floor longest

The moment

David Eby0:24:58 ▶ Watch

“The so-called balanced budgets that the previous government delivered were balanced on the backs of British Columbians, and we will never do that.”

The costing his party released that day keeps the deficit at $11.97 billion in 2028/29 and names no year of balance. When Kurl asked how long it would take to erase the deficit, he gave no date.

Asked where the money went, Eby pointed to schools and hospitals, and overstated both. He claimed 60,000 new school seats; his government’s own March 2026 release counts 47,000 since 2017.^↗ The spending record is larger than any building list. From 2017/18 to the 2026/27 forecast, provincial expense rose 93.4% while population and inflation together rose 50.5%, so real spending per person is up 28.5%. The deficit is now forecast at a record $13.759 billion, and taxpayer-supported debt at $141.1 billion, 30.1% of GDP.^↗ The current-year figure grew by $450 million at the first quarter, partly because of a spreadsheet currency error that overstated gas royalties by $1.46 billion over five years.^↗ S&P cut the Province to A in April 2026, citing the absence of concrete fiscal consolidation measures in the 2026 budget.^↗

Eby spent his answer attacking Doerkson for “$5 billion in promises” without explanation. That $5 billion total is the NDP’s own figure; no independent tally reaches it.^↗ His own costing was a two-page document released on debate day. It projects deficits of $13.75 billion, $12.65 billion and $11.97 billion over three years, gives no debt path, and books $295 million and $420 million of operating spending as “Measures To Be Announced.”^↗ Its biggest revenue line after the tax increase is $345 million to $730 million a year of projected growth from private major projects, not a policy measure.^↗

Doerkson was asked “what exactly are you going to cut?” He named “red tape” and “bureaucracy,” promised to fully fund health care, and said only that he would look for “savings wherever we can.” He then conceded that voters “will see a fulsome plan before they go to the polls.”^↗ His jab that Eby “promised a $7 billion deficit” is fair in substance: Budget 2024 forecast $7.9 billion for 2024/25, and the 2026/27 forecast is now $13.8 billion, though those were forecasts, not promises.^↗ His claim of “40 new taxes” traces only to a Conservative talking point.^↗ Lowan gave the only timeline, three to five years, but it rests on a $22.2 billion one-time wealth tax, and her claim of a $3 billion yearly royalty gap has no source.^↗ She also said most revenue from the NDP tax increase would come from people earning $190,000; modelling shows earners over $1 million would pay 54% of it.^↗

$11.97B The deficit the NDP’s own debate-day costing projects for 2028/29, the third and final year it covers.

David Eby0:24:58 ▶ Watch

“We built, expanded, 250 schools. 60,000 seats across the province.”

The record

The government’s own March 2026 release counts 47,000 new seats since 2017, not 60,000. Estimates of school closures under the previous government run from 171 to 267.^↗

David Eby0:24:58 ▶ Watch

“To show up to the leaders’ debate after making $5 billion in promises, for the conservative leader to be here without explaining”

The record

No published tally reaches $5 billion; it is the NDP’s figure. The NDP’s own costing appeared only on debate day and leaves an $11.97 billion deficit in 2028/29.^↗

Lorne Doerkson0:28:32 ▶ Watch

“Mr. Eby, you promised a $7 billion deficit. Just a few years ago. It’s at 14.”

The record

Budget 2024 forecast $7.9 billion for 2024/25; the 2026/27 deficit is now forecast at $13.759 billion. These were forecasts, not promises, and the 2024/25 actual was $7.3 billion.^↗

What was dodged

• Lowan on How she can be a serious contender while sacrificing resource jobs. She opened with resource revenue statistics and reached her value-added forestry answer only later.

Every rated claim in this section

• Lowan0:23:23 ▶ WatchMostly true
  Resource industries are down to 7% of GDP and 3% of jobs.
• Lowan0:23:23 ▶ WatchTrue
  Lottery and liquor bring in more revenue than LNG.
• Eby0:24:58 ▶ WatchMisleading
  The previous government closed 250 schools; the NDP built or expanded 250 schools with 60,000 seats.
• Eby0:24:58 ▶ WatchMostly true
  A new hospital in Fort St. James, as well as 23 other new or expanded hospitals.
• Eby0:24:58 ▶ WatchUnverifiable
  The Conservatives have made $5 billion in uncosted promises.
• Lowan0:26:31 ▶ WatchMisleading
  The NDP promised 50% of resource royalties and captures 11% on gas, a $3-billion-a-year gulf that LNG corporations walked off with.
• Lowan0:28:17 ▶ WatchFalse
  The vast majority of the NDP tax’s revenue comes from people making $190,000.
• Doerkson0:28:32 ▶ WatchUnverifiable
  The NDP has brought in 40 new taxes.
• Doerkson0:28:32 ▶ WatchMostly true
  Eby promised a $7 billion deficit and it is at 14.
• Eby0:29:26 ▶ WatchMostly true
  B.C. has the lowest income tax in Canada for people earning under $150,000, and the second lowest at $200,000.
• Lowan0:29:55 ▶ WatchTrue
  The NDP tax raises $225 million next year.
• Eby0:30:04 ▶ WatchMisleading
  Under the BC Liberals nine in ten care homes failed the minimum standard of one bath a week.
• Eby0:30:04 ▶ WatchUnverifiable
  The BC Liberals closed whole rural hospitals.
• Doerkson0:31:14 ▶ WatchMostly true
  Eby has been running this province for a decade.

Verdict. Eby came out worse on the record: he presided over a record $13.8 billion deficit, attacked his rival for uncosted promises, and offered a same-day costing with no year of balance, while Doerkson’s failure to name a cut was a gap rather than a misstatement.

10 Affordability: Doerkson wouldn’t price his ICBC plan; Eby promised child care growth he had paused

0:31:33–0:46:58 ▶ Watch · Doerkson 4.2 · Eby 4.8 · Lowan 3.1 min · Eby held the floor longest

The moment

Lorne Doerkson0:38:15 ▶ Watch

“I am committed to keeping our rates very competitive in British Columbia. … We will put guardrails in place that will protect the rates…”

Asked to guarantee drivers would not pay a penny more under a hybrid model that reopens lawsuits, he offered neither a guarantee nor a number. When Eby later asked what car insurance would cost under his plan, he replied that Eby was “missing the point.”

On child care, Eby said “our proposal is simple. To expand it.” His own Budget 2026 stopped new providers from joining $10 a Day for a “stabilization period.”^↗ His count of 60,000 new spaces is close to the Province’s “nearly 59,000” since 2018.^↗ He also said Heather Maahs wants to eliminate the program; no statement saying so was found, though she has criticized the $10-a-day model.^↗ On taxes he boasted that B.C. has the lowest income tax in Canada for people under $150,000. He did not mention that his February budget raised the lowest bracket rate from 5.06% to 5.60%.^↗ Government staff said 60% of filers would pay more, on average $76.^↗

Eby’s figure for his top-bracket increase, “less than $4 a week” at $200,000, checks out at about $3.69.^↗ His claim that “every dollar” goes to services is harder to square with a costing that still leaves an $11.97 billion deficit and labels part of its spending “Measures To Be Announced.”^↗ On ICBC he described a “dumpster fire” with “30% rate increases slated.” ICBC did lose $1.3 billion in 2017/18, but 30% was a scenario in a 2017 review that recommended 15% to 20%.^↗ His claim that rates in Alberta or Ontario are “more than double” comes from an ICBC-commissioned study, and it was not shown for Ontario.^↗ When Lowan said his snap election halted the no-fault review panel, he said “that work will continue because it’s set in law”; the committee ended at dissolution and must be reappointed.^↗

Doerkson’s best point was that ICBC is profitable and not returning the money: it earned $1.5 billion in 2025/26, and the last rebate was in 2024.^↗ However, he never priced his own plan. Asked how he would pay for raising the basic personal exemption, he said the break would pay for itself because “our residents spend,” and he never addressed user fees. The NDP costs that $1,000 tax cut at $2.5 billion.^↗ Lowan’s defence of her wealth tax cited Sweden, which abolished its wealth tax in 2007, and Massachusetts, which taxes income, not wealth.^↗ Her claim that 70,000 workers leave B.C. every year over the cost of living has no support: gross out-migration runs about 45,000 to 65,000, and net migration has been positive.^↗

5.60% The new lowest income tax rate in Eby’s 2026 budget, up from 5.06%, which he left out while boasting about B.C.’s low taxes.

David Eby0:35:04 ▶ Watch

“Our proposal is simple. To expand it. We’ll have an announcement about how we’ll add thousands and thousands of new spaces”

The record

Budget 2026, tabled in February 2026, paused enrolment of new providers in $10 a Day ChildCareBC for a “stabilization period.”^↗

David Eby0:41:54 ▶ Watch

“The dumpster fire of ICBC losing a billion dollars a year, 30% rate increases slated for British Columbians in single year”

The record

ICBC lost $1.3 billion in 2017/18. A 30% increase was a scenario in the 2017 EY review, which recommended 15% to 20%; it was never scheduled.^↗

Lorne Doerkson0:42:05 ▶ Watch

“How much is it making now and why aren’t we moving that back to British Columbians?”

The record

ICBC earned $1.5 billion in 2025/26, and the last rebate was in 2024, though basic rates are frozen to 2027.^↗

What was dodged

• Doerkson on Guarantee drivers won’t pay a penny more under his ICBC plan. He said he was “committed to keeping our rates very competitive,” which neither gives nor refuses the guarantee, and he put no number on rates.
• Doerkson on Whether his tax-exemption cut is realistic or will bring new user fees. He said the break would pay for itself through spending and never addressed user fees.

Every rated claim in this section

• Lowan0:33:28 ▶ WatchMisleading
  70,000 workers leave B.C. every year because of the cost of living.
• Lowan0:33:28 ▶ WatchMisleading
  Wealth taxes in Spain, Sweden and Massachusetts show the ultrawealthy don’t leave.
• Eby0:35:04 ▶ WatchMostly true
  The NDP created 60,000 child care spaces.
• Eby0:35:04 ▶ WatchUnverifiable
  Heather Maahs said she wants to eliminate the child care program.
• Eby0:36:36 ▶ WatchMostly true
  The new top-bracket tax costs someone on $200,000 less than $4 a week.
• Eby0:41:54 ▶ WatchMostly true
  Before no-fault, ICBC was losing a billion dollars a year with 30% rate increases slated.
• Doerkson0:42:05 ▶ WatchMostly true
  ICBC is making money now that is not going back to drivers.
• Lowan0:42:59 ▶ WatchMostly true
  Calling the election paused the ICBC review panel.
• Eby0:43:15 ▶ WatchUnverifiable
  The ICBC review committee heard from 144 people.
• Eby0:43:43 ▶ WatchMostly true
  Car insurance in Alberta or Ontario is more than double B.C.’s.
• Lowan0:43:56 ▶ WatchMisleading
  The NDP bets on fracked gas projects owned by American corporations backed by firms in Trump’s inner circle.
• Eby0:44:48 ▶ WatchMostly true
  LNG Canada Phase 2 will be 30% cleaner than the best facilities in the world and generate $28 billion for the Province.
• Eby0:44:48 ▶ WatchUnverifiable
  Nine mines approved in the 18 months since the critical minerals ministry was set up.
• Doerkson0:45:28 ▶ WatchMostly true
  You watched forestry collapse in this province.
• Doerkson0:45:46 ▶ WatchMostly true
  Direct revenue from the forest industry could be likened to the tobacco tax.
• Lowan0:46:16 ▶ WatchMisleading
  LNG Canada Phase 2 will generate 150 jobs.
• Doerkson0:46:32 ▶ WatchMisleading
  The only plan Eby has put forth is to tax residents more, with a new tax aimed at doctors.

Verdict. Doerkson came out worse: he left both of the section’s biggest-dollar questions unanswered, though Eby promised to expand a child care program his own budget had frozen.

11 Housing: Eby touts falling rents and waves away the $1.4B social-housing cut in his budget

0:46:58–0:58:08 ▶ Watch · Doerkson 3.0 · Eby 3.5 · Lowan 2.8 min · Eby held the floor longest

The moment

David Eby0:53:47 ▶ Watch

“The idea that we cancelled social housing is simply not the situation. I’d love to build more.”

Budget 2026 took $1.4 billion out of the housing strategy and cancelled the open Community Housing Fund intake, so the premier denied a cut his own budget made. Pressed seconds later, he could offer only a future “housing announcement.”

Eby’s best line was true, and he even undersold it: his government’s September release counts a 26-month streak of falling asking rents, down 4.7% year over year across B.C.^↗. The same release dates the fall from a peak reached on his watch, with Vancouver purpose-built rents 19% below their July 2023 high^↗. Measured from the year the NDP took office, the relief looks thin. CMHC put the average purpose-built two-bedroom in Vancouver at $1,552 in October 2017^↗ and at $2,363 in its 2025 report^↗, a rise of about 52%.

The weaker answer came on social housing. Budget 2026 reallocated $1.4 billion from the housing strategy, cancelled the Community Housing Fund intake that was open, and postponed future intakes^↗. Eby replied that “the idea that we cancelled social housing is simply not the situation” and cited 4,000 units starting or finishing this year, a figure no BC Housing or government document we found supports^↗. When Lowan and Doerkson asked where the promised boost was, he said it “is in the costed platform.” The costing plan released that day leaves $295 million and $420 million of operating spending in its last two years as “Measures To Be Announced” and adds $14 million of net new provincial capital over five years^↗. He also told Doerkson the Conservatives had voted to repeal the foreign-buyer and speculation taxes; no such vote was found, though the party’s finance critic did call for scrapping the speculation tax in April^↗.

Doerkson’s answer to “what hasn’t been tried” was a step-code review, faster permits and ending provincial targets for municipalities, which is a rollback rather than a new idea. His attacks were shakier. The “punitive tax” on seniors is a higher interest rate, prime plus 2%, on property-tax deferment loans^↗, and the “PST on wool socks” was the end of an exemption on yarn and fabric for making clothing^↗. Lowan landed the cleanest hit with the $1.4 billion fund, though approved projects continue^↗, and she never said whose home values she would let fall.

+52% Average Vancouver purpose-built two-bedroom rent, 2017 to 2025 (CMHC)

David Eby0:51:09 ▶ Watch

“24 months in a row rents decreasing year over year in British Columbia because we have built so much rental housing.”

The record

The streak is real (26 months, asking rents down 4.7% in B.C.). The decline started from a 2023 peak: CMHC’s Vancouver purpose-built two-bedroom average went from $1,552 in 2017 to $2,363 in 2025, up about 52%.^↗

David Eby0:54:34 ▶ Watch

“It is in the costed platform.”

The record

The NDP costing plan, released hours before the debate, lists $295 million (2027/28) and $420 million (2028/29) of operating spending as “Measures To Be Announced” and only $14 million of net new provincial capital over five years.^↗

Lorne Doerkson0:55:41 ▶ Watch

“You attack that as well through yet another punitive tax against our senior citizens. We will repeal that.”

The record

Budget 2026 raised the interest on property-tax deferment loans to prime plus 2%, compounded. It costs seniors more, but it is loan interest, not a tax.^↗

What was dodged

• Doerkson on What will you try that hasn’t been tried?. Opened with his daughters and “things not being talked about”; the step code, permits and municipal relations came later, and all three are reversals of existing policy, not new tools.
• Lowan on Whose home values are you prepared to devalue?. Spoke about renters, vacancy control and the Community Housing Fund; never said whose home values would fall.
• Eby on British Columbians or real estate executives?. Opened with “housing is fundamental” and being “a bit of a housing nerd”; his tax threat against developers holding vacant condos came later.

Every rated claim in this section

• Lowan0:49:21 ▶ WatchTrue
  A third of British Columbians are renters.
• Lowan0:49:21 ▶ WatchMostly true
  Vacancy control was brought in by the Barrett government in the 1970s.
• Eby0:51:09 ▶ WatchTrue
  Rents have fallen year over year for 24 months in a row.
• Eby0:51:09 ▶ WatchMostly true
  5,000 brand-new condos are sitting vacant with developers.
• Eby0:51:09 ▶ WatchMostly true
  The speculation and vacancy tax opened up 10,000 homes for rent.
• Lowan0:52:32 ▶ WatchMostly true
  Budget 2026 cancelled the $1.4 billion Community Housing Fund.
• Eby0:53:47 ▶ WatchMisleading
  “The idea that we cancelled social housing is simply not the situation.”
• Eby0:53:47 ▶ WatchUnverifiable
  4,000 social housing units will start or complete this year.
• Doerkson0:55:26 ▶ WatchMisleading
  Seniors who age in place face a new punitive tax.
• Eby0:56:15 ▶ WatchMisleading
  The Conservatives would get rid of the foreign buyer tax and the speculation tax, and voted to repeal them.
• Doerkson0:57:08 ▶ WatchMisleading
  The NDP put PST on wool socks.

Verdict. Eby came out worse: his rent claim checks out, but he denied a $1.4 billion social-housing cut his own budget made and pointed to a platform that leaves the spending unnamed.

12 Health: 1,259,425 still without a family doctor after Eby’s end-of-2025 deadline

0:58:08–1:12:30 ▶ Watch · Doerkson 4.3 · Eby 4.9 · Lowan 3.1 min · Eby held the floor longest

The moment

David Eby1:00:08 ▶ Watch

“There were 300,000 people on the registry for the family doctor. We connected 400,000 people with the family doctor. The registry filled up again.”

Asked to defend his record, Eby described the failure of his own pledge: everyone who wanted a family doctor was to have one by the end of 2025, and in April 2026 his health minister counted 1,259,425 British Columbians without one.

Lowan opened by holding Eby to his 2024 debate promise that everyone who wanted a family doctor would have one by the end of 2025 “at the pace we are going”^↗. In April 2026 Health Minister Josie Osborne told the legislature that 1,259,425 British Columbians had no family doctor or nurse practitioner^↗. Eby’s defence leaned on counts that flatter him. His “400,000 connected” is a tally since 2018 reported in April 2024^↗, and his “800 American health care workers” compares with an official count of 414 hires in March 2026^↗. Kurl asked how a doubled health budget was anything but a failed record, and he answered with what keeps him up at night.

Long-term care is where the record turns sharpest. Budget 2026 paused seven care homes with 1,223 beds^↗, and at the end of April the province cancelled construction contracts for homes in Delta, Abbotsford, Chilliwack and Kelowna, along with Burnaby Hospital’s second phase^↗. Infrastructure Minister Bowinn Ma said at the time: “We can call them deferred, we can call them rescheduled”^↗. Eby is right that the projects were wildly over budget, at up to $1.8 million a bed^↗. On stage, though, both he and Doerkson said $1.8 billion. Lowan said Eby “cancelled seven long-term care homes,” which overstates it: seven were paused and four care-home contracts were cancelled^↗.

Doerkson was asked to rule private or hybrid delivery in or out and answered that he wants “a fully public system that everyone in the province can access,” which speaks to who pays, not who delivers. His party’s 2024 platform proposed a single-payer system that delivers care through “non-governmental” facilities, including private clinics^↗. On seniors he spent his time on the property-tax deferment rate, which is loan interest at prime plus 2%^↗, rather than on care. Lowan’s plan for seniors and caregivers was a single closing line about “wrap-around supports.”

1,259,425 British Columbians without a family doctor or nurse practitioner, April 2026

David Eby1:00:08 ▶ Watch

“We connected 400,000 people with the family doctor. The registry filled up again.”

The record

His 2024 pledge was a doctor or nurse practitioner for everyone who wanted one by the end of 2025. In April 2026, 1,259,425 British Columbians had neither, by the Health Minister’s count.^↗

David Eby1:00:08 ▶ Watch

“We connected 800 American health care workers with jobs here in British Columbia and we will triple that.”

The record

The official count in March 2026 was 414 hires. Only Eby’s own campaign remarks give 800.^↗

Lorne Doerkson1:01:46 ▶ Watch

“I want a fully public system that everyone in the province can access.”

The record

The question was about private delivery. The B.C. Conservatives’ 2024 platform kept a single payer but proposed delivering care through non-governmental facilities, including private clinics.^↗

What was dodged

• Eby on How is doubled spending not a failed record?. Opened with what keeps him up at night and the worker shortage; he never addressed the missed end-of-2025 doctor pledge.
• Lowan on Your plan for seniors and family caregivers?. Spent most of her time on the crisis and NDP bed cuts; her plan was one line about “wrap-around supports.”
• Doerkson on Your plan for seniors and family caregivers?. Opened by attacking Eby’s record; his plan was a tax measure (restoring deferment rules and a $1,000 saving), not care.

Every rated claim in this section

• Lowan0:58:23 ▶ WatchMostly true
  In 2024 Eby promised everyone would have access to a family doctor.
• Lowan0:58:23 ▶ WatchTrue
  1.2 million people do not have a family doctor.
• Eby1:00:08 ▶ WatchMostly true
  300,000 were on the family-doctor registry and the NDP connected 400,000 people.
• Eby1:00:08 ▶ WatchUnverifiable
  800 American health care workers connected with jobs in B.C.
• Doerkson1:01:46 ▶ WatchTrue
  The Ashcroft hospital is no longer a hospital; it is now an urgent care centre.
• Lowan1:10:09 ▶ WatchMostly true
  Eby cancelled seven long-term care homes this year, including Squamish.
• Eby1:10:45 ▶ WatchTrue
  The seven paused long-term care homes were wildly over budget.
• Eby1:11:49 ▶ WatchMostly true
  Health authorities proposed long-term care at $1.8 billion a bed.

Verdict. Eby came out worse: the family-doctor pledge is the plainest broken promise of the night, and the care-home contracts were cancelled on his watch. Doerkson still never ruled out private delivery.

13 DRIPA: Eby now defends the law he vowed to amend, then to suspend

1:12:30–1:22:42 ▶ Watch · Doerkson 4.0 · Eby 2.7 · Lowan 1.6 min · Doerkson held the floor longest

The moment

David Eby1:13:21 ▶ Watch

“The reason why all of the things are happening is because we have entered into the partnerships enabled by this law. … That’s why of course, we are appealing the court decisions.”

He was asked why he did not foresee the law’s effects and never answered. He also praised as a success the act he spent the spring trying to amend and then suspend.

Kurl asked the attorney general under whom DRIPA passed why he had not anticipated its effects, and Eby did not answer. His record since the December 2025 Court of Appeal ruling in the Gitxaala mineral-claims case tells the story. Days after the ruling he said it “potentially puts courts in the driver’s seat” and that amending the act was as likely as an appeal^↗. He then called amendments non-negotiable, proposed suspending key sections for three years as a confidence vote, and on 19 April dropped the bill after First Nations opposition^↗. The province is now asking the Supreme Court of Canada to hear the case^↗. On stage, the same law was the source of “the partnerships” behind every major project.

Doerkson’s repeal pledge has its own gap. The ruling that put private property in question is Cowichan, in which the B.C. Supreme Court declared Aboriginal title over land in Richmond and found that Crown grants of fee simple there unjustifiably infringe it. That is a section 35 constitutional ruling, not a DRIPA one^↗, so repealing a provincial statute would not touch it. The province is appealing it^↗. Asked how he would avoid the conflict that repeal would bring, he offered “respect and relations.” He was right that Fish Lake was turned down by Ottawa^↗. Eby, in reply, said the exploration was “challenged successfully in court,” but the Court of Appeal upheld the exploration permit in 2019^↗.

Lowan said flatly that “DRIPA has no bearing on private property.” That holds for Cowichan, which was decided under section 35^↗. It is ahead of the law on Gitxaala, which held that DRIPA gives the UN declaration immediate legal effect in B.C. and which the Supreme Court of Canada has yet to settle^↗. She was the only leader who answered her question directly, but she offered no route to the certainty she accused both rivals of destroying.

3 years Length of the DRIPA suspension Eby staked his government on in April, then dropped

David Eby1:13:21 ▶ Watch

“That’s why of course, we are appealing the court decisions. We’re going to ensure that we’re protecting private property.”

The record

After the Gitxaala ruling he first floated amending DRIPA, then staked his government on a three-year suspension, then dropped the bill on 19 April 2026 after First Nations opposition.^↗

David Eby1:19:30 ▶ Watch

“Exploration was challenged successfully in court. No exploration was done.”

The record

The B.C. Court of Appeal upheld Taseko’s exploration permit at Fish Lake in 2019. Ottawa had rejected the mine itself in 2010 and 2014.^↗

Lorne Doerkson1:15:06 ▶ Watch

“The reality is that DRIPA has to be repealed in the province.”

The record

The Cowichan title ruling over Richmond, the decision behind the private-property fears, rests on section 35 of the Constitution, which a provincial repeal cannot change.^↗

What was dodged

• Eby on Why didn’t you anticipate DRIPA’s impacts?. Conceded “challenging court decisions,” then pivoted to partnerships and appeals; why the effects were not foreseen was never answered.
• Doerkson on How will you prevent the conflict repeal brings?. Restated that DRIPA “has to be repealed” and blamed it for division; his only answer on conflict was “respect and relations” and partnerships.

Every rated claim in this section

• Doerkson1:15:06 ▶ WatchTrue
  There are issues with docks in Pender Harbour.
• Eby1:19:30 ▶ WatchMostly true
  Fish Lake was approved in the dying days of the Clark government over First Nations’ objection; exploration was successfully challenged in court; nothing was built.
• Doerkson1:20:53 ▶ WatchTrue
  Fish Lake was turned down by the federal government.
• Eby1:21:32 ▶ WatchUnverifiable
  A record for exploration, and more mines opened than ever before in the last 18 months.

Verdict. Eby came out worse: he never answered why the law’s effects were not foreseen and sold as a success a law he spent this year trying to amend and suspend. Doerkson’s repeal misses the ruling that actually threatens property.

14 Eby said zero Surrey extortion reports in August; police had logged two threats and a shooting

1:22:42–1:32:16 ▶ Watch · Doerkson 2.8 · Eby 3.4 · Lowan 1.9 min · Eby held the floor longest

The moment

David Eby1:24:47 ▶ Watch

“We worked in Surrey to address the extortion issue… And in August, as a result, zero reports of extortion.”

It was the only hard number the premier offered on public safety, and his own police force’s August figures contradict it.

Asked what he would try that he had not already tried in four years, Eby led with a statistic: “zero reports of extortion” in Surrey in August. Surrey Police figures dated 17 August counted two extortion threats and one extortion-related shooting that month.^↗ The decline is real, from 44 threats and 10 shootings in January, so the premier had a defensible story and chose to overstate it on live television.^↗

His new action was involuntary care “in every region of the province” at “already identified sites.” The government’s July 2026 release puts the first 24 of 72 Prince George beds at December 2027 and the 60 Surrey beds at spring 2028, which means none of the newly identified sites will open in the coming term’s first year.^↗ When Lowan said he wanted to “throw them in a jail cell,” Eby replied that “involuntary care is not a jail cell.” The first unit he opened, in April 2025, was 10 beds placed in a segregation unit at the Surrey Pretrial Centre while other space was renovated.^↗ He also called the B.C. Supreme Court’s July ruling something “we can address”; the court gave the province six months to replace forced-treatment provisions it found violated the Charter.^↗

Doerkson was asked what he would cut to pay for more police, prosecutors and treatment beds under a no-new-taxes pledge. He named no cut, and instead described a visitor “pushed into traffic” and “gun fire taking place in the restaurant,” incidents for which no published coverage was found.^↗ Lowan told viewers that the court “just ruled the NDP plan on involuntary care as unconstitutional.” The ruling struck down long-standing Mental Health Act treatment provisions, and the lawsuit did not challenge involuntary admission itself.^↗

2 + 1 Extortion threats and shootings Surrey Police counted by 17 August, the month Eby called “zero”

David Eby1:24:47 ▶ Watch

“In August, as a result, zero reports of extortion.”

The record

Surrey Police statistics dated 17 August 2026 showed two extortion threats and one extortion-related shooting that month, down from 44 threats and 10 shootings in January.^↗

David Eby1:27:39 ▶ Watch

“Opening this involuntary care is not a jail cell. Sometimes in a jail because people have already been arrested.”

The record

The first involuntary-care unit, opened in April 2025, was 10 beds in a segregation unit at the Surrey Pretrial Centre. The 132 beds announced in July 2026 are scheduled to open between December 2027 and the end of 2028.^↗

Emily Lowan1:26:17 ▶ Watch

“The BC Supreme Court just ruled the NDP plan on involuntary care as unconstitutional.”

The record

The July 2026 ruling struck down the Mental Health Act’s forced-treatment provisions, a long-standing law, and suspended its effect for six months. It did not rule on the NDP’s involuntary-care expansion.^↗

What was dodged

• Doerkson on What would you cut to pay for police and treatment with no new taxes?. Deflect: described the problem and promised more police and treatment, and never named a cut.
• Eby on What new action could you take that you haven’t already tried?. Partial: spent the opening on past work; the new action, involuntary care in every region, came only after that.

Every rated claim in this section

• Doerkson1:23:16 ▶ WatchUnverifiable
  A visitor was pushed into traffic; gunfire in a restaurant.
• Eby1:24:47 ▶ WatchMisleading
  Surrey extortion: in August, zero reports.
• Lowan1:26:17 ▶ WatchMisleading
  The B.C. Supreme Court just ruled the NDP’s involuntary care plan unconstitutional.
• Eby1:27:39 ▶ WatchMostly true
  Riverview closed under the BC Liberals.
• Lowan1:31:39 ▶ WatchMostly true
  Green candidate Lisa Lapointe was chief coroner for 13 years.

Verdict. Eby came out worse: his one hard number was contradicted by Surrey Police, and his new beds are scheduled to open from late 2027.

15 Eby rules out Conservatives, offers nothing he would give up; Doerkson calls a splintered caucus unified

1:32:16–1:37:14 ▶ Watch · Doerkson 1.1 · Eby 1.3 · Lowan 1.2 min · Eby held the floor longest

The moment

Lorne Doerkson1:34:33 ▶ Watch

“But we are completely unified and I’m completely committed to leading with absolute abundance…”

He said it 24 days after the party board made him interim leader, after five weeks in which a string of MLAs quit the Conservative caucus and his predecessor resigned citing “internal conflict.”

Kurl asked Eby what he would specifically give up to keep a minority legislature working. He answered with a willingness to work with “anyone” and then a list of reasons he could not work with the Conservatives, and named nothing he would concede. His sharpest charge, that Doerkson “voted for an act literally called an act to repeal the human rights code,” is accurate as far as it goes: Conservative MLAs voted to give OneBC’s bill first reading in February 2026, and the House rejected it 50 to 37.^↗ Conservative MLA Rosalyn Bird defended the vote on the ground that first reading is not an endorsement of a bill, and Eby said the party “owe[d] British Columbians an apology.”^↗

Doerkson’s “we are completely unified” sat badly against the record. Kerry-Lynne Findlay resigned as leader on 20 September 2026, 113 days after winning it, saying that “too much of our time and attention has been consumed by internal conflict,” after a run of MLA resignations from caucus that began on 14 August.^↗ As interim leader, Doerkson brought five expelled or departed members, including former leader John Rustad, back into caucus.^↗ “Bringing our group back together” is his own description of the job, and it concedes the group had come apart.

Lowan answered the vote-splitting question with a history lesson that was wrong. She said the electoral-reform referendum Eby wrote “still narrowly failed”; it was held in 2018 and proportional representation lost 61.3 per cent to 38.7 per cent.^↗ She also said the last surplus came “in a green coalition.” The NDP majority posted an audited $704 million surplus in 2022/23.^↗

61.3% Vote against proportional representation in 2018, the referendum Lowan said “narrowly failed”

David Eby1:32:55 ▶ Watch

“When you have the leader of the party that voted for an act literally called an act to repeal the human rights code…”

The record

Conservative MLAs voted to give OneBC’s Human Rights Code Repeal Act first reading in February 2026; the motion failed 50 to 37. It was a first-reading vote, not a vote to pass the bill.^↗

Lorne Doerkson1:34:33 ▶ Watch

“We are completely unified.”

The record

Findlay quit as leader on 20 September 2026, citing “internal conflict,” after weeks of MLA resignations; Doerkson then readmitted five members, including Rustad.^↗

Emily Lowan1:36:01 ▶ Watch

“When we saw the 2017 referendum that Mr. Eby wrote himself… and still narrowly failed.”

The record

The referendum was held in 2018, and proportional representation lost 61.3 per cent to 38.7 per cent.^↗

What was dodged

• Eby on What would you give up to keep a minority legislature working?. Deflect: said he would work with “anyone,” ruled out the Conservatives, and never named a concession.

Every rated claim in this section

• Eby1:32:55 ▶ WatchMostly true
  Doerkson voted for an act literally called an act to repeal the Human Rights Code.
• Lowan1:36:01 ▶ WatchFalse
  The 2017 referendum Eby wrote narrowly failed, and the last surplus came under a Green coalition.

Verdict. Lowan came out worse on the record, with both checkable claims wrong; Doerkson’s “completely unified” ran a close second.

16 Eby’s 30-cent gas pledge comes seven years after an NDP-ordered inquiry flagged 13 unexplained cents

1:38:57–1:47:40 ▶ Watch · Doerkson 3.0 · Eby 2.4 · Lowan 2.0 min · Doerkson held the floor longest

The moment

Emily Lowan1:41:46 ▶ Watch

“We saw that Mr. Eby with your thousand dollars grocery rebate cheque that never came.”

It landed seconds after Eby promised to rein in grocery and pump prices, and it is the documented record of his last cost-of-living pledge.

Eby opened the final round promising to “rein in the profits [of] the oil and gas companies at the pump to save you 30 cents a litre.” The 1 October plan pairs a 10-cent fuel-tax cut with a utilities-commission maximum price, and the party itself frames the total as savings of “up to” 30 cents.^↗ The gouging finding behind it is not new. In August 2019 the B.C. Utilities Commission, in an inquiry ordered by Premier John Horgan’s NDP government, found an unexplained wholesale gap of about 13 cents a litre.^↗ The NDP has governed for seven years since that report, and a price cap arrives as a re-election promise.

Lowan supplied the line that stuck: the $1,000 grocery rebate “that never came.” It was a 2024 NDP platform commitment, and the government cancelled it in February 2025 before its first budget, citing U.S. tariffs.^↗ Eby’s reply was to dismiss her 20 public grocery stores on the ground that “you already have a grocery store,” and in closing he renewed the same promise to rein in “excess profits at grocery stores.” His closing also charged Doerkson with “uncertain plans” to “double the rates” on car insurance. The leaked letter promising to restore the right to sue is real, but the doubling is an NDP projection.^↗

Doerkson repeated his strongest number twice, including in his closing: “42,000 people have lost their jobs in the last two months.” Total B.C. employment fell 25,700 in August and September; 42,000 is the drop in full-time jobs, partly offset by part-time gains.^↗ His tax claim held up better. Raising the basic personal amount to $32,000 does remove provincial income tax below that line, but the full $1,000 saving reaches only people earning above about $40,000.^↗

13¢ Unexplained per-litre gas gap the BCUC found in 2019, seven years before Eby’s price-cap pledge

David Eby1:39:17 ▶ Watch

“We have a commitment to rein in the profits [of] the oil and gas companies at the pump to save you 30 cents a litre and 20 bucks a fill up.”

The record

The plan is a 10-cent fuel-tax cut plus a regulated maximum price; the savings are “up to” 30 cents. The BCUC found a 13-cent unexplained gap in 2019, under the NDP, and no cap followed.^↗

Emily Lowan1:41:46 ▶ Watch

“We saw that Mr. Eby with your thousand dollars grocery rebate cheque that never came.”

The record

The $1,000 grocery rebate ($500 for individuals) was in the 2024 NDP platform and was cancelled in February 2025, with the government citing tariffs and a cost of about $2 billion.^↗

Lorne Doerkson1:41:09 ▶ Watch

“42,000 people have lost their jobs in the last two months.”

The record

Total employment fell 25,700 in August and September. The 42,000 figure counts full-time losses only and ignores part-time gains.^↗

Every rated claim in this section

• Doerkson1:41:09 ▶ WatchMisleading
  42,000 people have lost their jobs in the last two months.
• Lowan1:41:46 ▶ WatchTrue
  Eby’s $1,000 grocery rebate cheque never came.
• Doerkson1:42:51 ▶ WatchMostly true
  People earning under $32,000 will pay no provincial tax under his plan.
• Eby1:43:31 ▶ WatchMostly true
  Doerkson wrote a secret letter to trial lawyers; his plan would double rates.
• Doerkson1:46:04 ▶ WatchTrue
  1.2 million people are without doctors.

Verdict. Eby came out worse: his price cap arrives seven years after his own government’s inquiry found an unexplained 13-cent gap and answered it with a disclosure law, and his last cost-of-living cheque, the $1,000 rebate, was cancelled before it was paid.

17 The evidence behind every row of the scorecard

Each row of §01 opens here, with the rule and every item it was scored on.

Accuracythe ledger is in §06Answered the question34 questionsConcrete commitments52 promisesOwn plan, not attacks1,030 sentencesRural, resource and recreationevery counted turnOn the backcountrythe evidence for each test

Accuracy — the ledger is in §06

Doerkson 68, Eby 65, Lowan 59. See §06 for every claim, rating and source.

Answered the question — 34 questions

Doerkson 67 (5 direct, 6 partial, 1 deflected) · Eby 59 (4 direct, 5 partial, 2 deflected) · Lowan 73 (7 direct, 2 partial, 2 deflected)

Time	The question	Rating	Why
0:03:53 ▶ Watch	Asked: mr. eby, how can anyone believe this snap election is anything less than an opportunistic power grab	Partial	First 75 words only frame 'an existential moment' and 'you want government to take action'; the reason the election was needed ('one-seat majority... every vote potentially could bring down the government') comes after.
0:07:20 ▶ Watch	Asked: why should voters see this as effective leadership instead of a failure to listen?	Deflect	Talks about why he 'signed up for politics' and needing 'a strong mandate'; never addresses the municipal elections, local politicians' objections or listening.
0:08:50 ▶ Watch	Asked: people are wondering how they are supposed to believe you're really ready to be premier	Partial	First 75 words are thanks and 'i'm certainly a little bit nervous'; the case for his readiness ('i will lead with respect... committed to unifying') comes later.
0:10:22 ▶ Watch	Asked: you are the leader. tell us what is acceptable and unacceptable in your party?	Direct	'i will always stand up against hate' and a defence of the campaign director ('she removed the post... very apologetic') within the first 75 words.
0:12:13 ▶ Watch	Asked: your campaign director will stay on the campaign?	Direct	'she is.' answers the yes/no question outright.
0:12:17 ▶ Watch	Asked: why should voters trust that you have the judgment to make the right decisions for british columbians?	Direct	Grounds her judgment at once: 'the only leader on this stage that feels the decisions being made in the legislature'.
0:13:29 ▶ Watch	Asked: governing requires compromise -- tell us what policy [sacrifices], you're prepared to make in the legislature	Deflect	Names a priority to win ('my top priority to advocate for a better voting system') but never a policy she would give up; caption 'very prices' read as 'sacrifices' from the 'requires compromise' context.
0:20:49 ▶ Watch	Asked: tell british columbians -- doerkson -- straight up what exactly are you going to cut?	Direct	Within 75 words: 'i will fully fund healthcare' and 'we are going to cut through red tape... and all of the bureaucracy'.
0:22:56 ▶ Watch	Asked: how can you be a serious contender for premier if you are willing to sacrifice those jobs in the short to medium term?	Partial	First 75 words are context ('resource revenues have shrunk to just 7%'); her position ('we can keep more jobs and more profits in bc' via value-added) comes later.
0:24:33 ▶ Watch	Asked: mr. eby, please tell us, where did all that money go?	Direct	'we built, expanded, 250 schools. 60,000 seats' and a new hospital, within the first 75 words.
0:31:33 ▶ Watch	Asked: how are you going to pay for it?	Direct	'this one-time tax on bc's ultrawealthy... a 5% tax on that wealth once' in the first sentence.
0:33:03 ▶ Watch	Asked: what happens to the bc economy when those ultrawealthy [individuals]... move themselves, but also their money out of the province	Direct	'what we see is that the ultrawealthy don't tend to leave' within the first 75 words.
0:34:35 ▶ Watch	Asked: what is your message tonight to parents who are asking why they are still waiting while the premier's family is not?	Direct	'60,000... it's not enough. we have to do more.' within the first 75 words.
0:36:11 ▶ Watch	Asked: what confidence can anybody have that these additional taxes will pay for service delivery instead of just servicing your government's debt?	Direct	'every dollar of that is allocated to improving services in our province' within the first 75 words.
0:37:42 ▶ Watch	Asked: guarantee that drivers will not pay a penny more under your plan?	Partial	'committed to keeping our rates very competitive' neither gives nor refuses the guarantee; his position on rates ('guardrails in place that will protect the rates... caps on what lawyers can charge') comes later.
0:39:28 ▶ Watch	Asked: realistically, what are the chances that you can keep this promise or will it come with new user fees	Partial	First 75 words say only 'two sides to every ledger'; the claim the cut pays for itself ('our residents spend... an injection') comes later and user fees are never addressed.
0:46:58 ▶ Watch	Asked: what are you going to try to do that hasn't been tried yet?	Partial	First 75 words say only 'there are things in this space that are not being talked about'; the measures (step code review, permits, municipalities) come later.
0:48:54 ▶ Watch	Asked: whose investments are you prepared the devalue?	Deflect	Speaks to people who 'can't even imagine' owning and renters; never says whose home values she would or would not lower.
0:50:34 ▶ Watch	Asked: who are you listening to on the file british columbians or real estate executives?	Partial	First 75 words are 'housing is fundamental' and 'a bit of a housing nerd'; his stand against developers holding '5,000 vacant brand new condos' comes later.
0:58:08 ▶ Watch	Asked: of those three, which would you prioritize and why?	Direct	Opens with 'primary health care because...'.
0:59:39 ▶ Watch	Asked: how can this be interpreted as anything other than a failed track record on health care?	Partial	First 75 words diagnose 'the big challenge is shortage of health care workers'; the defence of his record ('we connected 400,000 people') comes later.
1:01:27 ▶ Watch	Asked: will you rule in or rule out introducing private or hybrid health care delivery? rule it in or out?	Direct	Opens with 'i want a fully public system that everyone in the province can access'.
1:03:04 ▶ Watch	Asked: so to each of you, one at a time, what is your plan to alleviate the pressure on seniors and family caregivers	Partial	First 75 words describe the crisis and NDP cuts to beds; her plan ('wrap-around supports for seniors to age in their homes') comes at the end.
1:05:04 ▶ Watch	Asked: [same question] what is your plan to alleviate the pressure on seniors and family caregivers	Direct	'5600 seniors... will be able to receive hospital-like services in the comfort of their own home' within the first 75 words.
1:06:33 ▶ Watch	Asked: [same question] what is your plan to alleviate the pressure on seniors and family caregivers	Partial	First 75 words attack Eby's record ('you chose not to do that'); his plan (restore property-tax deferral, the thousand-dollar tax saving) comes later.
1:12:30 ▶ Watch	Asked: why didn't you anticipate or clearly communicate either then or now about the impacts of this law	Partial	First 75 words concede 'challenging court decisions' then pivot to partnership; his position on property ('we are appealing the court decisions... protecting private property') comes later, and why it was not anticipated is never answered.
1:14:33 ▶ Watch	Asked: how are you going to prevent the political conflict that will inevitably bring?	Partial	First 75 words restate 'dripa has to be repealed' and blame it for division; how he would avoid conflict ('respect and relations and certainly partnerships') comes later.
1:16:21 ▶ Watch	Asked: is there any change to dripa that the bc greens would support or... there's no room to compromise?	Direct	'they have been unequivocal on saying we must do the work of implementing dripa' within the first 75 words.
1:22:42 ▶ Watch	Asked: you've said no new taxes. what are you prepared to cut to pay for it all?	Deflect	Describes the problem and promises more treatment and police; never names any cut.
1:24:29 ▶ Watch	Asked: what new action could you take as premier that you haven't already tried so people feel safer	Partial	First 75 words recount past work ('targeting violent repeat offenders'); the new action ('involuntary care in every region') comes later.
1:25:56 ▶ Watch	Asked: what do you say to british columbians who believe that does not do enough to address public drug use and street disorder?	Direct	'i do not believe the solution... is to throw them in a jail cell' within the first 75 words.
1:32:16 ▶ Watch	Asked: what specifically are you prepared to give up and change to keep the functioning legislature together	Deflect	Offers 'always willing to work with anyone' and then rules out the Conservatives; never names anything he would give up or change.
1:34:11 ▶ Watch	Asked: how can voters trust to stay together if you form government.	Direct	'we have focused on bringing our group back together' within the first 75 words.
1:35:40 ▶ Watch	Asked: what do you say to those who argue that a vote for the green candidate ultimately results in more bc conservatives being elected?	Direct	Opens 'this is the challenge of our two-party system... proportional representation'.

Concrete commitments — 52 promises

Doerkson 2 concrete, 17 vague · Eby 7 concrete, 14 vague · Lowan 5 concrete, 7 vague

Time	The promise	Rating	Measure, and what qualifies it
0:26:31 ▶ Watch	“we have a three to five-year plan on bc's deficit.”	Concrete	Eliminate the deficit — duration: three to five years
0:26:31 ▶ Watch	“would generate $22.2 billion in its first year, and would consistently generate around $5.4 billion in subsequent years”	Concrete	Wealth tax: one-time 5% on fortunes over $50M, then annual tax (T081) — amount: 5% over $50 million; $22.2 billion then $5.4 billion a year
0:26:31 ▶ Watch	“we would also be getting our fair share from bc's resources.”	Concrete	Collect higher resource (gas) royalties — amount: the stated $3 billion a year gap
0:27:47 ▶ Watch	“we are asking people to pay more, the wealthy. people earn $1 million a year”	Concrete	Higher income tax on top earners (T087: new $1M bracket; under $4/week at $200,000) — amount: $1 million bracket; under $4 a week at $200,000
0:43:27 ▶ Watch	“you will not provide the three-year freeze we are guaranteeing to british columbians.”	Concrete	Freeze ICBC car-insurance rates (repeated T302) — duration: three years
0:51:09 ▶ Watch	“we'll make sure they release those homes in a year to sell them and if we don't put the additional tax on them”	Concrete	Force release of vacant new condos or tax them — duration: within a year
0:52:32 ▶ Watch	“we would build 26 -- build and protect 26,000 units of genuinely affordable housing.”	Concrete	Build and protect affordable/social housing — amount: 26,000 units
1:00:08 ▶ Watch	“we connected 800 american health care workers with jobs here in british columbia and we will triple that.”	Concrete	Triple recruitment of US health-care workers — amount: triple the 800 placed
1:01:46 ▶ Watch	“we will also commit $50 million fund to bolster our ers that are closing right now.”	Concrete	Fund to keep closing ERs open — amount: $50 million
1:05:09 ▶ Watch	“that means 5600 seniors, 5600 will be able to receive hospital-like services in the comfort of their own home.”	Concrete	Home-based hospital-level care for seniors (repeated T184, T195) — amount: 5,600 seniors
1:06:35 ▶ Watch	“we have offered a thousand dollar saving on your tax. this is absolutely aimed at the lowest tax earner under $32,000.”	Concrete	Income-tax cut for low earners (repeated T289, T294) — amount: $1,000 saving; threshold $32,000
1:10:45 ▶ Watch	“now that we standardized and ensured the health authorities are in hand and deliver not just those, but another one as well”	Concrete	Deliver the paused long-term-care homes plus one more — amount: the seven paused homes plus one; named deliverer Providence at $800-900k a bed (T199)
1:39:17 ▶ Watch	“we have a commitment to reign in the profits the oil and gas companies at the pump to save you 30-cents a litre and 20 bucks a fill up”	Concrete	Cap fuel-company margins (repeated T302) — amount: 30 cents a litre; $20 a fill-up
1:41:46 ▶ Watch	“that's why the b bc greens are bringing in 20 public grocery stores that will bring down the cost on staples”	Concrete	Public grocery stores — amount: 20 stores
0:09:14 ▶ Watch	“i will lead with respect, i will lead my caucus with a great amount of dignity to all british columbians.”	Vague	Lead with respect and dignity (repeated T021, T270)
0:09:14 ▶ Watch	“i am absolutely committed to unifying and bringing our team together, which we have done. and i'm committed to doing that for british columbians as well.”	Vague	Unify British Columbians / work with everyone (repeated T270)
0:12:35 ▶ Watch	“we have a credible plan to deliver a life you can afford, care you can count on, and a fair economy.”	Vague	Affordability, care and a fair economy (repeated T272)
0:13:50 ▶ Watch	“it would be my top priority to advocate for a better voting system.”	Vague	Push for proportional representation
0:15:05 ▶ Watch	“i am absolutely committed to super charging the economy in british columbia”	Vague	Supercharge / grow the economy (repeated T079, T133, T283)
0:21:43 ▶ Watch	“i will fully fund healthcare in this province.”	Vague	Fully fund health care and front line
0:21:43 ▶ Watch	“we are going to cut through red tape in this province and all of the bureaucracy that is holding us back so badly.”	Vague	Cut red tape and bureaucracy
0:21:43 ▶ Watch	“but we will be looking for savings wherever we can.”	Vague	Find savings in spending
0:23:23 ▶ Watch	“the bc greens' plan looks at how we can build a stable, sustainable industry right here in bc from green manufacturing to forestry to service.”	Vague	Sustainable, value-added industry incl. forestry
0:24:58 ▶ Watch	“the so-called balanced budgets that the previous government delivered were balanced on the backs of british columbians, and we will never do that.”	Vague	Not balance the budget on families' backs (repeated T259, T262)
0:24:58 ▶ Watch	“i'll make sure we grow the economy, address wasteful spending”	Vague	Grow economy, cut wasteful administrative spending (repeated T262)
0:26:31 ▶ Watch	“while also funding the services that british columbians so desperate will he need such as universal child care”	Vague	Universal child care (repeated T081, T300)
0:26:31 ▶ Watch	“social housing, and fast, free, and frequent transit.”	Vague	Fare-free, frequent transit (repeated T081, T300) — 'free' is stated but no figure, date or owner
0:28:32 ▶ Watch	“british columbians will see a fulsome plan before they go to the polls”	Vague	Release a fuller plan (contents unstated) — date: before voting day; but no specific measure named
0:29:43 ▶ Watch	“how we'll pay for the healthcare they need. how we'll pay for the new cat scan machine at surrey.”	Vague	More scanners incl. a new CT scanner in Surrey (repeated T170)
0:35:04 ▶ Watch	“our proposal is simple. to expand it. we'll have an announcement about how we'll add thousands and thousands of new spaces”	Vague	Expand child care, incl. before/after-school spaces — 'thousands and thousands' is not a specific figure
0:36:36 ▶ Watch	“british columbians should know that every dollar of that is allocated to improving services in our province.”	Vague	Earmark new tax revenue to services
0:38:15 ▶ Watch	“i am committed to keeping our rates very competitive in british columbia.”	Vague	Keep ICBC rates competitive
0:38:15 ▶ Watch	“we will put guardrails in place that will protect the rates for british columbians by making sure that there are caps on what lawyers can charge”	Vague	Cap lawyers' fees under a changed ICBC model
0:38:15 ▶ Watch	“i will not let those individuals down that have frankly been let down for a number of years under this no-fault scheme.”	Vague	Support catastrophically injured drivers
0:45:32 ▶ Watch	“working in partnership with the prime minister, with the prosperity agreement to build our ports, our roads, ensure our goods get to market”	Vague	Build ports and roads under a federal prosperity agreement
0:54:23 ▶ Watch	“we will have a housing announcement about increasing the construction of social housing absolutely.”	Vague	Increase social-housing construction
0:55:41 ▶ Watch	“you attack that as well through yet another punitive tax against our senior citizens. we will repeal that.”	Vague	Reverse the change to seniors' property-tax deferral (repeated T178, T187)
0:58:23 ▶ Watch	“it is in our platform that we would bring in community health care centres into every riding”	Vague	Community health centres in every riding — 'every riding' gives coverage but no stated figure, date or owner
1:01:46 ▶ Watch	“we have committed to making sure that there will be security inside of our ers and inside of our hospitals.”	Vague	Security staff in ERs and hospitals
1:03:51 ▶ Watch	“wrap-around supports for seniors to age in their homes with safety care and dignity. that's exactly what the group -- bc greens will deliver.”	Vague	Supports for seniors aging at home
1:08:52 ▶ Watch	“they surely do. i'm committed to that.”	Vague	Dignified care for seniors
1:09:43 ▶ Watch	“with the shingles vaccine and need through pharmacare and get the support you need to live at home”	Vague	Shingles vaccine through PharmaCare
1:13:21 ▶ Watch	“we are appealing the court decisions. we're going to ensure that we're protecting private property.”	Vague	Appeal DRIPA-related rulings; protect private property
1:13:21 ▶ Watch	“when we work together the province can be an amazing incredible place. and we'll deliver way beyond anyone's expectations.”	Vague	Partnership with Indigenous peoples on major projects
1:15:06 ▶ Watch	“the reality is that dripa has to be repealed in the province. i'm committed to doing that”	Vague	Repeal DRIPA
1:15:06 ▶ Watch	“there has to be a better path forward. and that is through respect and relations and certainly partnerships with first nations in this province. i'm absolutely committed to that.”	Vague	Partnerships with First Nations (repeated T217, T236)
1:23:16 ▶ Watch	“certainly i would commit to wanting to build more.”	Vague	Build more treatment/housing
1:24:47 ▶ Watch	“why we will deliver care for these folks even if they can't ask for it and involuntary care in every region of the province”	Vague	Involuntary-care sites in every region, funded (repeated T247) — sites named (Surrey, Vancouver Island, Okanagan) but no amount, date or owner
1:32:55 ▶ Watch	“whatever you decide on voting day, i will respect that decision. and if it's majority or minority, we're always willing to work with anyone”	Vague	Respect result; work with other parties
1:34:33 ▶ Watch	“i will commit to working very hard in the legislature with other parties as well”	Vague	Work with other parties in the legislature
1:39:17 ▶ Watch	“commitment to reign in the excess profits on the basics at the grocery store for you and your family”	Vague	Rein in grocery-chain excess profits (repeated T293, T302)
1:45:06 ▶ Watch	“we will stand shoulder to shoulder with leaders across the country to build up this country and province”	Vague	Work with other Canadian leaders

Own plan, not attacks — 1,030 sentences

Every one of 1,030 sentences was labelled own, attack or other, and the labels and the script are kept with the transcript. Doerkson was the only leader who spent more words on his opponents than on his own plan.

Lorne Doerkson — 1865 words on own plan, 2111 on opponents, 979 other: 47% own.

On opponents

• 0:09:14 ▶ Watch “he called a snap election because he saw opportunity for himself.”
• 0:31:14 ▶ Watch “the reality is, mr. eby, you've been running this province for a decade, and nothing is better.”
• 1:06:35 ▶ Watch “you mismanagement of the province is devastating.”

On own plan

• 1:01:46 ▶ Watch “we will also commit $50 million fund to bolster our ers that are closing right now.”
• 1:06:35 ▶ Watch “more than that, we have offered a thousand dollar saving on your tax.”
• 1:15:06 ▶ Watch “the reality is that dripa has to be repealed in the province.”

David Eby — 2600 words on own plan, 1652 on opponents, 929 other: 61% own.

On opponents

• 0:30:04 ▶ Watch “when they have uncosted promises, they cut like crazy.”
• 0:17:48 ▶ Watch “your candidate in chilliwack confronted a fellow mla, her colleague, elenore sturko, and told her that she was immoral for being gay.”
• 0:36:36 ▶ Watch “and they're going to do it again this time because he will not explain where that $5 billion comes from.”

On own plan

• 0:35:04 ▶ Watch “we've created tens of thousands of spaces, 60,000, actually, across the province.”
• 0:51:09 ▶ Watch “24 months in a row rents decreasing year over year in british columbia because we have built so much rental housing.”
• 0:44:48 ▶ Watch “lng canada phase two will be 30% better performing on carbon emissions than the best performing facilities in the world, aened it will generate $28 billion for provincial revenues”

Emily Lowan — 1417 words on own plan, 1236 on opponents, 454 other: 53% own.

On opponents

• 0:30:42 ▶ Watch “my biggest issue with your plan, mr. eby, is you are taxing work and not wealth.”
• 0:52:32 ▶ Watch “in budget 2026, mr. eby you cancelled $1.4 billion community housing fund.”
• 0:54:41 ▶ Watch “this year's election bribes are next year's broken promises.”

On own plan

• 0:32:03 ▶ Watch “if you have a fortune of $50 million and up, you would pay a 5% tax on that wealth once.”
• 0:52:32 ▶ Watch “build and protect 26,000 units of genuinely affordable housing.”
• 0:13:50 ▶ Watch “If the greens held the balance of power, it would be my top priority to advocate for a better voting system.”

Rural, resource and recreation — every counted turn

Doerkson 8.7 minutes in 14 turns · Eby 3.4 minutes in 7 turns · Lowan 4.5 minutes in 4 turns. Eby’s minutes are about mines and LNG; Doerkson’s are mostly about forestry and DRIPA’s effect on tenure; Lowan’s are about resource royalties and raw-log exports.

Doerkson0:15:05 ▶ Watch54sforestlngnatural gas

“Well, thank you very much. I am absolutely committed to super charging the economy in british columbia, and this is such an important note. The reality is that we've seen the forest industry in peril over the last number of years, and there are opportunities before us that are massive in lng and natural gas.”

Doerkson0:21:43 ▶ Watch73sforestlng

“Well, thank you very much, shachi, for the question. I will fully fund -- and I want to be clear about this because there's been some misleading information. I will fully fund healthcare in this province. We absolutely have to. Under the ndp, we've seen absolute crisis in this field.”

Doerkson0:38:15 ▶ Watch73slogging

“I will say this, shachi. This is a very serious topic in this province, and it's one that seems to be ignored by many. I am committed to keeping our rates very competitive in british columbia. British columbians, of course, want that.”

Doerkson0:45:28 ▶ Watch4sforest

“And you've lost forestry -- you watched forestry collapse in this province.”

Doerkson0:45:46 ▶ Watch20sforest

“The problem is with this narrative -- and I think it's what frustrates most british columbians, is that nobody believes you anymore, mr. Eby. You've had a decade to take an opportunity to try to fix what's happening in this province. Our direct revenue coming from the forest industry now could be likened to cigarette tax. It's that low.”

Doerkson1:06:35 ▶ Watch73sforest

“Talk about fear mongering. You refuse to talk about your own record that is devastation. Doesn't matter what we talk about health care or forestry, doesn't matter. You mismanagement of the province is devastating. The reality is there was an opportunity in your plan to help seniors stay and age in place. You chose not to do that.”

Doerkson1:15:06 ▶ Watch75slandscapeminingtenures

“Thank you very much shachi. Certainly some indigenous leaders suggested this might not be the best legislation for british columbians. The reality is that dripa has to be repealed in the province. I'm committed to doing that for a number of reasons. First off, not helped british columbia. It created more division on the landscape than I have ever seen in my life. This legislation is not that old.”

Doerkson1:18:08 ▶ Watch58slandscape

“Thank you very much. I will agree with a few points that ms. Lowan has introduced with respect to the chaos created by mr. Eby on the subject. The reason I say that we have had the opportunity to have the conversation yet again in the fall session of our legislature where mr. Eby made promises to all british columbians that he may amend or might change or we would allow -- be allowed to debate.”

Doerkson1:20:31 ▶ Watch16scopper

“That project could have moved forward with the partnership with first nations. Where we should have gone with fish lake. That's a massive copper deposit and an opportunity to grow the economy. Make things amazing. It was turned down by the federal government mr. Eby. You might not know that.”

Doerkson1:21:53 ▶ Watch22slandscaperecreation

“Who would you say to the people of pen harbour? And to know who can't navigate that. What would you say to the people who are trying to buy recreational lease? There is no clarity on the landscape. That is unacceptable.”

Doerkson1:22:28 ▶ Watch12slandscape

“The fact is dripa not solved that. We don't have that and at odds constantly in the province and no clarity in the landscape. Hasn't been and won't be under dripa.”

Doerkson1:40:25 ▶ Watch9sforest

“We have to get back through growing the economy. If that is a multitude of different ways.”

Doerkson1:40:38 ▶ Watch12sforestmilling

“You have forestry beyond recognition. This was one a driving opportunity for so many british columbians. There are 6 or 7 milling operations in the downtown of my community. People are terrified.”

Doerkson1:43:12 ▶ Watch19srural

“The reality is this will extend to senior citizens in the province. We have to give relief in the province to the residents that are working so hard. And we have to bolster our industries in this province to grow good paying jobs for all british columbians. That extends from rural bc into the city and all throughout this province.”

Eby0:30:04 ▶ Watch32srural

“Thanks. We're telling british columbians, we're telling you at home, we're giving you the clear path to fund additional healthcare. Now, the conservatives have shown up to this debate with $5 billion in promises and a commission to study wait lists. The history is clear. When they have uncosted promises, they cut like crazy. We've seen this before in british columbia.”

Eby0:44:48 ▶ Watch40slngminesmining

“It's an important question. Lng canada phase two -- I know not everyone is a fan of lng, and the green leader and I share a number of values around ensuring that we're driving down emissions.”

Eby1:13:21 ▶ Watch72slngmines

“Thanks. This is an absolutely crucial issue. It is true, we have had a couple of challenging court decisions. And I also hope to explain to british columbians something else that's true. There are two corner stones to the success as a province. One is if we want to be successful, if we want to take advantage of the incredible prosperity out there, there's only one path forward.”

Eby1:19:30 ▶ Watch30scoppermine

“Let me take you to fish lake. It is over one of the largest copper and gold deposits in canada. In the dying days of the christy clark administration they approved it over the objection of first nations. Let me tell you what happened next. Absolutely nothing. The mine was never built. Exploration was challenged successfully in court. No exploration was done.”

Eby1:21:32 ▶ Watch8smines

“There are facts. We have set the record for exploration and opened more mines than ever before in the history of the province in the last 18 months.”

Eby1:21:43 ▶ Watch10smining

“In the northwest historic investment and land protection and billions of dollars of mining and electrical transmission all the way up to the northwest.”

Eby1:29:46 ▶ Watch12sresources

“Setting aside resources to deliver it than spending $5 billion how you don't tell british columbians how you spend or pay with it.”

Lowan0:23:23 ▶ Watch70sforestlngresource

“Bc's economy has changed a lot in the last 50 years, and what we have seen is a move to largely service industries. Our resource revenues have shrunk to just 7% of provincial gdp and 3% of jobs overall. And what we've also seen is that lottery and liquor sales generate more in revenue than lng.”

Lowan0:26:31 ▶ Watch73sresourceresourcesroyalt

“Absolutely. We have a three to five-year plan on bc's deficit. I'm very impressed with our fully costed, credible plan.”

Lowan0:43:56 ▶ Watch52slng

“This is a question about revenue, and who is best positioned to manage bc's economy. And so I think british columbians want to know how are you going to make up this gap in bc's revenue?”

Lowan0:52:32 ▶ Watch75slngresourceroyalt

“In budget 2026, mr. Eby you cancelled $1.4 billion community housing fund. And I have spent the months since travelling to those projects, the thousands of units shovel ready units now completely frozen by this decision. You know, I just struggle to imagine a world in which if I was premier that would be my first to cut.”

On the backcountry — the evidence for each test

• Commitment: a written pledge of public access to public land. 1 / ½ (parks or one activity only) / 0
• Owner: the pledge names who must deliver it. 1 / ½ (a body, not made responsible) / 0
• Money: a dollar figure for recreation access on resource roads. 1 / ½ / 0
• Record: own Hansard turns as an MLA (Doerkson since 2020, Eby since 2013) on resource roads or Crown-land access. 5+ = 1, 1–4 = ½, 0 = 0
• Life on the land: sourced outdoor or resource life. Documented = 1, self-described = ½, none = 0

This test originally counted only the 43rd Parliament; we widened it to each leader’s full record as an MLA after the first scoring, because the shorter window left out most of the record. Both men were recounted the same way.

Commitment

Doerkson1

‘Public Access: British Columbians deserve guaranteed access to public lands and wild areas, including hunting and fishing rights. (§11.12(a)); open access through a variety of methods for hunting, fishing and trapping on all provincial Crown lands (§11.13(g))’

CPBC Policy Declaration §11.12, 2025

Eby1

‘Target 8: A modernized framework for high-value recreation access and resource roads; recreation access depends heavily on resource roads’

Look West strategy, Target 8, 2026

Lowan½

‘We will develop a long-term investment plan for BC Parks and recreation infrastructure that recognizes these wider economic benefits alongside conservation and public access’

BC Greens Economic Vision §2.1.4, 2026

Owner

Doerkson½

‘§11.13(g): in co-operation with the BC Forest Service’

CPBC Policy Declaration §11.13(g), 2025

Eby0

‘No public record found (Target 8 names no ministry, minister or office; Target 1 only proposes to explore the establishment of a coordinating Office of Outdoor Recreation)’

Look West, Targets 1 and 8, 2026

The commitment names nobody to deliver it.

Lowan½

‘§2.1.4 B names BC Parks as the subject of the investment plan; no minister, ministry or office is made responsible’

BC Greens Economic Vision §2.1.4, 2026

Money

Doerkson0

No public record found

CPBC Policy Declaration; “Our Plan”, 2026

No dollar figure attached to recreation, access or resource roads in any party document found.

Eby½

‘forest road maintenance budget has increased by $3.2 million, totalling an amount of $9.6 million (Eby, for community access); Minister of Forests on road money: these are dollars not for rec sites or for recreation; rec-site money ($21.59M over five years) does not reach the roads’

Hansard, Issues 38 and 72, 2025

Lowan0

‘No public record found (§2.1.4 B promises an investment plan with no dollar figure)’

BC Greens Economic Vision §2.1.4, 2026

No dollar figure for recreation or roads.

Record

Doerkson1

‘It’s not just about access. The way that these roads are deactivated can oftentimes be dangerous.’

Hansard, Issue 116, 26 Oct 2021, and 17 more turns, 2021–25 · 18 turns

18 qualifying turns (5+ band) = 1.

Reviewed and not counted: his Spout Lake and Canim Lake South / Mahood Lake road petitions (Issues 84 and 151), which concern public rural roads, not resource roads or Crown-land access.

Eby½

‘The Minister of Forests is responsible for forestry roads, many of which serve small rural communities and First Nations communities.’

Hansard, Issue 72, 28 May 2025; none in 2013–24 · 1 turn

1 qualifying turn since 2013 (1-4 band) = 0.5.

Lowan0

‘No public record found (never a member of the Legislature)’

Never a member of the Legislature · 0 turns

Not a member: 0 by rule.

Life on the land

Doerkson1

‘Former rodeo rider Doerkson seeks to buck-off Eby in B.C. election (bareback rider in the 1990s); also rode the Gold Rush Snowmobile Trail to Helena Lake with the 108 ATV Club, Williams Lake Tribune, 20 Aug 2025’

Williams Lake Tribune, 24 Sep 2026

Documented rodeo riding and a reported backcountry ATV ride from independent public news sources.

Eby½

‘When he’s not working, David spends his free time skiing, riding bikes, and going to UBC Thunderbird basketball games with his family.’

davidebymla.ca “About” (archived), 2026

Outdoor recreation (skiing, cycling) appears only in his own biography; no independent documentation found.

Lowan½

‘I feel so lucky to have spent my youth crabbing with my dad off the Sidney pier, camping with my family in Ruckle Park, and snorkelling at Ardmore Beach.’

BC Greens candidate page, 2026

Outdoor recreation described only by herself on her party page; no independent documentation found.

Totals: Doerkson 3.5 of 5 · Eby 2.5 of 5 · Lowan 1.5 of 5

On the backcountry, Doerkson scores 3.5 of 5, Eby 2.5 and Lowan 1.5. Counted over each man’s full time as an MLA, Doerkson’s House record has 18 turns on resource roads, most of them on the deactivation of forest roads, which earns the full point; Eby’s has one since 2013, which earns half. Eby also gains half a point for describing himself as a skier and cyclist, and Lowan gains half for a parks commitment that names BC Parks.⁴

Stills: CBC News, from the BC Broadcast Consortium debate broadcast, used for news reporting and commentary. Each still is an unedited frame from the moment its timestamp links to.