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The quick read: The leaders of B.C.'s three main parties faced off on Wednesday night in the province's only televised election debate. NDP Leader David Eby spent much of the evening defending his September 22 snap election call, Conservative interim Leader Lorne Doerkson called the vote cynical and pledged to repeal the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, and Green Leader Emily Lowan positioned herself as the only outsider on stage. British Columbians head to the polls on Saturday, October 24.

Wednesday night was the one moment in this snap campaign when all three main party leaders had to answer questions they didn't write themselves.

NDP Leader David Eby, Conservative interim Leader Lorne Doerkson and Green Leader Emily Lowan traded fire for two hours in the only televised debate of the election, moderated by the Angus Reid Institute's Shachi Kurl.

CentreBC Leader Elenore Sturko and OneBC interim leader Dallas Brodie also made brief taped appearances near the end of the broadcast.

The snap call on trial

Kurl pressed Eby on why he called an election two years early, putting to him the charge that it was an 'opportunistic power grab.'

Eby's answer: with a one-seat majority — effectively tied once a Speaker is appointed — the government couldn't reliably deliver its agenda, and voters deserved a verdict.

Doerkson wasn't buying it, calling the election cynical after nearly a decade of NDP rule and telling viewers they deserved better.

Taxes and spending

The sharpest exchanges were about money.

Eby pitched a plan to raise taxes on individuals earning more than 190,000 dollars a year to fund services, alongside a temporary break on the 10-cent-per-litre fuel tax.

Doerkson countered with a promise to raise the amount British Columbians can earn before paying income tax to 32,000 dollars — a move some economists say could cost the treasury up to 4 billion dollars.

Eby's response was a familiar one: when Conservatives need money, they cut — closing schools and gutting seniors' care.

Doerkson, in turn, promised to fully fund health care without cutting front-line services, and added a new women and children's hospital in Surrey and a revived 10-lane Massey Tunnel bridge to the Conservative pitch.

Eby fired back that revisiting the Massey project would add two to four years and inflate a project already pegged at 8.5 billion dollars.

DRIPA, health care and the outsider

On Indigenous rights, Doerkson pledged to repeal the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, arguing it has bred division rather than unity.

Eby defended his government's partnerships with Indigenous communities, while Lowan defended DRIPA and insisted it does not threaten private property.

On health care, Lowan noted that Eby's government slowed construction on seven long-term care projects — Eby said they are back on track — and accused both major parties of recycling old ideas.

Lowan, the only renter and the only leader with minimum-wage experience on stage, also promised to raise the minimum wage above inflation until it reaches a living wage.

Why it matters in the Okanagan

With six days to voting day, the race remains uncomfortably tight.

The debate gave voters their clearest look yet at the choice on offer: Eby's defence of a nine-year record and a tax-the-wealthy pitch, Doerkson's promise of tax relief and a smaller role for government, and Lowan's bid to be the conscience of the legislature.

In the Okanagan, it could come down to the ridings that always do — Kelowna Centre was decided by just 40 votes in 2024.

On October 24, Okanagan voters get their second say in seven days.

Photo credit: Photo by Keelan Clemens on Pexels