MLA candidates Tim Thielmann (Conservative Party of B.C.), Grace Lore (B.C. NDP) and Sonia Furstenau (B.C. Green Party) gathered at the Victoria Conference Centre on Tuesday, Oct. 1 to field questions from the public.
Moderated by Gregor Craigie, the host of the CBC's radio show On The Island, the candidates spoke about a range of topics, from safe-supply programs to public transportation to short-term rental restrictions.
The public submitted questions before the event, and the Downtown Victoria Business Association, which organized the debate, collated them for Craigie to ask. There were no chances for the audience to raise their concerns in person.
In the first few minutes of the 2.5-hour debate, Craigie asked the candidates which policies they would promote to address people's mental health and addiction challenges in downtown Victoria.
Lore, Victoria-Beacon Hill's incumbent MLA, said investing in treatment and harm-reduction facilities is important in adresseing these concerns.
Furstenau, the leader of the B.C. Green Party and current Cowichan Valley MLA, said the province doesn’t have an adequate voluntary care system, adding that could be addressed if MSP covered psychology appointments. She also stressed the need for psychologists, more councillors and evidence-based drug prevention programs in schools.
Thielmann advocated for investments in recovery programs and dry housing, while criticizing the decriminalization of drugs, which he called a “failed experiment.”
“Instead of normalizing drug addiction, we need to normalize recovery with investments in recovery,” he said. “Specifically, we will take drug consumption sites, which make it easier for people to remain addicted to drugs, and transform those into recovery intake centres.”
This led to a discussion about involuntary addictions treatments, which Thielmann said he is in favour of.
“When you see somebody lying face down for the second time on Pandora, those are the people that need to be picked up and taken to somewhere that they can be cared for,” he said.
Furstenau said she doesn’t believe involuntary treatments are effective.
“Evidence shows, especially for treatment of addictions, that there's about a 3.5 per cent success rate for involuntary treatment of addiction,” she said.
Furstenau added she doesn't think investing in involuntary care makes sense at a time when "people are putting up their hands and saying, 'I would like to get access to treatment, I would like to get access to recovery,' and it's not available."
While stressing the importance of support services in helping people with mental health and addiction issues, Lore said her government supports involuntary treatment in some cases.
“David Eby has made it clear that, for that small number of folks, we need to look at secure care,” she said. “We need to make sure that folks who are extremely vulnerable in our communities to repeated overdose, to exploitation, are able to access the care they need ... and so we need to make sure that we're intervening there.”
Later, the candidates were asked if they support the short-term rental accommodations act as a step to address housing affordability and labour shortages in Victoria.
Lore and Furstenau said they support the restrictions, while Thielmann spoke against them, claiming the government should have compensated short-term rental owners for lost business.
The conversation soon shifted to the state of transportation on the Island, including about the re-establishment of the E&N rail corridor, which Furstenau and Lore said they would not support.
“The current E&N track was land that was basically dispossessed from Indigenous communities and Indigenous people, and ... a number of them have said very clearly, 'We do not want trains through our territory anymore,'” Furstenau said, adding the government should prioritize expanding bus service on the Island as an alternative.
Thielmann said he didn’t have enough information to comment on the project’s feasibility, but he agreed with Furstenau that more buses would benefit Islanders.
Craigie closed off the evening by asking the candidates whether they would prioritize advocating for the best interests of voters or follow the party line.
Each of the candidates said constituents would be their top priority.
Thielmann added, “The difference between our party and the NDP here is that I don't think I've ever seen an NDP member speak out of turn."
Lore had her own criticism of B.C. Conservatives.
“This is a party that has had anti-choice advocates, that has repeatedly said things around climate science,” she said. “These are deeply concerning things ... for a party that wants to lead this province.”
Despite disagreements, the discussion throughout the event was civil and audience outbursts tame.
At the beginning of the forum, the candidates were asked to provide 90-second responses to his questions, and each of them stuck to their allotted time. None of the candidates traded personal jabs or interrupted other speakers.
There were, however, a few short interruptions from the crowd.
When the candidates were discussing decriminalization, Thielmann claimed that, in their last debate, Furstenau compared drinking coffee to consuming fentanyl. While few attendees laughed, another yelled, “Shame.”
Later, when asked about policing protests in Victoria, Thielmann called pro-Palestinian demonstrations “hate mobs,” prompting boos.
As Craigie was wrapping up the debate, a frustrated audience member said, “How has there not been a single question about the climate crisis?”
"The critique is well-taken,” the moderator later said. “There are a lot of more conversations to be had, more questions to be asked.”
Candidates, who will convene again on Oct. 16 for a debate at the James Bay Community Centre, shook hands and posed for photos after the event.
The provincial election is set for Oct. 19. Victoria-Beacon Hill residents can vote in advance from Oct. 10 to 13, as well as on Oct. 15 and 16.
