David Eby accused John Rustad of being an anti-vaxxer during the sharpest exchange of Tuesday's televised debate, a charge Rustad refuted by saying that he is "anti-mandate."
The debate featured frequent clashes between B.C. NDP Leader Eby and Conservative Party Leader of B.C. Rustad as their parties stand neck and neck in the polls, with B.C. Greens Leader Sonia Furstenau interjecting with some of the evening's sharpest lines.
The exchange between Eby and Rustad over vaccines happened during a question about ensuring quality of life for seniors. Eby used the question to criticize the record of the B.C. Liberals when Rustad was part of their caucus. He then pivoted toward criticizing Rustad himself.
"He is still anti-vaxxer," Eby said, adding he would not fire B.C.'s public health officer Bonnie Henry, as the Conservative leader has suggested he would do, but rather hire family doctors for British Columbians.
Rustad responded that he is triple-vaccinated.
"I'm not anti-vax, I'm anti-mandate," he said. "I believe that people should have choices."
Furstenau noted that her party does not have candidates that supported the Freedom Convoy, adding Greens believe science works and keeps people safe. She also accused Eby of hypocrisy in citing Henry when it served his purpose, but ignoring her advice on safe supply for people dealing with addictions and mental health problems.
Other issues drawing attention during the debate's first hour included housing and health care.
Eby said there is no one solution to B.C.'s housing crisis in pledging to tackle the problem from multiple angles. Rustad blamed excessive regulation in promising to unleash the "potential of the private sector" and accused Eby of blaming everybody except himself for the housing crisis. Furstenau lamented the influence of large investors in housing in criticizing Rustad's plan, while accusing Eby of not doing enough to protect rental housing against investors.
Rustad refuted claims his party would cut healthcare spending. He said it would be making additional investments in reforming health care, later adding in the post-debate scrum it would run early deficits to make that happen.
Eby said his government connected 250,000 people to a family doctor last year with another 160,000 to be connected in the next six months.
"Every British Columbian who wants a family doctor will be able to have one by the end of 2025 at the pace we are going right now," he said.
Furstenau, meanwhile, questioned the growth of bureaucracy in the health care system under the B.C. NDP. But she also blamed Rustad's former party, the B.C. Liberals, for making cuts that continue to resonate today while highlighting her party's health care plan to create community health care centres.
The three leaders used the opening and closing of the debate to say familiar things about themselves and the others.
Eby stressed his party's pledged tax cut of $1,000 for 90 per cent of households. Rustad said one of three people are thinking about leaving British Columbia, and pointed toward his party's pledge to axe the carbon tax and deduct up to $3,000 off provincial income taxes for mortgage and rent payments by 2029. Furstenau accused Eby for abandoning the fight against climate change and appealed for a minority government that would require parties to cooperate.
Eby questioned whether Conservatives would be able to govern because of views held by some of their candidates on COVID-19 and climate change.
Rustad asked British Columbians whether anything had improved during the past seven years of NDP governments. He frequently tried to underscore his assessment of B.C. through anecdotes. They included the claim that he personally saw a person dying of an overdose at a Vancouver street corner of Robson while driving to the debate, and a story about a woman "covered in blood" in a hospital washroom following a miscarriage.
Furstenau offered her party as the only party promoting a vision of B.C. as a knowledge-based economy powered by clean energy, accusing both Eby and Rustad but especially Rustad of wanting to keep B.C. in the 20th century.
She and Eby joined hands against Rustad in a debate section on Indigenous rights, and on the lack of a fully-costed Conservative platform. Eby said such a platform should have been a requirement for participating in the debate and questioned whether British Columbians could trust Rustad about his plans in the absence of such a document.
"You will see a costed platform,I suspect, later this week," Rustad said.
Reactions to the debate varied.
Geoff Meggs, who was chief-of-staff for former NDP Premier John Horgan from 2017 until 2022, said Eby exceeded expectations, adding that Rustad did not have a strong performance. He added that Rustad offered a "hopeless" and "negative" view of British Columbia without offering specific answers.
"If there was a winner tonight, it was David Eby," Meggs said.
Peter Milobar, former B.C. United MLA now running for the Conservatives in Kamloops-Centre, said the debate unfolded as he had expected.
"I think the average person tuning in to get acquainted with the leaders would have heard that John recognizes the issues and is willing to tackle them," he said. "Eby made it clear that things have not gotten better under his watch."
Milobar added that he lost track of how often Eby said how much work remains to be done.
Adam Olsen, B.C. Greens' campaign chair, said Furstenau's performance shows the benefits of being engaged with the issues and "speaking free from the heart" in ways the other two leaders were not able to do.
"I'm elated — I think Sonia did the best," Olsen said.
UBC political scientist Stewart Prest described the debate as a "genuine exchange" of views with all three leaders landing some marks.
"I thought Rustad's tone was darker than I expected," he said. "At times, he sounded like a Facebook meme page. Eby seemed to get more comfortable and passionate as the evening wore on."
