His voice audibly hoarse, B.C. NDP Leader David Eby wrapped up his third and final campaign on Vancouver Island with a stop in Victoria late Wednesday afternoon.
His message to an estimated audience of 150 people amounted to an appeal for one final push toward Saturday, Oct. 19, when British Columbians head to the polls on general voting.
Polls show Eby's party in a neck-and-neck race with the Conservative Party of B.C. under John Rustad and Thursday's rally in Victoria served as the climax of a swing across Vancouver Island, the second-largest population centre outside Metro Vancouver. While the region has historically voted for the B.C. NDP, Eby's presence in the area can also be read as an acknowledgement that the campaign still remains in the balance.
"We are in an election campaign and there are three days left," he said, drawing out each word for emphasis, as he stood in front of a wall consisting of candidates, volunteers and the who-is-who of provincial and federal New Democrats wielding orange election signs. They included former party leader and finance minister Carole James and among others.
Eby used the occasion to warns of cuts about health care under a Conservative government and continued his party's outreach to would-be voters of the B.C. Greens and British Columbians who supported B.C. United in the past.
"May be your whole life, you voted for a different party, the B.C. Liberals...or B.C. United," he said. "May be it was the Greens and you have never voted NDP. But I know you know and I know you feel what I feel, what everybody else here feels about what's on the line -- a strong public health care system, a province that takes climate action seriously and believes in the science of climate change, a government that doesn't remove environmental educational materials from kids' curriculum to prevent them from learning about the environment or about residential schools."
While Eby was the main speaker of the event, the rally also served as a testimonial for B.C. NDP candidate Grace Lore, who finds herself in a tough race in Victoria Beacon-Hill against B.C. Greens Leader Sonia Furstenau.
Eby praised Lore's work as minister for children and family development, calling her ministry the "most challenging file."
Grand Chief Stewart Phillip of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs called the Lore the "face of our movement" to reclaim jurisdiction over Indigenous children and families. "We need her back, we need her back," he said to the crowd.
Phillip also perhaps had the best line of the evening when he, as had several other speakers, warned the audience of Rustad.
"John Rustad, in my view, is the Fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse and he carries the name of privatization," Phillip said in warning of changes to health care and other areas.
Phillip was referencing the novel A Sleepy Hollow Legend in which the Fifth Horseman is said to have brought chaos, conspiracy, suspicion and paranoia to town. The broader reference to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse comes from the Bible, where the Book of Revelation describes four Horsemen that personify conquest, war, famine and death.
Phillip also echoed the party's message that a vote for the B.C. Greens amounts to a vote for Rustad.
The importance of Vancouver Island to both parties was evident earlier when Rustad made a health care announcement in Nanaimo. He specifically pledged a patient tower for Nanaimo Regional Hospital and a cardiac catheterization lab. The B.C. NDP had also pledged to bring a new patient tower to the fast-growing community during an earlier campaign stop and Eby used his appearance in Nanaimo earlier Wednesday to underscore his party's commitment toward the project in calling it a priority. Both proposals lacked specific budgets and timelines.
Rustad also pushed back claims that Conservatives would cut public health care, while introducing user-pay-health care.
He said his party's proposal would introduce European not American health care. "David Eby needs a geography lesson," Rustad said. "When you look at those models, they are ranked among the best in the world, but they are single-payer." He added that government pays for services just as in Canada, with "government and non-government agencies" delievering the services themselves. "By doing that, we are going to be far more efficient."
Rustad Wednesday later campaigned in Nanaimo, where he pledged marine and railway infrastructure upgrades for the region.
-with files from Jessica Durling and Jacqueline Gelineau
