With just 11 days to go before voters head to the polls, the heads of British Columbia's three largest political parties faced off in the second leaders' debate.While BC NDP leader David Eby and his BC Conservative counterpart John Rustad exchanged blows, BC Greens leader Sonia Furstenau questioned if perhaps the province would be better off abandoning the current electoral system in favour of one that requires parties to work together.The trio tackled issues ranging from healthcare and Indigenous relations, to affordability and the drug crisis. Every time they had the floor, Rustad and Eby dedicated precious seconds to attacking one another. Furstenau attacked them both..On the issue of housing, Eby claimed Rustad wouldn't be able to get nearly enough homes built, while the Conservative leader accused the governing party of putting up so much red tape it was nearly impossible for the private sector to develop properties."There's no question in my mind it was built by the private sector," Rustad said of BC's housing supply in the past. "The private sector has to play an important role ... The reality is, when I talk to people that wanna build homes in this province, they say it takes too long."He suggested the solution was to "work with municipalities to get the permitting process cleaned up," pointing out that in Vancouver, there are 274 housing-related bylaws and every project is touched by more than 70 people..Despite the fact that Rustad is triple-vaxxed, Eby went after him for allegedly being against the COVID-19 vaccine. "I am not anti-vax," he replied. "I am anti-mandate. I believe that people should have choice. It shouldn't be thrust upon them, or forced upon them.".Rustad then went after Eby and the NDP for banning plastic straws while decriminalizing cocaine, citing a meme to make his point.The attacks levelled by the two frontrunners, which have been a staple of both their campaigns, was noted by the moderator, CBC's Shachi Kurl. She asked all the candidates to reflect on how they've "contributed to an increasingly polarized political climate."Eby argued that while he would rather be talking policy than personality, Rustad made that impossible. Rustad replied by claiming that Conservatives were trying to do the same..Furstenau took the opportunity to point out that polarization increases in "two-party systems," when parties "have to define one another as 'the opposite' of one another.""We lose the common ground," she lamented, claiming that "the least polarized we were in BC was during the minority government of 2017 to 2020, when we worked together."She suggested that, "if we want less polarization, if we want more focus on solutions, we have to get away from a winner-takes-all, two-party system," and called on voters to make that happen by electing enough Greens to shift the balance of power..Before the night was over, Rustad got in one last jab at Eby, slamming him over what happened to now-former MLA Selina Robinson."We have a government that kicks out a Jewish cabinet minister ... to appease a mob, who last night was burning flags in front of the Art Gallery," he said, referencing acts caught on camera by the Western Standard. I find that incredibly offensive."
With just 11 days to go before voters head to the polls, the heads of British Columbia's three largest political parties faced off in the second leaders' debate.While BC NDP leader David Eby and his BC Conservative counterpart John Rustad exchanged blows, BC Greens leader Sonia Furstenau questioned if perhaps the province would be better off abandoning the current electoral system in favour of one that requires parties to work together.The trio tackled issues ranging from healthcare and Indigenous relations, to affordability and the drug crisis. Every time they had the floor, Rustad and Eby dedicated precious seconds to attacking one another. Furstenau attacked them both..On the issue of housing, Eby claimed Rustad wouldn't be able to get nearly enough homes built, while the Conservative leader accused the governing party of putting up so much red tape it was nearly impossible for the private sector to develop properties."There's no question in my mind it was built by the private sector," Rustad said of BC's housing supply in the past. "The private sector has to play an important role ... The reality is, when I talk to people that wanna build homes in this province, they say it takes too long."He suggested the solution was to "work with municipalities to get the permitting process cleaned up," pointing out that in Vancouver, there are 274 housing-related bylaws and every project is touched by more than 70 people..Despite the fact that Rustad is triple-vaxxed, Eby went after him for allegedly being against the COVID-19 vaccine. "I am not anti-vax," he replied. "I am anti-mandate. I believe that people should have choice. It shouldn't be thrust upon them, or forced upon them.".Rustad then went after Eby and the NDP for banning plastic straws while decriminalizing cocaine, citing a meme to make his point.The attacks levelled by the two frontrunners, which have been a staple of both their campaigns, was noted by the moderator, CBC's Shachi Kurl. She asked all the candidates to reflect on how they've "contributed to an increasingly polarized political climate."Eby argued that while he would rather be talking policy than personality, Rustad made that impossible. Rustad replied by claiming that Conservatives were trying to do the same..Furstenau took the opportunity to point out that polarization increases in "two-party systems," when parties "have to define one another as 'the opposite' of one another.""We lose the common ground," she lamented, claiming that "the least polarized we were in BC was during the minority government of 2017 to 2020, when we worked together."She suggested that, "if we want less polarization, if we want more focus on solutions, we have to get away from a winner-takes-all, two-party system," and called on voters to make that happen by electing enough Greens to shift the balance of power..Before the night was over, Rustad got in one last jab at Eby, slamming him over what happened to now-former MLA Selina Robinson."We have a government that kicks out a Jewish cabinet minister ... to appease a mob, who last night was burning flags in front of the Art Gallery," he said, referencing acts caught on camera by the Western Standard. I find that incredibly offensive."
