Monday is perhaps a vacation for many British Columbians, however the leaders of the province’s two front-running political events didn’t take the time off.
BC Conservative Chief John Rustad was in Surrey the place he laid out the celebration’s final main coverage plank earlier than the October 19 vote: a promise to construct a brand new youngsters’s hospital.
“There’s a determined want for extra companies. Surrey is a metropolis for too lengthy that has been handled as a second-class metropolis, and that should come to an finish,” Rustad mentioned.
“We must be pondering not solely of what must be carried out immediately however what must be carried out for the long run.”
Rustad mentioned Surrey Memorial Hospital presently treats an estimated 50,000 youngsters per yr, however was constructed with a capability to deal with simply 20,000. He mentioned as much as 1,000 youngsters yearly are pressured to journey outdoors of Fraser Well being to get the companies they want.
He mentioned the brand new facility would come with a pediatric emergency room and pediatric ICU, together with a maternity ward and ladies’s well being centre.
Rustad was unable to estimate what the hospital would value, save to say that it will be “fairly an costly challenge” however definitely worth the “vital funding.”
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Rustad additionally mentioned the Conservatives would launch their long-awaited costed platform on Tuesday, 5 days earlier than election day. The celebration has faced criticism on the campaign trail for delays in releasing the document after a collection of spending bulletins that didn’t embody value estimates.
BC NDP Chief David Eby was additionally in Surrey on Monday, the place he attacked the BC Conservatives over their plan to finish ICBC’s monopoly on auto insurance coverage and to finish no-fault insurance coverage for critical accidents.
Eby touted his authorities’s adjustments to the province’s auto insurance coverage system, which he mentioned have decreased the typical driver’s premiums by $500.
“We’ve additionally been in a position to return a number of rebates to British Columbians, most just lately a $110 greenback rebate, and in contrast to different issues in life, charges for ICBC are assured to be flat for the following two years,” Eby mentioned.
Eby mentioned inviting personal insurance coverage firms into the B.C. market will end in larger prices for drivers.
He challenged voters skeptical of that declare to name relations in Alberta and Ontario to ask them what they pay to insure their automobiles.
BC Inexperienced Celebration Chief Sonia Furstenau had no public occasions scheduled on Monday.
Monday’s campaigning got here as pollster The Angus Reid Institute launched its newest survey, which showed the BC NDP ahead of the BC Conservatives by five points because the race enters the house stretch.
The ballot pegged NDP help at 45 per cent, Conservative help at 40 per cent and Inexperienced help at 12 per cent amongst determined and leaning voters and individuals who had already solid a poll.
It discovered the NDP main 56 per cent to 31 per cent for the Conservatives in Vancouver and Burnaby, 49 per cent to 36 per cent in Richmond and Surrey, 46 per cent to 44 per cent in northeastern Metro Vancouver and the Tri Cities, and 44 per cent to 36 per cent on Vancouver Island and the North Coast.
The ballot discovered the Conservatives main the NDP 50 per cent to 34 per cent within the Inside and 48 per cent to 42 per cent within the Fraser Valley.
The ballot additionally discovered that healthcare had risen to the primary election concern, overtaking inflation and the price of residing which have been the highest precedence for greater than a yr.
Angus Reid Institute president Shachi Kurl mentioned that shift may benefit the NDP within the election’s ultimate days.
“Regardless that there’s a large quantity of dissatisfaction with the NDP over their efficiency during the last seven years on issues like managing the economic system, creating jobs and likewise housing affordability and managing value of residing, on healthcare, Eby and the NDP are seen to have that benefit,” she mentioned.
“You mix that with the truth that HC is now taking over added significance to B.C. voters, and that could be a little little bit of motion.”
The ballot discovered the NDP had a slight benefit on addressing the price of housing, whereas the Conservatives had been seen as the perfect geared up to enhance individuals’s monetary wellbeing and enhance security in respondents’ communities.
The Angus Reid Institute Ballot was carried out on-line between Oct. 9 and Oct. 13, amongst 2,863 grownup British Columbians who’re members of Angus Reid Discussion board. For comparability functions solely, a likelihood pattern of this dimension would carry a margin of error of +/- 1.8 share factors, 19 instances out of 20.
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