Opinion: Not surprising that in making excuses for a lack of progress, Eby resorted to disparaging Rustad and the B.C. Conservatives
VICTORIA — From the outset of the party leaders’ radio debate on Wednesday, Premier David Eby was at least as keen to talk about John Rustad’s record as his own.
Rare was the answer during the hour-long exchange on CKNW radio where the premier did not try to deflect attention to Rustad as an extremist who would only make things worse in B.C.
Understandable that the premier would be on the defensive.
Eby has committed billions to programs and promises on issues such as health care, public safety, housing affordability, and the drug crisis.
Yet daily, he has been plagued with news stories about emergency room closures, horrific attacks on people, disorder in the streets, soaring housing costs, and the daily toll of the cost of living.
Eby promised 18 months ago to deliver results on those files before proceeding to an election.
Promising is one thing, delivering another.
“They are really hard problems” as Eby acknowledged, half-pleading to debate host Mike Smyth. “We are just starting to turn the corner.”
The excuse only goes so far. The New Democrats have been in power for seven years, two of them presided over by Eby as premier.
Not surprising that in making excuses for the lack of progress to date, Eby resorted again and again to disparaging Rustad and the B.C. Conservatives.
Theirs is a target-rich environment, much as the Conservative leader and his party are loathe to acknowledge it.
Eby hammered away at two chosen targets.
One was a social media posting from Chris Sankey, now running for the Conservatives in North Coast-Haida Gwaii.
He referenced “Vaccine Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome,” insinuating a link between COVID vaccines and AIDS.
Did Rustad have a problem with that bit of quackery? Would Sankey have a role in making health policy in a Conservative government? Maybe even a seat in Cabinet?
The premier challenged the Conservative leader several times.
The posting was a year old. Sankey was running in a riding where the New Democrats won with 73 per cent of the vote last time.
Even if the Conservatives win a majority of seats, not likely would Sankey’s seat be one of them.
In any event, Rustad sidestepped: “David Eby wants to go negative because he can’t defend his record, he can’t defend what he’s doing.”
It’s the party leader’s usual response when confronted with another embarrassing posting from a Conservative, including some of his own.
Still, the Conservatives really need a political equivalent of the NSFW designation for their not-safe-for-office-seeking social media posts.
The premier had a second go at Rustad over his comments about the federal gun control legislation.
Rustad recently said that one provision, affecting hunters and recreational shooters, amounts to “an overreach … aimed at law-abiding citizens.
“I will not have any provincial resources spent on it,” he told reporters in August.
For Eby, that amounted to a claim that Rustad wouldn’t enforce the country’s gun laws, empowering gangsters and tying the hands of police.
Why, he asked, was Rustad pandering to the marginal community of mostly rural-based hunters and gun owners?
Rustad replied that he was not about to take any instruction on public safety from the author of “How to Sue the Police.”
It was his best shot of the day, matching Eby’s comment that he “wouldn’t trust (Rustad) to run Thanksgiving dinner.”
While the leaders of the two main parties were occupied with each other, Green leader Sonia Furstenau pitched herself and her party as the voice of sweet reason.
She delivered a highlights-package version of the 72-page party platform released Tuesday, including a plan to replace a top-heavy health care bureaucracy with service delivery at the community level.
She criticized both major parties for dabbling in privatization of health care, promoting LNG development, and playing politics with the opioid crisis.
No matter what she said, Rustad and Eby left her alone.
Several times, the NDP leader emphasized how much he agrees with Furstenau, in an undisguised pitch for Green voters to come to him, especially in the two dozen ridings where the Greens couldn’t muster a candidate.
The Conservative leader saw no point in going off message to attack the Greens.
Who knows whether some might agree with former Green party leader Andrew Weaver, who endorsed the Conservatives out of contempt for Eby’s cynical, heavy-handed government?
Rustad mostly stuck to his message and avoided rising to the bait.
I’m guessing the advice from his debate preparation team was, “Don’t get defensive. Don’t let him rattle you.”
By not losing, he could claim a win of sorts, although I’d score it more of a draw.
As for Eby, within an hour of the debate, he posted the following on social media:
“My focus is on the issues that matter to your family — quality health care, more homes, better education, and safer communities. We can build up our province to be a better place for people. That is our commitment. We can do it, together.“
A clear message. But one that eluded the NDP leader in a debate where his main focus was on trying to run down John Rustad.