Election 2024: Campaign Roundup - Day 4

Welcome to Day 4 of our British Columbia 2024 Campaign Roundup!

With the 2024 BC election underway, we'll be bringing you daily updates on all the policy proclamations, platform promises, and political point-scoring from the campaign trail.

As always, our work is entirely funded by donations from British Columbians just like you, so if you appreciate the updates, please consider making a one-off donation or signing up as a supporter for just $10 a month - that's just 36 cents per email!

Campaign Roundup - Day 4:

• The three major party leaders will take part in a televised debate on October 8th. BC Conservative Party Leader John Rustad, BC Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau, and BC NDP Leader David Eby will debate from 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm. The debate will be moderated by the President of the Angus Reid Institute, Shachi Kurl.
  
  
• The Greens have announced their candidate for Ladysmith-Oceanside. Laura Ferreira, who grew up in Alberta, will run against Brett Fee (Conservative Party), Stephanie Higginson (BC NDP), and Adam Walker (Independent). Candidate nominations are still coming in, as nominations are not final until September 28th.
  
  
• Gwen O’Mahony, Conservative Party candidate for Nanaimo-Lantzville, drew attention to a drug bust at a Nanaimo overdose prevention site. She criticized the BC NDP’s policy on “drug dens” and suggested that these sites are “breeding grounds for drug trafficking and illegal weapons”.
  
  
• BC Conservative Leader John Rustad promised to close all of the province's 48 supervised consumption sites, and replace them with intake centres for treatment and recovery. In response, BC Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau accused him of politicizing health services.
  
  
• Furstenau held a press conference to outline her own party’s policy on drugs. The BC Greens want to expand access to drugs, invest in mental health initiatives, and provide drug safety education in schools.
  
  
• The BC NDP made several healthcare promises. They announced plans to expand pharmacists' ability to diagnose routine conditions like strep throat and UTIs, reduce paperwork for doctors, including short-term sick notes, and fast-track provisional licenses for doctors and nurses from other parts of Canada to start working right away.

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