Kevin Falcon knows what it takes to win; David Eby calls a drug crisis view 'grossly mistaken'
Two BC leaders on 2023 and what lies ahead
A quick hi-bye today to flag a couple of new stories and officially kick off the 2024 provincial election year.
I know, we’re super pumped too.
To celebrate, we’re sharing a bit of what we learned from our year-end interviews with the leaders of BC’s political parties.
First up are Premier David Eby and BC United Leader Kevin Falcon.
Kevin Falcon
Rob Shaw spoke with Falcon about some of the challenges facing his party as it gears up for the October 19 election. Specifically, the task of applying limited party resources to competing election campaign priorities, including supporting new candidates to replace retiring BC United incumbents – namely, in the Prince George, Penticton and Sea-to-Sky ridings.
For his part, Falcon says he’s been around for a few elections and is unfazed by the job in front of him. “There’s no shortcuts to success in politics. You’ve got to make sure people understand how committed you are to really fixing the challenges we face in British Columbia … and go to the public with common sense solutions that are credible and well-thought through.”
David Eby
In my conversation with the Premier, we narrowed the topics to two:
The inner city addictions/homelessness/mental illness/brain injury/crime crisis, along with the tension and perspective of a career activist occupying the Premier’s Office.
Some of his responses may surprise.
On the drug overdose crisis and the view by some that the best path forward is unrestricted access to hard drugs without accountability or medical oversight, Eby says, “It’s a very unusual libertarian perspective [that] … I think is grossly mistaken.”
Which is a particularly interesting comment from a former executive director of the BC Civil Liberties Association (as Eby once was).
That’s it for today.
Tune in next week to hear from BC Green Leader Sonia Furstenau and BC Conservative Leader John Rustad.
Thanks for reading!
Cheers,
Fran
Questions, comments and intriguing story ideas, contact Fran@NorthernBeat.ca
For brain calisthenics, read NorthernBeat.ca