B.C. election at a glance: Parties make pledges on bridge, buses and bargaining

Here are some of the developments on British Columbia’s election campaign on Thursday, Oct. 15.

CONSERVATIVES VOW TO SCRAP TUNNEL, BUILD BRIDGE

The B.C. Conservatives have announced a plan to scrap the Massey Tunnel replacement project and instead build a new 10-lane bridge linking Richmond and Delta.

The party says the new bridge would cut commutes by up to 30 minutes.

The policy is a revival of plans under the previous BC Liberal government for a bridge that were switched to a new tunnel under the New Democrats, but the Conservatives say that “after nine years of the NDP, nothing has been built.”

The Conservatives also pledged to complete the new hospital in Surrey’s Cloverdale neighbourhood, a project that has suffered delays and budget overruns, while building another new hospital specifically for women and children.

NDP OFFERS SENIORS FREE BUS PASSES

New Democrat Leader David Eby has turned his campaign to transit with a pledge to roll out free bus passes for 350,000 low-income seniors across the province.

He says a re-elected NDP government would also support an “updated” bus route to the new Cowichan-region hospital set to open next year.

Eby has made two Surrey-specific announcements, saying his government would earmark $250 million to leverage federal funding and expand rapid bus service along King George Boulevard from Surrey to nearby White Rock.

Eby also says Surrey would be given its own municipal charter, granting the city the same kind of authority Vancouver has.

BC GREENS PUSH COLLECTIVE BARGAINING CHANGES

BC Greens Leader Emily Lowan has released a labour plan she says will “strengthen and support B.C.’s workers and unions.”

She says the NDP has used its “brand” as a party to cover up an “anti-labour agenda.”

The Greens say the party will increase the minimum wage annually, at a rate of one per cent over inflation, until it matches the living wage.

It says it will also change bargaining to allow unions to reach collective agreements that covers all workers in an economic sector, instead of covering individual workplaces.

CENTREBC PLANS MORE POLICE AND PROSECUTORS

CentreBC has announced a plan to deliver 500 new RCMP officers and 60 more Crown prosecutors along with “practical interventions” to reduce repeat offending.

The party, whose Leader Elenore Sturko is a former RCMP officer, says that includes doubling funding for two programs which target repeat and violent offenders to about $26 million annually.

The party says it would also open two voluntary recovery units in provincial corrections facilities, one for men and one for women, by 2028-2029, and ask Ottawa to direct prosecutors to charge those found in possession of drugs in public.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 15, 2026.

The Canadian Press