With just four days left until election day, NDP leader John Horgan is cracking jokes about cards and the deck is definitely stacked in his favour.
Speaking with seniors in Coquitlam, he promised a record $2.3 billion investment in health and seniors’ care — more than double what the other parties are pledging.
“Our plan has 7,000 more workers going into long-term care so we can care for seniors, the people who built this province,” Horgan says.
A new Angus Reid poll says the NDP continue to hold a comfortable lead at 45 per cent. That’s down four points from last week.
The Liberals and Greens are both up two points to 35 and 16 per cent, respectively.
“Now is crunch time, there are four days left for people to get out and vote,” BC Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson says.
If the latest riding projections are right, the Liberals are poised to lose four seats on the Lower Mainland, including high-profile incumbents Jas Johal in Richmond-Queensborough and Sam Sullivan in Vancouver-False Creek.
Another seven seats — including former Liberal cabinet minister Mary Polak and that of the retiring Linda Reid, B.C’s longest-serving female MLA — are a toss up.
“The best thing progressives can do in this election is ensure we don’t have a majority government and we have Green voices at the table in the legislature,” says BC Green Party leader Sonia Furstenau.
But with a NDP majority looking more and more likely, the Liberals are urging everyone to get out and vote.
“We never know what’s going to happen on election night and we certainly saw that last election,” Wilkinson says.
Except in this case, it could take days to know the final result due to a record number of mail-in ballots.
Tess van Straaten
