His voice audibly hoarse, B.C. NDP Leader David Eby wrapped up his third and final campaign on Vancouver Island with a stop in Victoria late Wednesday afternoon.
His message to an estimated audience of 150 people amounted to an appeal for one final push toward Saturday, Oct. 19, when British Columbians head to the polls on general voting.
Polls show Eby's party in a neck-and-neck race with the Conservative Party of B.C. under John Rustad and Thursday's rally in Victoria served as the climax of a swing across Vancouver Island, the second-largest population centre outside Metro Vancouver. While the region has historically voted for B.C. NDP, Eby's presence in the area can also be read as an acknowledgement that the campaign still remains in the balance.
"We are in an election campaign and there are three days left," he said, drawing out each word for emphasis, as he stood in front of an wall consisting of candidates, volunteers and the who-is-who of provincial and federal New Democrats wielding orange election signs. He used the occasion to hit home his party's outreach to would be voters of the B.C. Greens and British Columbians who supported B.C. United in the past.
If Eby was the main speaker of the event, it also served as a testimonial for B.C. NDP candidate Grace Lore, who finds herself in a tough race in Victoria Beacon-Hill against B.C. Greens Leader Sonia Furstenau.
Eby praised Lore's work as minister for children and family development. Eby called her ministry the "most challenging file" and Grand Chief Stewart Phillip of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs called the Lore the "face of our movement" to reclaim jurisdiction over Indigenous children and families. "We need her back, we need her back," he said.
Phillip also perhaps had the best line of the evening when he, as several other speakers, warned against Rustad.
"John Rustad, in my view, is the Fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse and he carries the name of privatization," Phillip said. He also echoed the party's message that a vote for the B.C. Greens amounts to a vote for Rustad.
More to come...
