LNG Phase 2, PST pause on Canadian booze, renter protection in B.C. campaign spotlight
Posted September 30, 2026 7:40 am.
LNG, PST, and renter protection were in the spotlight for leaders of B.C.’s political parties on the campaign trail Tuesday.
Speaking as premier, David Eby touted the $30 billion LNG export expansion in Kitimat. While the BC NDP leader did not take questions from the media, his party released a statement crediting Eby for securing the “largest private sector investment in Canadian history.”
“This project, just in Phase 2, means 4,000 high-paying jobs; that doesn’t talk about all of the ancillary jobs that comes with that,” Eby said.
In Langley, BC Conservative Party Interim Leader Lorne Doerkson welcomed the LNG expansion announcement and doubled down on his party’s promise to triple LNG production over the next decade. The former BC Liberal Party MLA also promised to temporarily pause the provincial sales tax on Canadian beer, wine, and spirits until the trade conflict with the U.S. is resolved.
“Take a bottle of Okanagan wine priced at $20,” Doerkson said.
“Today, a PST adds two more dollars to that at the till, and under our plan it obviously would add nothing.”
He also pledged to keep the American booze ban in place until the trade war settles down but did not give specifics on how big of a financial hit the PST pause would have on the province’s budget. He also addressed claims from the BC NDP that some of his party’s candidates had been “too soft” on U.S. President Donald Trump.
“I absolutely think that Trump is a bully, and I think the NDP are out of line,” Doerkson said.
Across the Georgia Strait in Victoria, BC Greens Leader Emily Lowan promised to bring in more protection for renters. Lowan said her government would reinstate the $3.3 billion community housing fund and implement vacancy control.
“We have a government in Eby’s NDP that promised to tackle the housing crisis, yet broke promise after promise for renters, from the community housing fund to the ban on no-pet clauses,” Lowan said.
Elenore Sturko’s CentreBC and Dallas Brodie’s OneBC did not hold any campaign events Tuesday. The final day of voting in the provincial election is Oct. 24.
