VANCOUVER -- It was a relatively civilized debate compared to some in recent memory, but the leaders of B.C.'s main political parties still traded a few heavy blows on Tuesday night.

NDP leader John Horgan, BC Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson and Green leader Sonia Furstenau were also given plenty of time to pitch their visions for the province in the only televised debate of the 2020 election. Here are six key moments.

 

John Horgan pins care home staffing problems on BC Liberals

Horgan blamed BC Liberal policies dating back to the early 2000s for staffing shortages in B.C. care homes that caused chaos in the early months in the pandemic.

"When we came to government, nine in 10 care homes in British Columbia did not have the staff to meet the basic minimum standards that the former government had set for care," Horgan said.

"You fired 10,000 people – largely women – to give a tax break to the wealthiest people in B.C."

Wilkinson pivoted by defending the Liberals' record on health care, pointing to 14 hospitals built during the 16 years the party was previously in power, and accused the NDP leader of divisive politics.

"We have to work together through this pandemic and calling names and talking about things that happened 17 years ago will not help us get into the future," Wilkinson said.

Horgan wasn't done holding his feet to the flames, however.

"The consequences, Andrew, of your decisions were profound and tragic for seniors who found themselves in a pandemic without sufficient people to help them," he said. "That's a profound mistake. I think you should acknowledge that."

 

Sonia Furstenau argues pipelines a threat to B.C.'s future

With B.C. facing daunting economic challenges as a result of the pandemic, Green leader Sonia Furstenau was asked whether she could hold her nose and support fossil fuel projects for the jobs they create.

Her answer was that the industry's contribution to climate change only promises more crises to come.

"We were choking on the smoke from the fires in the western United States for weeks on end. There is no doubt that we are in a climate emergency right now," she said.

"We can invest into a clean energy future that will create jobs and opportunities in every part of this province."

Furstenau also pitched her party's ambitious commitment to a carbon-neutral economy by 2045 as a means of protecting the B.C.'s youth.

"For so many decades, governments have known – in this province, across Canada and the world – that we need to transform our economy," she said. "It's not a matter of making a choice, it's a matter of responsibility that we have to future generations, to our own children who are looking to us."

 

Andrew Wilkinson lays out vision for private auto-insurance

While ICBC has been a public punching bag for years, some drivers remain leery about letting private insurance companies into the province.

Wilkinson was given a chance to lay out his party's vision for opening up the car insurance market, and began by dismissing privatization as "a confusing term."

"What we're talking about is competition," he said. "Keep the ICBC no-fault model, and allow other insurers to offer their products in competition. They do it in Saskatchewan, it works in different places across Canada in different forms."

The BC Liberal leader said premiums for some young drivers have increased from $1,500 to as much as $7,000, and argued that competition could lead to lower prices.

"Let's have competition and see what the choices are and let people make up their own minds," Wilkinson said. "You don't just have to live with this old dinosaur of ICBC."

 

Horgan defends lack of progress on $10-a-day childcare

Having run the province for the last three years, Horgan spent much of the evening in the hot seat defending his government's record. That includes the lack of movement on $10-a-day childcare, which was a signature NDP promise back in 2017.

The BC Liberals have called it a failure, calculating that just two per cent of the province's childcare spots are currently being delivered for $10 a day.

Horgan argued his minority government's lack of seats in the legislature left their hands tied, but promised to deliver if given a bigger mandate.

"We wanted to go with $10-a-day, all in. We didn't have that support. That's why we're putting it in front of British Columbia's again this campaign," he said. "We believe that $10-a-day is achievable, and it's something that we need to strive for and we can get it done in the next seven years."

He also touted the success of the government's $10 pilot program and fee-reduction program as "transformative for families."

"Countless people talk to me about how they now have money in their pocket, their children are in secure, stable, affordable, accessible childcare spaces."

 

Furstenau challenges BC Liberals' promised PST cut

While Horgan was the biggest target for Furstenau and Wilkinson during the debate, the Green leader also took the opportunity to scrutinize the BC Liberals' promise to temporarily cut the PST.

The proposal has already been criticized for threatening to take nearly $7 billion out of provincial coffers during the pandemic, and Furstenau questioned whether there would be any measurable benefit.

"You can't really identify outcomes that would come from that PST cut," she said. "What economists are telling us right now is that we need to invest in services, we need to invest in infrastructure, we need to build the economy that we want."

She argued the government's ability to do that work would be undermined by the loss of PST revenue, and that the Liberal platform already comes with a "pretty massive deficit attached to it."

Wilkinson defended the proposal, pointing to a grim economic survey indicating one-quarter of B.C. businesses fear they won't survive the next year.

"We've said it's time to turbocharge the B.C. economy," Wilkinson added. "If we drop the PST to zero for a year, businesses will reinvest, things will go on sale, people will buy equipment and they will go shopping and they will enjoy their lives."

 

Wilkinson calls NDP's homeless strategy a failure

Wilkinson took the opportunity to draw attention to the homeless encampments in some B.C. cities, particularly in Vancouver, and called the NDP's policies on homelessness "a colossal failure."

Horgan argued the problem preceded his government, and that what's needed from political leaders is "our compassion, not our contempt."

"I believe that the homelessness crisis grew by 30 per cent between 2014 and 2017, and it's been growing steadily about one per cent a year since then," Horgan said. "We've been purchasing hotels, moving people into them and making sure that they have services while they're there."

But Wilkinson said the approach is nothing more than a Band-Aid solution, and that the problems run much deeper than just providing shelter.

"I have said let's treat the causes and prevent the harm," he said. "Why aren't we treating these mental illnesses? Brain injuries don't get treated with a tent or a rundown motel."

Wilkinson charged that the NDP's policies have caused "street disorder in towns all over British Columbia," and called on the party to "stop pursuing a dead end."

"You don't have solutions, Andrew," Horgan replied. "If you had them you would have implemented them in the 16 years that you had. The problem got worse, not better, on your watch."