FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, OCT. 16, 2025, VANCOUVER BC — Today, CentreBC Leader Karin Kirkpatrick took aim at David Eby as the BCGEU public service strike continues to escalate, workers face increasing harm and talks have broken down again – asking along with most British Columbians: ‘Why are the people who deliver our most important services — correctional officers, wildfire crews, sheriffs, and social workers — being pushed to the brink like this?’
“What we’re witnessing isn’t a sudden crisis, but the predictable result of a government that has chosen excess over efficiency and promises over performance,” Kirkpatrick said from her Vancouver office. “The Premier’s government has grown larger, more expensive and ever more self-congratulatory, yet outcomes for British Columbians keep getting worse.”
Under David Eby, provincial spending has surged to record highs — but almost nothing about daily life in B.C. has improved. Housing affordability has collapsed. Emergency rooms close at random. Public safety and mental health crises deepen with no sign of relief. And with this unprecedented spending, BC now faces a record deficit of $11.6M and swelling debt.
“For a province once regarded as one of the safest fiscal bets in North America, that’s a stunning reversal in the last 3-4 years,” Kirkpatrick continued. “With borrowing costs rising due to a recent S+P downgrade as confidence erodes, every additional dollar we spend on interest – mostly to cover Eby’s middle-management salaries and NDP-friendly consultants — is a dollar we can’t spend on housing, public safety, healthcare, or climate resilience.”
This strike didn’t happen because of unforeseeable global events. It happened because of choices made in Victoria — choices that favour political insiders over front-line workers. The government has created thousands of new management and advisory roles while paying out hundreds of millions of dollars to consultants whose results remain opaque at best.
“For a party that claims to champion working people, the NDP have shown remarkably little respect for those who actually keep this province running,” Kirkpatrick concluded. “It’s time for the BC government to get its house in order and return to the table in earnest to negotiate a fair deal for workers. British Columbians deserve no less.”
-30-
MEDIA CONTACT
Scott Williams
CentreBC
604-356-7606
[email protected]
