B.C. Premier David Eby has spoken out for the first time since Kerry Lynn Findlay was elected the new leader of the provincial Conservative Party, and he didn’t hold back.
After offering Findlay a quick congratulations, Eby took a jab at her effort to take the province’s top job.
“She’s making her priorities clear to me,” he said. “Looks like she’s focused on dividing people, including her own caucus.”
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He says he plans to wait to see what her plans are, but is skeptical about the course her party will take under her leadership.
“From my perspective, the job she’s applying for right now looks a lot more like ‘mega regional manager’ than the premier of British Columbia,” he said.
“But I’ll stay tuned and hear what her plans are.”
Eby says Findlay’s stance on housing is particularly concerning.
“She is completely united with [the Conservative Party’s] caucus in rolling back all of the housing measures that resulted in us being able to bring down rents, increase housing construction, and address rampant speculation in the housing market, giving people just the hope that potentially they could get into the housing market in British Columbia,” he said.
“We know we’ve got more to do, but we also know very clearly what the Conservatives would do, which is to take us back to the bad old days, and British Columbians just can’t afford that.”
The premier dodged a question about whether Findlay’s election was in response to negative perceptions of the BC NDP government’s performance.
“With all due respect… she’s not elected yet.”
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In response to Eby’s comments, Angelo Isidorou, the executive director of the Conservative Party of BC, tells 1130 NewsRadio the premier is “panicking and trying to fearmonger.”
“David Eby is in his final days as Premier and Leader of the BC NDP,” Isidorou said.
“After almost a decade of decline under the BC NDP, including the defence of radical and divisive policies such as DRIPA, Eby is in absolutely no position to project any notions of division onto the Hon. Kerry-Lynne Findlay or the Conservative Party of BC.”
Findlay won the party leadership Saturday, besting Peter Milobar, Iain Black, Yuri Fulmer, and Caroline Elliott with 51 per cent of the vote. She is taking over from interim leader Trevor Halford, who has been in place since former leader John Rustad resigned in December.
Rustad stepped down in the wake of disputes that led to the removal or departure of five legislators first elected as Conservatives, including Amelia Boultbee and Elenore Sturko, who now sit as Independents.