In the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, British Columbia will hold a provincial election Saturday, October 24, 2020.
While many BC voters would have preferred that Premier John Horgan keep his word and keep the government working on the important health and economic issues facing our province until the legislated fall 2021 election date, he has decided to send us to the polls.
Over the past three years, ICBA has done a lot of advocacy and policy work on the provincial scene. Below are some resources you may find helpful as you make your decision on who to support in the Oct. 24 vote – please feel free to share these with others.
We will update this web page throughout the election campaign with interesting analysis and resources for people working in construction and responsible resource development.
***ELECTION DAY IS SATURDAY, OCT. 24. CLICK HERE FOR ELECTIONS BC INFORMATION***
This information was transmitted to members of the Independent Contractors and Businesses Association of British Columbia and thus does not constitute campaign period election advertising under the BC Election Act.
BACKGROUNDERS
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- A look at who will #Get2Yes, grading party platforms on infrastructure and responsible resource development issues
- This website surveyed candidates and asked if they support a worker’s right to organize how they see fit — without being cut out of taxpayer-funded projects
- Recovery & Resilience: ICBA’s Economic Plan to Rebuild BC — 2-page summary 6-page full version
- Why this Election Matters to Young Voters (1-pager), designed for ICBA members with under-35-year-olds on their teams
- Company-wide memo (drafted & sent by an ICBA member) that explains the impact of the NDP’s CBA on open shop companies: PDF Version OR Editable Word Doc
- Why this Election Matters to You (1-pager), designed for ICBA members to share within their teams
MEDIA
- Read The Orca for coverage of this election from a free enterprise point of view. ICBA’s Chris Gardner and Jordan Bateman are among dozens of contributors.
- Subscribe to The Fin, a free, daily email with all the BC election and business news you need. This is the single best roundup of what’s happening in BC.
OP/EDS
- Chris Gardner on going to vote in a pandemic
- Chris Gardner on What Wasn’t Said During the Debate
- Chris Gardner on Deconstructing the NDP’s Construction Promises
- Jordan Bateman on the BC Liberal promise of a Surrey police vote
- Chris Gardner in praise of bold thinking (suspend the PST)
- Horgan gets failing grade on infrastructure and responsible resource development (#Get2Yes)
- Chris Gardner on why John Horgan called this election
- Jordan Bateman on how small businesses are reeling after COVID, and need action in this election campaign
- Chris Gardner on how BC comes back economically from COVID-19
- ICBA & 20 Other Employer Associations Oppose WorkSafe Changes
- All B.C. construction workers deserve opportunity to work on public projects
- Poll Shows Overwhelming Support for Fair Bidding in BC
- From flattening the COVID-19 curve to Team B.C. recovery
- Chris Gardner on Charting a Road to Recovery
- Chris Gardner on Old-Fashioned Compulsory Trades Ignore Modern Construction Reality
- Chris Gardner on Housing affordability requires national, provincial and local action
- Jordan Bateman on BC’s other health crisis, opioids
- Jordan Bateman on the NDP’s broken promises to younger British Columbians
CONSTRUCTION MONITORS
Curious how the NDP Government has dealt with our industry over the past few years? There’s no better place to look than our Construction Monitors:
- 2020 Election Edition: Grading the Parties’ Platforms from an Open Shop Point of View
- NDP Burdening the B.C. Economy, When We Can Least Afford It (Fall 2020)
- BC Construction Provides a Model for Recovery (Summer 2020)
- Self-Imposed Uncertainty Clouds Major Projects Outlook (Winter 2019)
- Open Shop Dominant in Trades Training (Fall 2019)
FACEBOOK GRAPHICS
Every day during the campaign, ICBA’s Facebook offers one of 30 Things to Think About This Election:
- WEEK 4 -> October 23 – Selfish Horgan; October 22 – Tent Cities; October 21 – Wrong Highway; October 20 – Home Construction Failure; October 19 – Negative Billing; October 18 – Job Losses; October 17 – Big Gas Taxes; October 16 – Fighting Forestry; October 15 – Portable Powerlessness; October 14 – Cowichan Hospital Overrun
- WEEK 3 -> October 13 – Eby Jeebies; October 12 – Sloppy Work; October 11 – Taxman Cometh; October 10 – Biased Review; October 9 – Trevena’s Turnpike; October 8 – Tourism Trapped; October 7 – No Strata Help
- WEEK 2 -> October 6 – Broke Renters; October 5 – No Transit; October 4 – Child Care Fail; October 3 – No Money for Surrey Hospital; October 2 – Rigging Prop Rep; October 1 – The EHT/MSP Double Dip; September 30 – Not Enough for LNG
- WEEK 1 -> September 29 – Breaking His Word; September 28 – Underfunding Mental Health & Addiction; September 27 – Gouging the Young at ICBC; September 26 – Taking Away the Secret Ballot; September 25 – The Sweetheart Union Deal; September 24 – Tilting at TMX; September 23 – The Massey Mistake
PODCASTS
ICBA’s Chris Gardner and Jordan Bateman discuss the election issues important to construction contractors on our ICBA CAST:
- September 23 (Why are we doing an election now?) – VIDEO VERSION AUDIO DOWNLOAD
Twice a week, ICBA’s Jordan Bateman and The Orca’s Maclean Kay get into the nitty-gritty of BC politics on the #BCPOLI HOTSTOVE:
- October 23 (Twas the Night Before Christmas, er, the Election) VIDEO VERSION AUDIO DOWNLOAD
- October 20 (The Rise of the Broverlord) – VIDEO VERSION AUDIO DOWNLOAD
- October 16 (Game of Throness) – VIDEO VERSION AUDIO DOWNLOAD
- October 13 (The Great Debate Post Game Recap) – VIDEO VERSION AUDIO DOWNLOAD
- October 9 (Premier Us vs. Them) – VIDEO VERSION AUDIO DOWNLOAD
- October 6 (All Politics is Local, Surrey Style) – VIDEO VERSION AUDIO DOWNLOAD
- October 2 (COVID campaigns are boring) – VIDEO VERSION AUDIO DOWNLOAD
- September 29 (Wilkinson’s PST Gamechanger) – VIDEO VERSION AUDIO DOWNLOAD
- September 25 (Week 1, anyone having fun?) – VIDEO VERSION AUDIO DOWNLOAD
- September 21 (The race is on… for some reason) – VIDEO VERSION AUDIO DOWNLOAD
ICBA’s Jordan Bateman also appears twice a month on Howe Street Radio:
- October 21: Looking at the parties’ economic recovery plans
- October 9: What are the BC parties promising to small business?
GRAPHICS
VIDEOS
Over the years, ICBA has released several videos highlighting provincial issues, which may be of help in understanding our issues and convincing undecided voters:
A 1990s-style song parody looking at how the NDP Government killed a massively under-budget replacement for the Massey Tunnel, wasting $100 million, and leaving people in traffic for another decade.
The ’90s too hip for you? Here’s a 1970s-style song parody looking at how the NDP Government killed a massively under-budget replacement for the Massey Tunnel, wasting $100 million, and leaving people in traffic for another decade.
Even before COVID-19, small businesses were barely hanging on, as the provincial government raised their taxes and fees and strangled them with red tape.
ICBA’s most famous video looks at the cost of constantly increasing gasoline and carbon taxes, and fighting pipelines.
Despite several announcements, there is zero money in the NDP budget plan to build Surrey’s new hospital or SkyTrain extension.
Life for people under age 35 in BC has gotten more expensive and more difficult over the past three years. Here are 10 ways how.
It’s a scandal many haven’t heard of – the provincial government messing up graduates’ provincial exams so badly that the independent Ombudsperson has ordered they pay out some 2019 grads and verify and sign truthfulness pledges before sending out news releases.
The NDP Government gave 19 building trades unions the monopoly on building several massive infrastructure projects – meaning cost overruns of hundreds of millions of dollars.
