Abbotsford-Mission’s first debate stays civil

PENTICTON — The first debate of the Abbotsford-Mission byelection ran Wednesday from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. with no audience present. The debate is being regarded as surprisingly "civil," if not uneventful..The Abbotsford Chamber of Commerce said so in advance. The session would be livestreamed only. There would be no in-person participation and no public audience. University of the Fraser Valley political scientist Hamish Telford moderated. Libertarian Jeff Monds did not answer the invitation. Conservative Leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay, NDP candidate Pam Alexis, Green Stephen Fowler and CentreBC’s Lakhwinder Jhaj took the other four chairs.Global’s Ben O’Hara-Byrne posted the empty-room rule before the stream went up. .The format produced a quiet 90 minutes. Black Press called the night "mostly cordial." The Vancouver Sun called it civil. Findlay spent most of it on the Eby government’s books. Alexis spent the question round and her closer on the nine sitting Conservatives who have left Findlay’s caucus since August 14..Findlay posted a clip afterward and thanked the chamber. “I won't ever back down from advocating for working British Columbians,” she wrote. “The NDP keeps finding new ways to tax your earnings.”.The tax fight was over the BC NDP's PST expansion taking effect October 1.The 7% levy is moving onto an array of professional and consumer services. Findlay named accounting, bookkeeping, security, shoe repair and yarn. She said small business will eat it and that seniors in the riding have been in tears over the tax load.“The people I’m talking to in Abbotsford and Mission simply don’t believe the NDP anymore when it comes to taxes and taxation,” she said.Alexis stood by the change. She said the government cut the carbon tax and needs the replacement revenue for services, and that she would see the money used properly. Findlay said she would repeal the expansion and cut the corporate tax. Jhaj said the levy would be passed to customers. Fowler said any new tax should hit the "very wealthy" and highly profitable firms..In an unexpected bi-partisan nod of the hat to a former BC NDP Premier, Findlay twice brought up the late premier John Horgan and the surplus years, then the deficits posted under Premier David Eby. As such, she put the provincial debt and a credit downgrade entirely on Eby’s government.When candidates could question one another, Alexis put the recent wave of BC Conservative caucus walkouts on the table.“If the people who have worked alongside you and know you don’t trust your leadership – why should the people of Abbotsford-Mission and British Columbians trust you to lead them?” she asked.Alexis's question echoed the same question asked by CTV reporter Vassy Kapelos a day earlier..Nine sitting MLAs have left since August 14: Peter Milobar, Ian Paton, Rosalyn Bird, Teresa Wat, Brennan Day, Bruce Banman, Á’a:líya Warbus, Donegal Wilson and Scott McInnis. Banman holds next-door Abbotsford South. The sitting Conservative caucus is 28, not counting the vacant Abbotsford-Mission seat Findlay is trying to take. She still has no desk in the House.Findlay’s answer matched what she told CTV a night earlier, with Findlay repeating her claim that some never accepted the membership’s May 30 choice. “There were people within our caucus who simply did not accept the choice of the membership,” she said, according to the Sun. She added that the remaining caucus had met Wednesday before the debate.Jhaj asked Alexis whether she would ever vote against her own government on a budget. Alexis said no..On issues more closely related to constituents in Abbotsford-Mission, all four said Ottawa has to put more money into flood protection. All four said transit has to take pressure off the highways. Jhaj asked why Highway 11 construction stops where it does and cited 80,000 vehicles a day and $56 billion a year in goods. Fowlersaid he wanted rail and transit first so the province stops rebuilding the same highway. Findlay said there used to be cedar mills all over Mission and that the NDP treats forestry as a "sunset industry" while raw logs leave and come back as product. Jhaj talked about hail flattening a crop on her family’s farm and the disappearance of Fraser Valley strawberry canneries. Findlay and Alexis both said they would put more into mental-health services.Both also said they want more food processing on the Agricultural Land Reserve. .Alexis used the last word, with no rebuttal.“There are candidates in this race who don’t know our community at all, and there’s a candidate who seems more intent to sow division and hate than bring people together,” she said. CTV and Black Press both read that as a shot at Findlay, who lives in South Surrey. Her husband, Brent Chapman, holds the provincial riding in Surrey South.“This is my home, I am passionate about this community and the people in it,” Alexis said. “The choice before voters in this election could not be more clear – do you want an MLA preoccupied with conservative infighting or do you want an MLA who will deliver results.”Findlay closed on infrastructure. “The infrastructure has not kept pace with the growth here,” she said. “We are paying more and getting less services — it’s time to get back to basics.”.Reann Gasper resigned the seat August 22 so Findlay could run. Gasper beat Alexis in 2024, 13,523 to 10,894, 55.38% to 44.62%. Alexis held the riding for the NDP from 2020 to 2024 after beating Liberal Simon Gibson. Fowler took 2,667 votes here in 2020, 10.57%, then sat 2024 out. Jhaj is CentreBC’s first candidate in any riding. Advance voting runs September 18 to 23. Polls on September 26 are open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Findlay still needs this seat if she is going to lead from inside the Legislative Assembly on its set date of return for the fall session on October 5.

Abbotsford-Mission’s first debate stays civil

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