Eby, Doerkson, Lowan share Vancouver stage before debate

VANCOUVER — The Greater Vancouver Board of Trade hosts the three major party leaders Tuesday at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Vancouver..Registration and lunch run from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. PDT, followed by the program from 12:30 to 2 p.m. in the Regency Ballroom at 655 Burrard St. It is the only joint public appearance the three will share before Wednesday's scheduled leaders' debate.The Western Standard will be in the room, though no public livestream is listed on the Board of Trade event page.The Board describes the session as a “chance for members to hear the leaders present their visions and priorities ahead of the October 24 election.”.The Greater Vancouver Board of Trade is Western Canada's largest business association. Founded in 1887 as the Vancouver Board of Trade after the Great Fire, it adopted its current name in 2016 to reflect a membership reaching beyond city limits.Iain Black served as president and CEO from 2011 to 2019 and oversaw the rebrand. He is now a campaign co-chair for the BC Conservatives. Bridgitte Anderson has served as president and CEO since November 2019, becoming the first woman in the top staff role. Stuart Louie, co-president of H.Y. Louie Co. Ltd., is the current board chair..Wendy McDonald became the first woman to chair the Vancouver Board of Trade in 1990, launching a travelling federal debt clock and lobbying for faster border processing that helped shape the NEXUS system. The board draws directors from major employers across the region.CentreBC Leader Elenore Sturko and OneBC interim Leader Dallas Brodie will not take the stage at the Hyatt or in the broadcast debate. The televised leaders' debate runs Wednesday, October 14, from 6:15 to 8 p.m. PDT, moderated by Angus Reid Institute President Shachi Kurl..A business audience is likely to press the leaders on tariffs and small-business relief, permitting timelines, taxes, and the cost of doing business in the region.Seaspan is the presenting sponsor, so ports, shipping and major-project approvals may also surface. The leaders have already staked out competing positions on those files in the past week. What they say in the Regency Ballroom will be the last unscripted look at all the major provincial party leaders before the broadcast debate..Premier Eby also arrives a day after confirming his family has accessed $10-a-day childcare spots and after the NDP posted a statement that the family donated when one centre was designated. .As of Tuesday morning no proof of that donation had been produced. Whether he uses the Board of Trade stage to address the optics, or tries to move the room past them, is another open question of the morning.

Eby, Doerkson, Lowan share Vancouver stage before debate

Related Stories

Day 22 of the BC provincial election: Belated Thanksgiving, and the campaign is back

Vancouver man jailed after dragging BC Highway Patrol officer during traffic stop

DEEP DIVE: A riding-by-riding analysis — the Island spine

DEEP DIVE: A riding-by-riding analysis — the Abbotsford arc