Eby cites $130-billion project pipeline and unveils job supports at Vancouver Board of Trade event

David Eby told Greater Vancouver business leaders the province is sitting on a $130-billion pipeline of major projects that he said are expected to reach final investment decisions in the next two years, and he used a Vancouver Board of Trade event to unveil new supports aimed at job creation. Eby made the announcement in Vancouver on Oct.

13, when he joined Conservative interim leader Lorne Doerkson and Green Leader Emily Lowan for a session hosted by the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade ahead of the Oct. 24 provincial election, The Globe and Mail reported.

Eby described about half of the $130-billion pipeline as already having reached final investment decisions and framed the projects as a near-term source of jobs; his appearance at the board event was accompanied by specific, audience-directed job-creation measures that he announced there.

The Globe and Mail’s account records those two claims — the size and timing of the project pipeline and the unveiling of new job supports — as central to Eby’s economic pitch to business leaders. Lorne Doerkson used the same forum to set out competing Conservative measures aimed at speeding approvals and cutting regulation.

Doerkson told the audience a Conservative government would impose a 120-day approval framework on major capital projects valued above $250-million and would require that two existing regulations be eliminated for every new regulation introduced, proposals Doerkson presented as ways to accelerate investment.

Green Leader Emily Lowan urged a different approach, arguing at the same event that British Columbia should rethink its reliance on natural resources to drive economic growth. The Globe and Mail reported Lowan’s remarks as the Greens’ counterpoint to the job-creation and approval-focused plans offered by Eby and Doerkson.

The Greater Vancouver Board of Trade’s president and CEO, Bridgitte Anderson, released results of a members’ survey at the event, telling attendees the survey drew 351 responses.

Anderson said 77% of respondents believe the economy is on the wrong track, 95% are concerned with the fiscal outlook, and 80% lack confidence in the government’s economic strategy; the Globe and Mail cited those percentages in summarising the business community’s mood ahead of the vote.

Local and regional outlets also covered the leaders’ appearances at the board event; Vancouver Sun, Castanet Kamloops and meadowlakeNOW published headlines noting the leaders’ visit and economic pitches.

The Globe and Mail’s reporting focuses on the three leaders’ competing economic prescriptions, the membership survey results presented by Anderson, and Eby’s emphasis on a substantial pipeline of major projects as the basis for his job-creation announcements.

The event brought party leaders to a business audience days before voters go to the polls, with each leader offering distinct prescriptions: Eby foregrounded a quantified projects pipeline and new job supports, Doerkson offered faster approvals and regulatory cuts, and Lowan urged a shift away from resource-driven growth.