Doerkson promises three-year PST break for business investment in Surrey

B.C. Conservative Party leader Lorne Doerkson renewed his criticism of NDP leader David Eby during a campaign stop in Surrey on October 7, calling the provincial election unnecessary. Doerkson said the last provincial election cost about $83 million, by his estimate, and argued that the money could have gone to more important priorities. He said Eby had a majority and that many British Columbians shared his frustration, with signs of it appearing almost daily.

Doerkson said the NDP government had raised taxes more than 40 times and that $1.3 billion in new taxes had already been seen during the campaign. He said his party offered a better path and outlined a plan to “super-charge” B.C.’s economy by ending delays and obstruction that, he said, stop major projects before they begin. He promised a Conservative government would approve major new capital projects within 120 days or less, saying the private sector would be able to build more and faster.

Doerkson said that, if he and his party win the October 24 election, they would pass a law to reduce what he called “unnecessary and onerous” red tape. The law would require two regulations to be eliminated for every new one introduced. He also said that by the end of a first term, a Conservative government would undo what he described as damage caused by Eby and the NDP and return the regulatory burden to 2017 levels.

The news conference was held at Crown Building Supplies in Newton. Owner Gary Sangha told a modest-sized crowd that businesses had faced rising costs, taxes, permit requirements and red tape over the past few years. Doerkson, who was born and raised in Surrey, said a Conservative government would eliminate the provincial sales tax (PST) on business investments, including machinery, tools and software, for three years. He said the province’s potential meant little if government stood in the way of people trying to build, and that the time for growth and investment was now.

Doerkson said the challenge ahead was steep and that the province would have to address nearly a decade of economic mismanagement, rising taxes and hostility toward basic private-sector growth. He said B.C. lost 26,000 jobs in August alone and that 21 lumber mills had closed since 2023, devastating communities across the province. He also said Eby had run up a record deficit of nearly $13.8 billion.