B.C. Conservative interim leader Lorne Doerkson listens to a question during a provincial election campaign announcement at the Waldun Forest Products cedar shake and shingle mill, in Maple Ridge, B.C., on Monday, Oct. 19, 2026. Voters in British Columbia go to the polls on Saturday. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

By The Canadian Press

Doerkson says B.C. Conservative growth projection of 3.2% ‘absolutely doable’

Oct 19, 2026 | 12:53 PM

British Columbia’s interim Conservative leader Lorne Doerkson says his party’s projection of 3.2 per cent economic growth by 2029 represents about one per cent “more optimism” than the New Democrats had previously budgeted.

The Conservatives’ figure, which is more than 50 per cent higher than the forecast in the last provincial budget, is also considerably higher than recent projections by the Bank of Canada and International Monetary Fund at the national level.

But Doerkson told a campaign stop in Maple Ridge, B.C., in the final days before the Oct. 24 provincial election that the growth is “absolutely doable.”

He says industries, including natural gas, forestry, mining and agriculture, are waiting for a change in government to invest in the province because of “fear” under the previous NDP regime.

The Conservative platform promises to create $2.6 billion in new revenue over three years, while shrinking the deficit to $10.8 billion based on gross domestic product growing by 2.5 per cent next year, 2.8 per cent the year after and 3.2 per cent in 2029.

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NDP Leader David Eby says the Conservatives are “torquing the numbers” and their platform has “major omissions” in how the party would pay for its plans.

“They failed to cost basic platform commitments like their cut to the (Provincial Sales Tax) on alcohol, which costs almost $300 million,” Eby told a campaign stop in Vancouver on Monday.

“It is all with the aim of minimizing the reality of the cuts they’re going to have to make.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 19, 2026.

Brenna Owen, The Canadian Press

by The Canadian Press

Doerkson says B.C. Conservative growth projection of 3.2% ‘absolutely doable’

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