As we prepare to enter the final days of the election campaign, the rhetoric over healthcare is ramping up.
BC NDP Leader David Eby is accusing John Rustad of planning to bring in a U.S.-style two-tiered system to the province.
To Eby, it’s clear that Rustad would “gut” the health-care system.
But the Conservative leader says his party has not talked “one little iota” about an American-style user-pays health-care system, and will not implement one if elected.
UBC political science professor Stewart Prest says Eby’s strategy is showing the differences between the two parties — and less about his own government’s record.
“The NDP have had a chance to look at the platform the Conservatives under Mr. Rustad have put out, and they are trying to find ways to make the choices that the Conservatives are advocating to voters in ways that really make the case against the Conservatives,” Prest said.
In the party’s platform, the BC Conservatives’ post-election plan makes no mention of a user-pay health care model.
“All these efforts really add up to a concerted attempt by the NDP to frame this election not as a referendum on the performance of the NDP, but as a choice between the NDP and the work it is continuing to do, and this Conservative alternative,” Prest said.
“That is the strategy.”
The Canada Health Act is federal legislation, so a provincial government wouldn’t be able to make direct changes to it, however, Rustad has suggested if his party is successful on Saturday, he would explore some private options within provincial jurisdiction.
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-With files from Ben Bouguerra.