B.C. Election latest

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There's been, uh, lots going on on the, uh, election trail. Of course, today we heard that, uh, uh, David Eby was promising to freeze ICBC rates for three years. Uh, and part of the news, of course, we heard from Lauren Dirksen about a $1,000, uh, tax cut, uh, for residents here, uh, in British Columbia. Uh, we'll talk to Keith Baldrey, uh, just in a few moments here. I did ask Mr. Dirksen, uh, about obviously the, the, um, letter that he sent to, uh, um, lawyers and members of the bar, uh, in regards to his thoughts on those who are suffering from catastrophic injuries. But we also talked about privatizing ICBC. I did ask him directly if he, if he would, uh, privatize ICBC. Let's take a listen to his comments. Do you want to privatize ICBC?

No.

Because... You don't. You will not privatize ICBC.

That is not my interest. My interest is to continue to have a system that will support both sides of, uh, of this equation. And that side being the first one, that we need affordable insurance that, that we can obviously a- afford to pay for.

Mm-hmm.

A- and secondly, we have to have the ability to fund and support people that have, uh, had a serious enough injury that it has changed their life.

That is, uh, Lauren Dirksen, the BC Conservative leader, speaking to us during the five o'clock hour. Joining us now, uh, is Keith Baldrey, Global BC's legislative bureau chief. Keith, thanks for your time.

Any time, Jas.

Your thoughts so far. I, I, I understand you heard, uh, the interview there w- with Mr. Dirksen. I, I, you know, I tried to press him a little bit on, on the tax cut today, but more importantly, we got a $13 billion deficit. Uh, and, uh, a- and, and every time you hear about tax cuts, you go, "Well, [laughs] that's gonna drive a, a pretty big Mack truck through provincial finances." Well, what did you think of Mr. Dirksen's response on that?

Yeah, so I thought the interview was, was, um, different than anything we've seen in the campaign. Because in, at his campaign events, reporters are not allowed to ask follow-up questions, and so it's harder to get information out of him. Because you were able to ask follow-up questions, he was able to become, uh, present a much clearer, um, answers to some pretty complex issues. So, you know, he agreed that the, the, the deficit is not gonna be, um, uh, eliminated in a short period of time. He agrees with that Jacques Tremblay's, uh, assessment, it's gonna take at least five years. And because you're able to ask follow-up questions, his positions became clearer. And I would advise his advisors if they're... So listen to that interview. As an example, if, if