The provincial election is getting underway in earnest, and parties held campaign events on Monday on the Island, the north coast, and in the Lower Mainland.

The federal government says it wants Canada to become a global energy superpower, and on day seven of B.C.’s provincial election campaign, the BC Conservatives and BC NDP both pitched voters on plans to ensure our province plays a big role in reaching that goal.

Lorne Doerkson, interim leader of the Conservatives, shared his party’s new B.C. Energy Superpower Plan – a roadmap for how the province could facilitate new investment in LNG, with the goal of tripling production by 2035. 

“We have one of the richest, the cleanest, and most abundant deposits of gas anywhere in the world, but having the resource is only half of that equation,” he said.

“When we get this right, and trust me when I say this, we will get this right, the results for British Columbians will be absolutely transformative.”

Doerkson said that, as opposed to cutting core services, the economic activity generated by the plan would bankroll his pledge to not introduce any new taxes. He also slammed the NDP for not doing this earlier.

“By failing to build our own export capacity, we remain captive to a single customer,” he said.

“We sell our resources at a discount, dependent on and vulnerable to Donald Trump’s bullying of our country and our province.”

But the NDP says there’s an issue with the Conservatives’ plan: it’s already in action. The party says by current projections, the province is on pace to more than triple its LNG production by 2035, and it wants the mining sector on the same track.

Speaking in Prince Rupert, BC NDP leader David Eby highlighted his government’s efforts to diversify trading partners while announcing plans to expand Prince Rupert’s port, making it the second-largest in the country, behind Vancouver’s, by 2030.

“Our commitment is to double, in the next five years, the critical metals and minerals that we produce in British Columbia for export,” Eby said.

“All of this together means that we’re able to create the kind of province that can stand on our own two feet, that can stand up to Trump, protect jobs, support British Columbians while we’re under attack, and build, and do it all by building.”

On Vancouver Island, BC Greens leader Emily Lowan was campaigning in her home riding, sharing her plan to address the cost-of-living crisis by introducing universal childcare.

“This means recommitting, immediately, to $10-a-day childcare, and making it free in just five years,” Lowan said.

“For every dollar we invest, about 40 cents comes back in taxes from the parents who are able to take on jobs and work more.”

The Greens also promised better wages and pension benefits for childcare workers. 

CentreBC and OneBC, meanwhile, did not hold any campaign events Monday.