B.C. Conservatives promise no new taxes if elected on Oct. 24

VICTORIA — The British Columbia Conservative Party is promising — if they are elected to form government on Oct. 24 — that it “will never raise taxes” on residents, interim Leader Lorne Doerkson said.

Doerkson made the announcement Sunday during a campaign stop in Surrey, B.C.

It was the first official promise from the party after New Democrat Leader David Eby called a snap election last Tuesday, just as the Conservatives were scrambling to get organized following the resignation of former leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay and the appointment of Doerkson as interim leader.

Flanked by local Surrey candidates, including former interim leader Trevor Halford, Doerkson said that he would make affordability a top priority, starting with taxes.

“Not as long as I am premier of the province, will we raise taxes,” he said. “Let me repeat that: we will not raise taxes, we will not increase taxes of any kind.”

Doerkson said his commitment to this promise is what he called “absolutely ironclad.”

“We will not raise taxes, not once, and we will not introduce new taxes, not once,” he said.

Doerkson also said that the B.C. New Democrats have raised taxes multiple times during the last decade and will plan to do so again if elected, referring to an announcement last week in Burnaby, B.C., where Eby promised to impose a new two per cent tax on unsold condominiums and raise the speculation and vacancy tax.

“The solution to so many problems for David Eby has been to raise taxes,” Doerkson said. “British Columbians have never paid more tax and got less in return.”

When asked how a future Doerkson government would propose to pay for public services in case of economic turndowns, the Conservative leader promised to reverse policies that have hampered growth.

“The things that I’m worried about most in this current market is the damage that the NDP is doing to our industry,” he said.

Doerkson’s promise comes amid a forecast that pegs B.C.’s provincial deficit at a record-setting $13.8 billion.

When asked how he would square tackling the deficit without raising taxes, Doerkson responded by repeating his earlier pledge to revive industries such as forestry, among others.

“The reality is, you’re going to hear me say it every single day, probably for the rest of this campaign, that we need to get that fired up again,” he said. “We have lost so much in this province, it’s shocking.”

Doerkson said in a party statement that Conservatives would end what he calls the B.C. New Democrats “endless tax grabs on working families.”

Conservatives said on Sunday that British Columbians have been hit with “one tax grab after another” such as raising the lowest income tax rate to 5.6 per cent from 5.06 per cent and freezing tax brackets through 2030.

The party calls that a “quiet tax hike that hits British Columbians every time their pay keeps up with inflation.”

“British Columbians have never paid more in tax, but nine years of the NDP spending more and getting less means our province has never been further behind,” Doerkson said in the party statement.

The statement also criticized the proposed — and since delayed — expansion of the Provincial Sales Tax of seven per cent to various professional services such as accounting.

Taxes, however, were not the only issues that came up during Sunday’s presser by Doerkson.

The Conservative leader also repeated earlier promises to repeal the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity program in schools, also known as SOGI.

Doerkson also slammed the repeated closures of emergency rooms and addressed comments from New Democrat MLA candidate Niki Sharma over his status as interim leader.

Sharma had said Friday that the Conservatives cannot guarantee that Doerkson will be premier if they win the election because of the party’s constitution.

“Although they want to put up this front that Lorne Doerkson is in charge of the party right now, the truth is (that) who is really in charge of the party are the same people that voted in Kerry-Lynne Findlay,” Sharma said.

The party’s constitution prevents an interim leader to run for permanent leader, but the party’s board of directors also announced this week that the party would “pursue the appropriate means” to ensure that Doerkson stays on as leader if he wins the election.

“A premier chosen by British Columbians deserve the certainty of leading his party,” the directors said.

The statement pointed to measures such as amendments of the party’s constitution, which would require the support from two-thirds of present party members.

Doerkson said the party’s lawyer is currently looking into the issue.

“I think the clarity that we’re trying to offer on this subject is simply that … there will be a resolution passed to make me leader the second I become premier, which I’m betting on,” he said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 27, 2026.

Wolfgang Depner, The Canadian Press