Eby slams U.S.-style health care privatization, Conservatives claim ‘fearmongering’

British Columbia NDP Leader David Eby took aim at the premier next door while campaigning in this month’s election, promising not to implement what he called the “U.S.-style privatization” of health care.

Eby told a group of supporters asking him questions in Delta on Monday that Alberta’s United Conservative Party government made vague promises about protecting public health care, but are now creating a system where doctors can charge families money for medically necessary surgeries.

Eby says B.C. Conservatives are advocating for the same thing, but the Conservatives say they are committed “keeping B.C.’s system universal and publicly funded” and accuse Eby of “tired health-care fearmongering.”

On a stage surrounded by supporters and backed by a large Canadian flag, Eby signed what his party calls its “public health-care guarantee” which promises to protect the system from changes that would charge patients for necessary care, let people pay to jump the queue or pull staff from public health care.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s UCP government passed a law late last year to allow doctors to work simultaneously in both the private and public tracks.

Critics have said the law has muddied the waters for the national health-care plan and moves Alberta closer to a U.S.-styled, two-tier health-care model.

“We’ve seen the Conservative playbook in action. They pretend health care is safe to get your vote. Then the moment they get into power, it’s carved up for profit,” Eby said in a statement. “The same thing would happen here under (interim leader Lorne) Doerkson and the B.C. Conservatives.

The Conservatives responded that Doerkson has already promised to protect health-care funding and noted that “British Columbians will never need anything more than their health card.”

They said Eby is trying to keep people from looking at his record which includes emergency rooms that are closing and more than one-million British Columbians who don’t have a family doctor.

“David Eby is increasingly desperate, so we fully expect him to resort to the NDP’s usual fear campaign. He is running on fear because he cannot run on his record,” their statement said.

“A Conservative Party of BC government will keep emergency rooms open, recruit the doctors and nurses this province needs, and protect the public health care British Columbians rely on.”

Eby told the crowd that the Alberta model means doctors are pulled from the public system to work in the private system, calling in “anti-Canadian” to make people pay for things that used to be covered by the public health-care system.

Maddison McKee, press secretary for Alberta’s Ministry of Hospital and Surgical Health Services, issued a statement also accusing the B.C. NDP of “fearmongering.”

“The reality is that dual practice brings Alberta more in line with other top-performing health systems, including many European nations, who combine strong public funding with modern, flexible delivery models,” she said.

Smith’s government has repeatedly defended the move, saying the current status quo isn’t serving Albertans well and the government wants to create more options. The province has also said it thinks the model will attract more doctors to Alberta.

Smith has also said the move doesn’t violate the Canada Health Act and that she expects Ottawa to respect the province’s jurisdiction over health care.

Health care has become a central issue ahead of the Oct. 24th election, and the the BC NDP have suggested that promises by the Conservatives under Doerkson to cut taxes, while not providing details on how they will pay for those cuts, means health-care funding is at risk.

Eby’s New Democrats, meanwhile, are running on a promise to create a new tax bracket for people who make more than $1 million and increasing the top two existing brackets to pay for health-care costs.

The Conservatives say the NDP plan to raise taxes will drive doctors away.

The Conservative health-care platform includes a promise for a $50-million emergency fund to help prevent rural practices from closing and help recruitment.

Doerkson has also promised to establish an expert panel to look at publicly funded health-care systems around the world with an eye to reducing wait times and keeping emergency rooms and maternity wards open.

— With files from Fakiha Baig in Edmonton

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 12, 2026

Ashley Joannou, The Canadian Press