Falcon to go after NDP on crime, prices, health care

B.C.'s Opposition Liberal leader says he'll target the New Democrat government on crime, affordability and health care when he takes his seat in the legislature later this month.

Kevin Falcon, who won a byelection in the Vancouver-Quilchena riding over the weekend after being elected to head the B.C. Liberals earlier this year, says the issues are all weak spots for Premier John Horgan's government.

Crime in urban centres, doctor shortages, increasing medical wait times and rising costs will all be on Falcon's agenda, he told a news conference on Wednesday.

He says he will tell the government that it is “utterly failing ” and all these problems have become worse since the NDP was elected in 2017.

Falcon says people in B.C. are feeling unsafe because repeat criminals are being released without charges, only to reoffend.

“You see it in Vancouver with almost 120 random acts of stranger attacks on individuals every month,” said Falcon. “You see that in the community of Surrey where you've got violent assaults up, business break-ins are up. You see it with property crime increasing, and that is a really big concern.”

The B.C. Liberals have already been targeting Attorney General David Eby in the legislature, questioning him about repeat offenders and accusing him of supporting a soft-on-crime policy.

“This is what David Eby and the NDP have created in our communities,” said Falcon. “I can tell you this is very bad.”

Eby and Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth have scheduled a news conference Thursday to announce new plans to keep communities safe. The attorney general said earlier this week the plan was the result of meetings with concerned municipal leaders about repeat offenders.

B.C.'s Urban Mayors' Caucus wrote to Eby last month, saying communities are facing critical issues with repeat offenders.

The mayors said police data show “most offences” are being committed by a small number of highly active and prolific criminals. The caucus is made up of the mayors of 13 communities: Abbotsford, Burnaby, Coquitlam, Kamloops, Kelowna, Nanaimo, New Westminster, Prince George, Richmond, Saanich, Surrey, Vancouver and Victoria.

Falcon said health care was also a major concern in a province where one in five people did not have a family doctor and wait times at hospital emergency wards and walk-in clinics were hours long.