B.C.'s new government should start with grocery relief, not its longest promises

The new provincial government has a long list of promises to sort through. We think it should begin with the ones that reach household budgets soonest, and grocery relief should top that list.

Voters have just chosen a government, and the first months will set the tone. Pledges built around hospitals, bridges and SkyTrain lines will take years to deliver. A measure that eases the weekly food bill is a different kind of commitment, and it is a fair early test of whether this government can turn campaign promises into results.

The facts

B.C. held its provincial election on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026. Daily Hive reported that Doerkson led the Conservative Party of B.C. to a majority government. Eby conceded and said he would resign as BC NDP leader, accepting full responsibility for the defeat.

Affordability was a theme for at least some parties. The BC NDP and the B.C. Greens are each proposing plans to cut grocery costs, according to the Vancouver Sun. Global News said the NDP's messaging shifted from Trump to affordability and then to a stable majority. Doerkson promised a $1,000 tax cut.

Many other promises are slower by design. The Conservative platform sets aside an estimated $25 million over a first term for site selection and planning of a third Surrey hospital, with no commitment that it would open within that term. The Conservatives say they would work with the federal government on an Expo Line extension to Newton. Shifting Ottawa's announced contribution of up to $3 billion to a bridge would need federal approval, according to our earlier reporting. Tunnel early works are underway, and major construction is expected in 2027.

Doerkson also promised to double natural gas production in B.C. by 2032 and triple it by 2035. He claimed the expansion would mean tens of thousands of jobs and at least $6 billion a year for hospitals and schools. That is his claim, not an established figure.

Why we think so

Timing is the main argument. Most of the big commitments depend on planning, on other governments or on years of construction. A hospital promise that funds site selection and planning, without a commitment to open, is a long-term investment. The gas expansion is a multi-year plan with a payoff the premier-designate has asserted rather than demonstrated. These are legitimate goals, but none of them will change a household budget soon.

Groceries are different. Food is a cost every household faces, and it comes due every week. Help with that cost is something people can see and judge quickly. We think it should be designed to put public money where it is needed most, rather than spread thinly across everyone.

There is also a credibility case. The NDP and the Greens have each put grocery plans on the table, and Doerkson has promised a tax cut. A new government that delivers something concrete early earns room to pursue the harder, costlier projects. One that starts only with promises that take years to pay off invites doubt about the rest.

The other side

The strongest counterargument is that grocery relief is a short-term fix. It does not change why costs are high, and the lasting answers lie in the large projects and economic plans voters were just offered: transit, hospitals, a replacement for the Massey crossing, and the resource expansion the Conservatives say will create jobs and revenue. On the crossing, the Conservatives assert a bridge could be delivered faster, cheaper and with lower risk than a tunnel, while Eby asserted their plan would add delays and costs. If delay is costly, the argument goes, the government should not spend its early energy elsewhere.

There is weight in that. Big projects do cost more the longer they wait, and a one-off measure is not a strategy. But early action on grocery costs does not require a government to slow its major files. A relief measure and a construction timetable are different jobs, handled by different parts of government. Sequencing is not dismissal. Showing early that it can deliver something small and real may make the case for the larger commitments stronger, not weaker.

What should happen

The new government should do three things.

First, bring forward a grocery-cost measure early in its mandate, and say plainly who would qualify and what it would cost. The plans from the BC NDP and the B.C. Greens are already public, and the legislature should examine them rather than start from nothing.

Second, spell out how the promised $1,000 tax cut would work, who would receive it and when, so households can weigh it against other forms of relief.

Third, publish a clear timeline for the larger projects it has committed to, including the third Surrey hospital, the Newton SkyTrain extension and the replacement crossing, so the public can see what comes when.

Hospitals, transit and the crossing remain important and need serious work. But the first test is simpler. Can the government make daily life a little less expensive? Groceries are the place to show it.