Source article / broadcast notice

Global News, “Watch live: BC Conservative leader debate,” May 7, 2026 — read/watch via Global. Resource Works / GlobeNewswire, “Global News to host BC Conservative leadership debate May 9,” April 29, 2026 — read the release.

Tonight’s Global BC Conservative leadership debate is not just an opposition-party event. It is a sign of where the fight against David Eby’s NDP is moving.

Global News says the debate airs Saturday, May 9, from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m., commercial-free, moderated by legislative reporter Ben O’Hara Byrne. The five candidates listed by Global are Iain Black, Caroline Elliott, Kerry-Lynne Findlay, Yuri Fulmer and Peter Milobar.

The sponsor matters. Resource Works says it proposed the debate because of the importance of natural resources to British Columbia’s economy. Its release says candidates should be tested on raising living standards, stimulating growth and securing energy, food and shelter for B.C. residents.

The NDP record is the backdrop

The debate lands after weeks of pressure on the Eby government over debt, jobs, DRIPA uncertainty and investor confidence. Canadian Press reported Friday that Eby defended record borrowing at the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain extension site while his leadership faced pressure over the deficit, DRIPA and B.C. job losses in the first four months of 2026.

That is why a resource-economy debate matters. Forestry, mining, agriculture, energy, LNG, ranching and infrastructure are not side files. They are the industries that pay wages, support communities and fund public services. When investment confidence weakens, the damage is not abstract. It shows up in jobs, tax revenue, housing costs and public budgets.

What is confirmed

  • Global BC hosted a BC Conservative leadership debate on May 9, 2026 from 4:30 to 6 p.m.
  • Ben O’Hara Byrne moderated the debate.
  • Global listed Iain Black, Caroline Elliott, Kerry-Lynne Findlay, Yuri Fulmer and Peter Milobar as participants.
  • Resource Works sponsored the debate and said natural resources drove its proposal.
  • Resource Works said natural resources and related processing account for nearly half of B.C.’s international goods and services export base.
  • Resource Works said mineral exploration and mining employ more than 35,000 people in B.C.

What voters should watch

The question for the candidates is simple: who can make the clearest case that B.C. can grow again without drowning families and employers in uncertainty?

The question for the NDP is harder. After years in power, why are British Columbians still hearing that prosperity is always one more plan away, one more consultation away, one more tax increase away, one more borrowing cycle away?

Global’s debate gives the opposition a prime-time stage. If the candidates use it well, the NDP’s weakest economic files — debt, resource approvals, DRIPA uncertainty, cost of living and jobs — move from policy papers into the public square.

The bottom line: the resource economy is back at the centre of B.C. politics. That is bad news for a government whose record is increasingly defined by uncertainty.