Respect Is More Than a Cheque: Eby’s $15M Pledge Meets the ICBC Accountability File

David Eby’s BC NDP is now promising $15 million for a permanent Filipino Cultural Centre if re-elected. The Conservatives are promising the same amount. On the merits, British Columbia’s Filipino community has a strong case for a cultural home that recognizes its history, work and contribution to this province.

But respect is not measured only by the size of a campaign cheque.

Daily Hive reports that no preferred proposal or host city has been chosen by the provincial or federal governments, even as competing proposals exist in Burnaby and Vancouver. It also reports that the federal contribution has not been publicly disclosed, while the Conservatives say matching senior-government funding would bring the total to $30 million. Those are basic delivery questions: where, when, under whose governance, and with what operating plan?

There is a second accountability question Eby cannot avoid. The push for a permanent cultural centre gained momentum after the deadly Lapu-Lapu Day tragedy in Vancouver. That makes it especially important that political leaders separate genuine community recognition from unresolved questions about victims, ICBC and the no-fault system.

ICBC’s own public guidance says that, since May 1, 2021, it is generally not possible to sue for compensation under Enhanced Care except in limited circumstances. ICBC says injured British Columbians instead access Enhanced Accident Benefits, while disputes may go through the Civil Resolution Tribunal. That is the system victims and families encounter when a public tragedy becomes an insurance file.

The Legislature record shows this was not a fringe complaint. In a May 6, 2025 Hansard debate, MLAs pressed the government on whether no-fault benefits were adequate for Lapu-Lapu victims and families. The minister defended Enhanced Care and said ICBC had set up a dedicated line for victims. In May 2026 committee testimony, ICBC said it had paid almost $5 million on Lapu-Lapu claims to that point and expected the total could be much higher.

Those facts can both be true: benefits may have been paid, and families may still deserve clearer answers about rights, limits, timelines and independent accountability. A cultural-centre pledge does not answer whether the no-fault framework is fair in catastrophic cases. It does not answer whether the public has enough transparency on victim support. It does not answer whether the government will review the hard edges of the system it built.

That is the point. Supporting a Filipino Cultural Centre should not be treated as a substitute for answering the Lapu-Lapu accountability file. Community recognition is important. Justice, transparency and practical victim support are important too.

If Eby wants credit for the cheque, he should also give British Columbians the ledger: the site plan, the funding plan, the timeline, and the no-fault answers families have every right to ask for.