Despite high voter concern about democracy and trust, all parties fail to promise many needed changes to have effective democracy, government ethics and accountability in British Columbia
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Friday, October 23, 2026
OTTAWA – Today, Democracy Watch issued its Report Card on the B.C. Parties’ 2026 Democracy and Accountability Platforms (To see the criteria and grading system used to assess the parties, click here).
The Green Party received a C the best grade of bad overall grades in the Report Card — Conservatives receive a D, and the NDP an F.
However, voters should adjust all the grades down because past elections have shown that a Dishonesty Downgrade of one full grade is justified given usually only half of all promises are kept because of the lack of an honesty-in-politics law which is needed to effectively penalize promise-breakers and misleaders.
Many surveys over the past decade have shown that a large majority of voters do not trust politicians, and want honesty, ethics, lobbying, open government and other key reforms to stop politicians from abusing their power. Unfortunately, all the B.C. parties are largely ignoring the many changes that the large majority of voters want.
“All the B.C. parties have failed to respond to high voter concern about democracy and trust issues so the party leaders should not be surprised by the lack of support they will receive from voters on election day and no one should be surprised by likely low voter turnout,” said Duff Conacher, Co-founder of Democracy Watch. “One can only hope that the parties will actually address these concerns when the legislature opens again so that everyone in B.C. politics will finally be effectively required to act honestly, ethically, openly, representatively and to prevent waste.”
The Greens had their best grade of B in the area of Representative Government as they promised to change B.C.’s voting system to a proportional system, and to consult with the public in many policy areas, and to implement the report of the Special Committee on Democratic and Electoral Reform (although its report was weak and failed to address many problems that make B.C. elections undemocratic and unfair). The Greens also had a B in the area of General Accountability as they promised to increase accountability in several areas.
The Conservatives also had their best grade of B in the area of General Accountability as they also promised to increase promised to increase accountability in several areas. ndp also had their best grade of C- in the area of General Accountability as they also promised to increase promised to increase accountability in a few areas.
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FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Duff Conacher, Co-founder of Democracy Watch
Tel: (613) 241-5179
Cell: 416-546-3443
Email: [email protected]
Democracy Watch’s Campaign page
Democracy Watch’s Report Card on the Main B.C. Parties’ 2026 Democracy and Accountability Platforms
Sources
To see the criteria and grading system used to assess the parties’ platforms, click here
Lorne Doerkson’s Conservative Party of BC platform webpage
(NOTE: See in the platform PDF re: Representative Government page 27 (Re-establish the Small Business Roundtable), 30 (restore Premier’s Technology Council), 44 (Pass a Respect Local Democracy Act). See re: Efficient Government and General Accountability pages 6 (home-building processes, childcare spaces), 9 (budget transparency), 10-11 (capital plan audit, competitive bidding), 13-14 (cut red tape, streamlining government), 17 (speed up permits, common-sense forest management), 19 (cut agricultural red tape, protect farm water), 20-21 (mine permit and approval timelines, defend BC mines, Expand First Nations participation, maintain high environmental, safety and reclamation standards), 24 (listen to fishing communities), 25 (tracking emissions accurately, manage wildlife responsibly, sustainable environmental protections), 27 (make trucking safety a priority), 29 (Review current fleet renewal contracts, Establish a BC Ferries Passenger Charter of Rights), 30 (Responsible AI strategy), 32 (Protect universal public health care and introduce a Universal Health-Care Guarantee, Launch the 100-day Patients First review), 36 (independent review of the Mental Health Act), 39-40 (Implement an Anti-Extortion Action Plan, Speed up justice)
Emily Lowan’s BC Green Party platform webpage
(NOTE: See in the platform PDF re: Honest, Ethical Government, Open Government, and Representative Government the brief list on pages 71-72 (and the relatively weak report of the Special Committee on Democratic and Electoral Reform which the Greens promise to implement). See re: Efficient Government and General Accountability pages 12 (grocery transparency), 22 (Health Governance), 24-25 (review of Mental Health Act and accountability mechanisms), 31 (Post-secondary school funding and system changes), 33 (police and justice system accountability measures), 35 (social work regulation), 38-39 (review of monopolies, environmental standards, tax reforms), 40 (employment standards review, pay transparency), 49 (ban on surveillance pricing, AI regulation, Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act reform), 51 (tax enforcement), 54-55 (Indigenous peoples’ rights enforcement), 57-60 (climate change and electricity system regulation enforcement), 62 (forestry regulation), 66 (farmland protection regulation), 67-68 (clean air protection regulation), 70 (water protection regulation))
David Eby’s B.C. NDP platform webpage
(NOTE: The only measures in the NDP’s platform that address democracy or accountability issues are in the area of General Accountability – the proposals in the section entitled “Your Costs” re: stopping oil and gas price gouging (which don’t say how this will be done) and capping grocery store profits, and banning surveillance pricing, and the environmental protection proposals in the “Your Environment” section)