---
title: "Every BC NDP candidate signs public health care pledge at Delta event"
description: "David Eby unveiled a Public Health Care Guarantee in Delta on October 12, with every BC NDP candidate signing on to oppose out-of-pocket charges, queue-jumping, and privatization."
canonical_url: "https://voche.me/bc/provincial-2026/news/bc-ndp-public-health-care-guarantee-october-2026"
last_updated: "2026-10-17T18:42:36.002Z"
---

The BC NDP published a Public Health Care Guarantee on October 12, 2026, saying every one of its candidates has signed on to a pledge opposing out-of-pocket charges for covered care, queue-jumping, and changes that would move staff or resources from the public system. The announcement was made by party leader [David Eby](/bc/provincial-2026/candidates/david-eby) at an event in Delta, according to the party's own release.

"Public health care is an expression of who we are as Canadians. It's a promise that we take care of each other, no matter who you are or how big your bank account is," Eby said in the release.

## What the guarantee commits each NDP candidate to

The party says each NDP candidate has signed a pledge to oppose three things: out-of-pocket charges for medically necessary care, the ability to pay for faster access to services, and changes that would pull staff and resources away from the public system.

The party says it would bring nurse practitioners under the Medicare Protection Act, which it says would stop clinics from charging user fees for publicly covered services.

## The private agency nurse plan

The NDP release says the party would, over three years, phase out hospital use of costly private temp agencies. The plan, as the party describes it, would cap agency fees and hours and prevent people from working as agency nurses in the same hospital where they were recently employed.

The party says savings from this change would be redirected to expand the Go Health BC program, which it describes as a program that sends public travel nurses to rural emergency rooms.

## What Eby said about the Conservative platform

Eby's release compares Conservative leader [Lorne Doerkson](/bc/provincial-2026/candidates/lorne-doerkson) to Alberta's Conservative Premier Danielle Smith. Eby says Alberta passed a law allowing doctors to work in both public and private care and to charge patients out of pocket, letting those who can pay access faster surgery. He says Doerkson ran on a vague commitment to maintain a public system, the same framing Smith used.

"The same thing would happen here under Doerkson and the BC Conservatives," Eby said in the release. This is the party's own characterization of its opponents.

The release also says Conservative health critic [Anna Kindy](/bc/provincial-2026/candidates/anna-kindy) "has openly championed a private, pay-for-care system" and that a Conservative candidate in Nanaimo called a user-pay model "the only solution" to health care challenges. Eby says Doerkson has not ruled Kindy out as health minister. These are Eby's claims about his opponents. The Conservative Party's response to these characterizations was not available at the time this article was written.

Voters can compare each party's health care positions at the [BC provincial 2026 party pages](/bc/provincial-2026/parties/bc-ndp). Advance voting is open October 16 to 21. Voting day is October 24, 2026.

## Sitemap

See the full [sitemap](/bc/provincial-2026/sitemap.md) for all pages.