Opinion: Eby says he will always tell you how he pays. We priced his promises: five have a figure and nine do not

This article is the opinion of the voche.me editors. The facts it relies on are listed with their sources at the end.

On October 6, David Eby made a promise about promises. "My commitment to British Columbians is always to be straight with you, to always tell you how we're going to pay for stuff and what our plan is," he said, as Daily Hive reported.

The next day his party criticized Lorne Doerkson for an announcement on a sales tax cut. Its release listed "No info on how much the PST change would cost" as the first fault and spoke of "magic math".

That is a fair test. Yesterday we applied it to the Conservatives. Today we apply it to the BC NDP.

Five promises with a figure

We read the party's releases and the news reports on fourteen of its promises since September 22. Five carry a dollar figure.

1. A gas tax cut. A temporary cut of 10 cents a litre on gasoline and diesel. The Canadian Press reported that Mr. Eby said it would cost the province $250 million, "with additional details forthcoming".
2. A relief fund for small businesses. $500 million in interest-free loans, as Daily Hive reported.
3. Business grants. $6 million a year for market research grants and advice, in the same report.
4. Libraries. Provincial funding would go from $14 million to $28 million a year, as Abbotsford News reported. That is $14 million more a year.
5. The former Oak Bay Lodge site. $90 million toward its redevelopment, as Victoria News reported.

Added up, that is $840 million in loans and one-time or temporary money, and $20 million a year.

Nine promises without one

In the releases and reports we read, these nine have no cost.

1. Eight MRI machines and ten CT scanners.
2. 500 more home care workers.
3. An end to user fees for home care.
4. Free shingles vaccines for every adult aged 50 or older.
5. 5,000 care-home workers moved back into the public health system.
6. Triple the funding for the campaign to recruit health workers from the United States.
7. A $5,000 tax credit for each young person a small business hires. The release gives no total.
8. A cap on the profit stores make on basic foods, and a wholesale food market.
9. Three more years of frozen car insurance rates, to spring 2030, announced on October 8. The release gives no figure for what the freeze costs the public insurer.

Several of these are wages. 500 home care workers are paid every year, and so are 5,000 care-home workers. A cost that returns every year is the kind a voter most needs to see.

The money coming in

The BC NDP has named one large source of new money. Its backgrounder says new income tax brackets would raise $225 million in 2026/27, $925 million in 2027/28 and $1 billion in 2028/29.

The Canadian Press reported that the party also promised a tax on unsold condominiums and a higher vacancy tax.

The forecast deficit is $13.8 billion, a record, as The Canadian Press reported on September 14. One billion dollars is 7.2 per cent of that. Daily Hive reported that the government's own update still shows a deficit of $12 billion in 2028/29, before any of these promises is counted.

Why the figure matters this time

Voters have seen an NDP promise meet a deficit before. The Canadian Press reported on October 1 that Mr. Eby promised a direct rebate of $1,000 to the average household in the 2024 election. In February 2025 his finance minister at the time said the government could not pay it because of the provincial deficit.

The forecast deficit is now the largest on record.

What can be said in his defence

A fair reader should weigh three points.

The BC NDP has given more figures than its main rival. We found a price on five of its promises and on two Conservative promises.

It has named new revenue. The Conservatives have promised no new taxes, and their leader said on September 28 that it is "almost impossible" to commit to a date for a balanced budget.

More detail may be coming. The Canadian Press noted that the gas tax figure came "with additional details forthcoming", and the election is 16 days away.

We have weighed these points. Mr. Eby set this standard himself, in his own words, two days ago. Nine of fourteen promises do not meet it yet.

What we ask

Advance voting opens on October 16. Before that day, the BC NDP should publish one page with three things:

1. what each of the nine promises above costs per year
2. the total of all fourteen
3. the deficit it expects in each of the next four years, with its promises and its new taxes counted

We asked the Conservatives for the same page in our article on their promises, and we asked the BC Greens for the calculation behind $22.2 billion.

Read the sources below and decide for yourself. The BC NDP page lists the party's candidates. Election day is October 24, 2026.