B.C. Election fact check: NDP claims Conservatives will cut billions in health care

This week, B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad responded to claims made by the B.C. NDP, accusing them of spreading misinformation about his party’s health-care plan. The NDP alleged that Rustad’s plan would result in cutting billions from health-care funding.

The NDP, led by Premier David Eby, based their claim on figures presented by the Conservatives in a news release. Rustad stated that his party intended to increase health funding beyond what is outlined in the Health Ministry’s service plan, a point previously detailed in the Conservative’s "patients first" platform released in July.

The Conservatives cited a planned health-care spending figure of $30.6 billion for 2025-26. The NDP, however, countered that the actual projected figure for health spending in 2025-26 is $33.8 billion. This led the NDP to claim there was a $3.2 billion shortfall in Rustad's proposal.

Postmedia News sought clarification from the Conservatives on the discrepancy in these figures but did not receive a response.

Does this mean Rustad's health-care plan is missing $3.2 billion? Probably not.

The NDP’s claim lacks context. It’s more likely that the Conservatives referenced older spending figures from a 2023 plan, which listed $30.6 billion, rather than the updated 2024 plan. This would be a clerical oversight rather than a significant cut to health-care spending.

Rustad defended his party’s plan, stating, "The Conservative party’s patients first health-care plan focuses on increasing front-line health-care service delivery and making the system more efficient, while increasing funding."

The plan includes initiatives like reducing wait times, potentially sending patients outside B.C. for care, expanding medical education to produce more health-care workers, improving access to family doctors, and preventing emergency room closures. These efforts will undoubtedly raise costs, some of which have been explored in Postmedia News’s deeper analysis of health care in the election. Eby made a similar claim about billions in cuts, with minimal evidence, when Rustad first announced the plan in July.

Rustad has yet to specify how much spending will increase or how this additional spending will be funded, questions that remain unanswered by the Conservatives.

However, one fact is clear: provincial health-care spending has risen every year since 2001, as shown in a Postmedia review of B.C.’s public accounts. This trend held under both the B.C. Liberals during their 17-year tenure and the NDP over the last seven years.

In 2023-24, health-care spending reached $34.9 billion, accounting for 41% of total provincial expenditures. Over the past two decades, health care has consistently represented 38-41% of government spending, peaking at 41% under both the Liberals and the NDP.