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BC Chamber Network Positions and the New Conservative Platform

October 30, 2026
Chamber Network

Written by Jen Riley, President & CEO, BC Chamber of Commerce

It's been a wild couple of weeks in British Columbia. The BC Conservatives have returned to government with a majority after almost one hundred years, and many British Columbians are learning the name Lorne Doerkson for the first time. The snap election has reset the slate of opportunities for business across B.C.

The BC Chamber works as a system of signals. Through a network of local chambers and boards of trade, we listen to business communities across B.C. and the more than 35,000 businesses they represent. Our work is to turn their signals into policy positions on their behalf and use them to shape the decisions that create the conditions for growth and prosperity in our province.

When we compared our policy positions to the BC Conservatives' election platform, close to 70 per cent had a matching commitment. That’s a strong starting point, and it gives the new government and business a shared agenda to deliver together, starting with the province's finances.

For business, the defining number of the last government was the deficit forecast at $13.3 billion in February's budget – and then revised to $13.8 billion by the first quarterly report. In our submission to the 2026 budget consultation, we asked for one thing: fiscal accountability. Everything else a government wants to do for business rests on this. The platform answers with an independent review of the province's finances before the first budget, four fiscal anchors, and quarterly public reporting on all of them.

Starting with tax, the platform calls for a permanent cancellation of the expansion of the provincial sales tax (PST) to professional and commercial services, which the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade has advocated for since its announcement last winter. A tax reform panel with a 180-day clock answers the Kamloops & District Chamber of Commerce's call for an independent review of the combined weight of provincial taxes on business. And the employer health tax threshold, below which small employers pay no health tax, will be indexed to inflation, a position from the Burnaby Board of Trade and the Greater Langley Chamber of Commerce.

Beyond tax, the platform includes the return of the Small Business Roundtable, a direct line for small business owners to government, which the Burnaby Board of Trade called for after Small Business BC closed its doors. It also includes modernizing the Agricultural Land Reserve's "50/50 rule," which limits how much food processing can happen on farmland, so food processors can grow and strengthen food security. The Abbotsford Chamber of Commerce has carried this case for years, first on freeing lower-quality agricultural land for processing and then, with the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, on the rule itself. And there is a lesser-known signal to align B.C.'s aviation fuel targets with the federal framework, so regional air travel stays affordable, and the industry has regulatory certainty, a position brought forward by the Richmond Chamber of Commerce in 2025.

One of the strongest signals from our members is on public safety. The platform's commitment to 50 more Crown prosecutors, a dedicated court stream for repeat offenders and a seven-day trial pilot answers the Williams Lake & District Chamber's position that repeat non-violent crime is driving costs small businesses cannot absorb and that court capacity is the fix.

The platform also has big plans for the resource economy. It aims to double natural gas production by 2032 and triple it by 2035, bringing an estimated $6 billion a year to the province, a position the Surrey & White Rock Board of Trade has advanced since 2025. It commits to expanding the electricity grid to keep costs down and power industry, which the Penticton & Wine Country Chamber of Commerce and the Kamloops Chamber brought forward this year. It commits to expanding rail and port capacity to move people and goods and connect B.C. to Pacific markets, where the Greater Nanaimo Chamber and the Prince George and Fort St. John chambers have led the network's positions on ports and northern transportation routes. The platform also commits to restoring forestry, a cornerstone industry, which remains a pillar employer in many small B.C. communities despite years of strife. The Prince George Chamber's position on access to wood, permitting and costs aligns well with the platform's forestry section.

Underneath the resource commitments is the one that makes them possible, which is permitting speed. The platform commits to reducing regulation back to 2017 levels, setting approval timelines in law, one review per project, and forestry permits in months rather than years. Chambers from Richmond, Prince George, North Vancouver and others have called for this across the last two policy cycles.

The BC Chamber represents every sector, every region and every size of business, and we do so as a non-partisan voice. Each position is formally voted on and adopted to represent the voices that carry it. Our job is to convene and partner with whichever government British Columbians elect, toward healthy, connected and resilient business communities across the province.

There is work ahead. A platform is only a set of commitments until there is legislation, regulation or a budget line. We look forward to working with the new government. Our members have done the groundwork, and we're ready to do the rest together.

References

Platform references are to "Lorne Doerkson's Plan for a Stronger BC | 2026," Conservative Party of British Columbia (version as read: Draft 18, Oct. 16, 2026). Network positions are as adopted at the BC Chamber of Commerce Policy Forum in the year shown.

  1. Deficit figures: Province of British Columbia, Budget 2026 (Feb. 17, 2026) and 2026/27 First Quarterly Report.
  2. Fiscal accountability: BC Chamber of Commerce submission to the Budget 2026 consultation. Platform: fiscal review and anchors, pp. 9, 55, 59.
  3. PST expansion: Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, "Scrap the 2026 PST Expansion on Professional and Commercial Services" (2026). Platform p. 13.
  4. Tax review: Kamloops & District Chamber of Commerce, "New and Increased Provincial Taxes Impacting Business and Economic Growth" (2026). Platform p. 14.
  5. Employer health tax: Burnaby Board of Trade and Greater Langley Chamber of Commerce, "Continuing to Improve the Employer Health Tax" (2024). Platform pp. 27, 71.
  6. Small Business Roundtable: Burnaby Board of Trade, "Strengthening British Columbia's Backbone: Ensuring Robust Support for Small Businesses Following the Collapse of Small Business BC" (2025). Platform p. 27.
  7. 50/50 rule and ALR: Abbotsford Chamber of Commerce, "Build Capacity for Food Processing in the Agriculture Industry by Modernizing the Agriculture Land Reserve" (2024); Abbotsford Chamber of Commerce and Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, "Eliminating the 50-50 Rule to Strengthen Food Security and Agrifood Processing in B.C." (2026). Platform p. 18.
  8. Aviation fuel: Richmond Chamber of Commerce, "Sustainable Aviation Fuel Takes Flight" (2025). Platform p. 28.
  9. Public safety: Williams Lake & District Chamber of Commerce, "Addressing the Economic Impact of Repeat Non-Violent Crime on Businesses" (2026). Platform pp. 39, 40.
  10. Natural gas: Surrey & White Rock Board of Trade, "Unlocking BC's Natural Gas Potential" (2025). Platform pp. 13, 15, 21, 22.
  11. Electricity grid: Penticton & Wine Country Chamber of Commerce, "Removing Energy Capacity Constraints to Unlock Economic Growth in B.C." (2026); Kamloops & District Chamber of Commerce, "Improving BC Hydro Project Delivery, Transparency, and Service Standards for Business Customers" (2026). Platform pp. 16, 22.
  12. Ports and northern corridors: Greater Nanaimo Chamber of Commerce, "Strategic Investment in BC Ports and Transportation Corridors" (2025); Prince George Chamber of Commerce and Fort St. John & District Chamber of Commerce, "Strengthening Northern British Columbia's Transportation Corridors to Drive Major Projects" (2026). Platform pp. 15, 20, 26.
  13. Forestry: Prince George Chamber of Commerce, "Keeping BC Forestry Competitive: Improving Access to Wood, Jobs, and Investment" (2026). Platform pp. 16 to 18.
  14. Permitting: Richmond Chamber of Commerce, "A Balanced Approach to Regulation for Economic Prosperity" (2025); Prince George Chamber of Commerce, "Streamlining Permitting for Large Natural Resource Development Projects" (2025); North Vancouver Chamber of Commerce, "Reduce Costs & Delays in B.C.'s Environmental Water Quality Regulatory System" (2026). Platform pp. 13, 17, 20, 25.
  15. Alignment figure: BC Chamber of Commerce internal read of 113 network positions (2022 to 2026) against the platform text, October 2026. "Matching commitment" counts positions where the platform commits to the recommendation directly or moves in its direction.