B.C. NDP Leader David Eby speaks during a campaign announcement in Vernon, B.C., on Oct. 5.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
NDP Leader David Eby is promising to support police in British Columbia in their work to keep illegal guns off the streets and protect communities.
Eby, speaking while flanked by four New Democrat candidates with law enforcement experience at a news conference in Surrey, says he will ensure police have the tools to keep illegal guns from criminal organizations and protect families from potentially deadly domestic violence.
He says the NDP will continue to support the federal handgun and semi-automatic weapons seizure law and continue to back B.C. police anti-gang programs, including the Integrated Gang Homicide Team, which focuses on gang-connected homicides and improving police surveillance of gang activities.
Eby says B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad has repeatedly stated he would direct police not to enforce federal gun laws if elected to form government on Oct. 19.
He says Rustad’s policy, if enforced, will make B.C. “less safe.”
The NDP says domestic homicides account for 15 per cent of all murders in B.C.