VANCOUVER - BC NDP Leader David Eby announced a public safety platform Wednesday headlined by 50 additional Crown prosecutors and a dedicated unit targeting extortion, racketeering and gang violence.
A re-elected NDP government would double its repeat offending programs, expand the Civil Forfeiture Office to go after gang assets, and pursue provincial penalties for gang-involved people caught with illegal guns wherever the law allows, Eby said.
The plan also includes training new officers faster by streamlining recruitment with the RCMP and Justice Institute of BC, setting up a BC Retail Theft Task Force, and continuing to press Ottawa for federal changes to keep violent offenders off the street.
The announcement lands as extortion-related shootings continue to rattle Surrey and the Lower Mainland, with police investigating dozens of cases targeting South Asian business owners and families.
Eby framed the package as doubling down on proven programs. The Conservatives under Lorne Doerkson unveiled their own Anti-Extortion Action Plan on October 13, setting up public safety as a defining ballot issue with 10 days to voting day on October 24.
(Source: BC NDP Media Centre, October 14, 2026)
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