It’s been 7 days since Interim Conservative Leader Lorne Doerkson’s last media event and 15 days since his staff banned journalists from asking follow-up questions. After last night’s weak performance, it’s clear why.

Doerkson admitted that it was hateful for his candidate Heather Maahs to call gay people (including Elenore Sturko) immoral, but couldn’t explain why she remained in his caucus.

He defended only one of his campaign director’s racist posts while ignoring her pattern of behaviour and failing to acknowledge the deep pain that has been expressed by BC’s Muslim community. He falsely claimed Merrifield had apologized.

He acknowledged that car insurance rates would go up, but couldn’t explain by how much, and attempts at damage control in the post-debate scrum didn’t help.

And every time he was challenged to explain how his $5 billion budget gap wouldn’t mean healthcare cuts, he interrupted, sputtered some buzzwords, and then changed the subject.

He did say: “Trust me when I say this, British Columbians will see a fulsome plan before they go to the polls.”

Early voting starts tomorrow. In the 2024 election, nearly 50% of people voted early, with that number increasing significantly in every election.

If Lorne Doerkson is too weak to answer for his own plan today, how could British Columbians ever trust him tomorrow?