BC NDP Premier David Eby has just announced an imminent election just under two years after the last, which saw the NDP narrowly eke out a victory. This decision comes just two days after the BC Conservatives appointed a new interim leader, Lorne Doerkson.
The move has drawn the ire of several politicians, journalists, and other politicos who are calling out Eby, noting that the election would cost money and violate unwritten rules of parliamentary decorum by calling an election while the official opposition lacks an elected leader.
British Columbian YouTuber and political commentator J.J. McCullough went as far as to call the snap election call “true banana republic stuff.”
Former BC Conservative Leader John Rustad called the move a “waste of taxpayer money” and noted that the move — given that Eby already holds a majority government — is aimed at securing four more years of NDP governance over the province.
Dallas Brodie, the leader of OneBC, told Juno News in an email that “David Eby’s decision to spend over $80 million on a snap election when he has a majority is beyond reprehensible and an exercise in the most cynical display of political gamesmanship.”
Cosmin Dzsurdza, the Director of Communications for the Conservative Caucus of B.C. and former Juno News managing editor, told Juno News that the snap election comes at a time when British Columbians have been stuck with a $13.8-billion deficit after nearly a decade of NDP governance.
“British Columbians are dealing with a $13.8-billion deficit, 6.5 per cent unemployment, declining home sales, land uncertainty, low housing starts, and a forestry sector in crisis,” he said.
“At least 21 B.C. lumber mills have closed since 2023, with roughly 15,000 forestry jobs lost since 2022. That’s the record the NDP are leaving behind.”
Dzsurdza blasted Eby for neglecting to return to the Legislative Assembly to try to salvage the economy and instead deciding to call an election that will overlap with more than 3,500 municipal campaigns across B.C.
“Municipal leaders asked him not to do this. UBCM passed an emergency resolution with 95 per cent support asking him to avoid an election overlap. Eby simply ignored them,” he said. “And British Columbians have every right to remember the last election, when Eby promised a $1,000 grocery rebate and then immediately cancelled it.”
In anticipation of the writ drop, BC Conservative leader Lorne Doerkson has begun bringing back into the fold MLAs who left or were kicked out of caucus during former leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay’s short time in office.
“People need a government focused on lower costs, safer communities, stronger businesses and good-paying jobs,” Dzsurdzsa said. “Instead, they’re getting another election to satisfy the Premier’s political opportunism.”
Politics across Canada is a joke. BC is in trouble right now and then this. The Conservatives need to get their act together and unite and quote all the internal bickering!
What else would we expect from Eby and the NDP. This shows complete disregard for the conservative citizens in BC. I suggest this is the action of a scared man. He recognizes that the support for the NDP is failing and he wants to secure another election win before his opponents can get organized.