B.C. Premier David Eby’s snap election gamble is facing voter resistance, with three recent polls putting the BC Conservatives ahead and multiple surveys showing opposition to the early election call.
British Columbians were not scheduled to vote again until October 2028. Instead, Eby called an election for October 24, arguing he needed a new mandate as U.S. President Donald Trump escalated economic threats against Canada.
Asked why he was going to the polls now, Eby said, “The conditions have changed by the hour,” citing new White House threats against Canadian industries.
“We will not bow down, and we will stand strong even under these recently and massively escalated threats against our economy and our workers and our communities,” Eby said.
Confronting Trump has since become a central campaign theme.
“Stand up,” Eby said in another campaign appearance. “It begins by having the courage to say no. To stand up to Trump’s threats, to the bullying, to the red-face[d] shouting, the violent memes.”
“We will hold the line,” Eby added. “That means not backing down on selling American liquor. Not one drop of Jack Daniel’s until there is a fair deal for B.C. forest families.”
But the early election itself is drawing significant opposition.
Mainstreet Research puts the BC Conservatives at 44.7% among decided and leaning voters, compared with 37.2% for the NDP. The Greens sit at 11.2%, OneBC at 5.7% and CentreBC at 1.1%.
Nearly six in ten — 59.3% — disapprove of the election call, compared with 29.4% who approve. Mainstreet said the Conservatives are “quite likely in majority territory.”
“David Eby said he needed a mandate to deal with the threat of Donald Trump and he may regret it,” Mainstreet president and CEO Quito Maggi said.
“If the anger at the election call itself does not subside soon, BC could be headed toward a change of Government for the first time in almost a decade,” he added.
Angus Reid Institute also has the Conservatives ahead at 48% versus 43% among decided and leaning voters.
Conservative supporters appear more committed, with 65% “very certain” of their choice compared with 44% of NDP supporters.
Ipsos, meanwhile, puts the Conservatives at 42% and the NDP at 40% among decided voters — a statistical tie.
Compared with its previous survey, Conservative support rose seven points while NDP support fell five.
Ipsos also found similar dissatisfaction with the early election: 50% disapprove of holding an election now, compared with 32% who approve.
Nearly half — 47% — said it was time for another party to take over, while 31% said the Eby government had done a good job and deserved re-election.
The three polls use different methodologies and should not be treated as directly interchangeable. All three, however, put the Conservatives ahead.
The surveys also suggest Eby’s Trump-focused campaign is competing with more immediate voter concerns.
Angus Reid found just 10% identified U.S. tariffs, Trump or the provincial alcohol ban as one of their most important election issues. Cost of living and inflation led at 57%, followed by health care at 42%.
Ipsos found a similar picture, with cost of living and inflation at 56%, health care at 39% and housing at 31%.
Eby is also struggling on personal measures. Angus Reid found 58% view him unfavourably and 36% favourably.
B.C. Conservative Leader Lorne Doerkson leads Eby 36% to 33% when voters are asked who would make the best premier, while 31% choose neither.
The polling comes as the Conservatives field candidates in all 93 ridings, while the NDP fell one short of a full slate — the party’s first time doing so since 1963.
So either Kanadians have woken up and somehow gotten a point or two more in IQ....or BC residents simply aren't as dumb as Ontarians..... As an Albertan, my bet is on the "BC>Ont" theory....