Photo Credit: Ben Nelms/CBC
On Oct. 25, the BC Conservatives secured an electoral majority following a snap election called by then-BC New Democratic Party (NDP) Leader David Eby, whose party has held the most seats in the legislature for the last nine years.
BC Conservative leader Lorne Doerkson will be the province’s new premier, with his party holding approximately two-thirds of the 93 seats in BC’s legislature. Eby resigned as the leader of his party, but he won his own seat in Vancouver-Point Grey.
Eby called the snap election on Sept. 20, leading British Columbians to head to the polls two years earlier than the latest possible election date in 2028.
During his first few days of campaigning, Eby said he called the election because of Canada’s trade war with the US and the new tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump, according to CTV News. However, later on in the campaign, Eby justified calling the election by saying that he wanted his party to have a greater majority of seats in the legislature.
The largest parties running in the election were the BC Conservatives, the BC Green Party, and the BC NDP, although there were 13 parties in total. Only the BC Green Party, the BC NDP and the BC Conservatives won seats in the election, and only the leaders of those parties were invited to the leader’s debate that took place on Oct. 14.
According to The Globe and Mail, the Conservatives won 64 seats, the NDP won 27 seats, and the Greens won two seats.
At the debate, Emily Lowan, leader of the Green Party, promised a significant change to taxation in the province. “If you have a fortune of 50 million dollars and up, you would pay a five per cent tax on that wealth once, and it would be a retroactive tax year to ensure minimal wealth shifting,” she said. Revenue raised from the tax would provide free transit, universal childcare, more non-market housing, and higher assistance rates, according to Lowan.
Eby also wanted to tax wealthy citizens. He planned on taxing people who have an income of over $1 million to help fund healthcare. Additionally, Eby wanted to recruit more doctors to improve healthcare in BC. At the leaders’ debate, Eby said, “We’ve connected 800 American healthcare workers with jobs here in British Columbia and we’re going to triple that.”
Doerkson has a different approach on taxes. He does not believe that the ultra-wealthy should be taxed.“Instead of watching their hard-earned money disappear into government spending that hasn’t made their lives any better, there will be no new taxes,” said Doerkson, according to CityNews.
Doerkson has also outlined a clear stance on the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (DRIPA). According to him, “DRIPA has to be repealed in this province” to protect private property rights.
While Doerkson wishes to get rid of DRIPA, Lowan wanted to keep it, and Eby didn’t take a clear stance on DRIPA.
During the campaign, the parties took slightly different approaches to campaigning. The BC NDP and the BC Conservatives held events in major urban areas, while the BC Greens took a different approach. Both Doerkson and Eby have mainly been campaigning in Metro Vancouver, while Lowan spent most of her time in her own constituency, Saanich North and the Islands, and in other constituencies on Vancouver Island.