B.C. Conservatives to speak after Eby calls early provincial election for Oct. 24

B.C. NDP Leader David Eby at Government House in Victoria on Tuesday. (Mike McArthur/CBC)The LatestVoters in British Columbia will choose their next provincial government on Oct. 24, two years ahead of schedule, after NDP Leader David Eby called a snap election on Tuesday.Making the announcement in Victoria, Eby said the province needs a new government to meet the "existential moment" created by the trade conflict between Canada and the U.S.After the election call, several MLAs said they would return to the Conservatives from CentreBC to unite candidates to Eby's political right. Interim Leader Lorne Doerkson is holding a news conference at 4 p.m. PT.The vote takes place just one week after municipal elections across the province on Oct. 17, leading to concerns from some about voter apathy or confusion.Featured MediaSkip Featured Media2:15Eby criticizes 'chaos' of B.C. opposition parties after calling snap election

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The B.C. Conservative Party will be holding a news conference at Vancouver’s Crab Park at 4 p.m. PT to respond to David Eby’s snap election call. 

Reporters will have plenty of questions about the nature of their agreement with Peter Milobar and the other MLAs who had previously left the Conservatives and were briefly part of CentreBC. 

But it will also be a key moment for Leader Lorne Doerkson to introduce himself to the public. The two-term MLA for Cariboo-Chilcotin has a relatively low profile, but is widely respected by his fellow Conservative MLAs who made him interim leader. Now he has five weeks to make the pitch to British Columbians that he should be premier. 

Fair Vote Canada, a national citizens’ campaign for proportional representation, is using the snap election call to criticize the first-past-the-post voting system used in Canada.

First-past-the-post refers to the "winner-takes-all" system used in federal and provincial politics that Fair Vote Canada says can cause governments to "swing between extremes, shutting out the majority of voters."

A statement for the group says the system has caused chaos on B.C.'s political right, putting parties "in a vicious fight for dominance and survival."

"With B.C.'s right-wing parties heading for a vote split, it's easy to understand why Premier David Eby seized the chance to secure four more years of power with far less than half the vote — but it didn't have to be this way," it added, arguing that proportional representation is a far more fair and effective way to vote in a government.

Workers in Vancouver on Sept. 10. (Ethan Cairns/CBC)Other groups, however, are voicing their support for the upcoming provincial vote.

The B.C. Federation of Labour welcomed the move and endorsed the NDP.

"With our economy under attack and jobs in jeopardy, we need certainty and stability with a government that listens to workers, not the chaos the opposition is bringing to the legislature," wrote federation president Sussanne Skidmore. 

"Our province and country are facing important decisions, and you deserve to know the people at the helm are on your side." 

The statement also says the NDP "needs to do more for working people," but adds that the federation is happy with the progress made on key projects.

Harvie in Delta, B.C., in April. (Ben Nelms/CBC)More mayors are announcing their displeasure at the timing of the provincial vote. 

George Harvie, who is running for re-election as mayor of Delta, did not mince his words about Eby's announcement, saying parallel political campaigns will confuse voters already trying to make sense of upcoming municipal elections.

"I stand besides my fellow mayors that are just pissed off," he said.

"I never usually use that word, but to me it's just insulting that they would call an election during an active period of local government elections in B.C."

Harvie said he'll adjust his campaign to ensure his message distinguishes between municipal and provincial campaigns.

Marianne Alto, who is aiming to be re-elected as mayor of Victoria, echoed that sentiment in a statement, writing that "overlapping provincial and municipal campaigns distract voters from local candidates, and local issues. It undermines the importance of local government."

People cross the street in Fort Langley, a community in Langley, B.C. (Ben Nelms/CBC)Two political strategists say Eby may have missed his moment to capitalize on the past few weeks of chaos in the B.C. Conservative Party.

Andrew Reeve, senior consultant at Earnscliffe, said the fact the election call gives just a few days to finalize candidates for ballots may provide the pressure needed to unify the right. 

"There's nothing like a snap election to force people to pull themselves up from their bootstraps and get everything sorted," Reeve told CBC News.

Angelo Isidorou with Fountainhead Communications praised Conservative interim leader Doerkson for bringing MLAs back to his party.

"David Eby has woken up a potential sleeping giant by uniting the right," said Isidorou, who was formerly the executive director of the B.C. Conservatives.

Sturko in 2023. (Ben Nelms/CBC)Over the past couple of hours, we've developed a slightly better sense of the agreement that  appears to have resulted in seven CentreBC MLAs returning to the Conservatives.

What appears more certain is who won't be going back.

Elenore Sturko has announced she's sticking with CentreBC, arguing that she can't return to the Conservatives given they’ve supported the repeal of the human rights code.

On the other side of the Conservative spectrum, Findlay and her husband Brent Chapman will not be running with the party, with Chapman announcing his candidacy with OneBC — whose leader Dallas Brodie has attacked the Conservatives for being, in her mind, insufficiently conservative. 

At the same time, there are rumours that other MLAs who left the party might not be allowed back to seek re-election under the Conservative banner. 

Combined, it gives the impression of a party that is working rapidly to try to bring as many people as possible to the fold, while giving the impression of a more moderate party than it was under Findlay.

But we’ll have to wait for the official Conservative announcement — and details on which incumbents won’t be running for them — to have a clearer picture. 

The B.C. Legislature in 2021. (Ken Mizokoshi/CBC)We're still waiting for an official announcement that MLAs who left the Conservatives to join CentreBC may now be back with their former colleagues in a bid to unite candidates to Eby’s political right.

But the NDP is already calling attention to the apparent political flip-flop.

In a news release titled "'I'm not going back to the Conservative Party' and other things CentreBC MLAs have said ahead of merger," the NDP lists statements made by Peter Milobar, Rosalyn Bird and Bruce Banman, in which they claimed they'd never return to the Conservatives.

It highlights comments made by Milobar as recently as yesterday, when he responded to a question about a potential merger by saying the Conservative Party remains controlled by supporters of former leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay.

Lowan in Vancouver on Jan. 30. (Ben Nelms/CBC)Emily Lowan, leader of the B.C. Greens, added to the chorus of complaints against the snap election.

"This snap election will be costly, it isn’t wanted, and it continues this government’s track record of putting its interests ahead of everyday people," Lowan said in a news release.

She said the NDP already has a majority that it has used for "continued inaction."

Lowan said while the NDP has offered tough talk on Trump, it hasn't built an economy that could withstand the next shock.

"If they wanted to offer that support and stability they could do so today, instead they plunged us into an election."

Lowan pitched the Greens as a party that would build thousands of affordable homes, make health care accessible, and "[make] the ultra-wealthy and mega-corporations pay their fair share."

Milobar in Victoria earlier this year. (Chad Hipolito/The Canadian Press)Not everyone in CentreBC is happy about Milobar's agreement with the Conservatives.

Party president Mike Wignall has just sent out a news release entitled "Milobar flips — Again."

Wignall said Milobar didn't discuss his decision to return to the B.C. Conservatives with the CentreBC executive council.

"We are disappointed that Peter Milobar and others did not stand by commitments made to this party, its executive council, and its members," Wignall said in the release.

He said CentreBC would not "be selling out to divisive politics" and added it would continue to field candidates as a centrist party.

Milobar left the Conservatives last month to sit as an Independent and planned to create his own party. On Friday, he was announced as the new CentreBC leader. Now, he's working with the Conservatives.

Milobar at the B.C. Legislature in February. (Chad Hipolito/The Canadian Press)A new statement from the B.C. Conservatives confirms what sources told CBC News earlier: Doerkson and Milobar say they have "come together" to present a "viable governing alternative to the NDP chaos."

"This cynical election is not what British Columbians asked for, but it offers our province the hope for real change," the release says. 

The statement did not provide specifics as to how the candidates will "come together," but was released under a Conservative party banner.

The Conservatives also criticized Eby's handling of a number of issues facing the province, including the cost of living crisis, the provincial deficit and crime.

"David Eby has handed B.C. a chance for change — let's take it!"