B.C. votes today as Eby and Doerkson make final pitch

British Columbians are voting Saturday in a provincial election that NDP Leader David Eby called two years early, with the outcome expected to turn on undecided voters, The Canadian Press reported.

Eby wrapped up the 32-day campaign on Friday with stops in Surrey, Coquitlam and Langley. He said B.C. has a history of elections being decided on voting day itself and asked undecided voters, and those considering the Greens, for their support.

Opinion polls have shown Eby’s NDP trailing since he triggered the snap election, which came as the B.C. Conservatives were dealing with leadership turmoil. Our earlier look at the numbers is in B.C. election polls show tight NDP-Conservative race.

Eby said his biggest regret of the campaign was not explaining better why he went to the polls. He said he should have done a better job of showing how stalled the legislature was, given his party’s one-seat majority, which he described as one of the most frustrating experiences of his life. He has said the election was needed to respond to the threat posed by U.S. President Donald Trump.

On Friday, Eby told supporters in Surrey that Conservative Leader Lorne Doerkson is a “Trojan horse filled with the most extreme views that British Columbians have ever seen running for office.” He also questioned whether Doerkson would remain leader after the election.

Doerkson became interim leader on Sept. 20, two days before Eby called the vote. The party has said it will do what it takes to keep him as leader if he becomes premier, though it has not explained how it would get around a party constitution that bars an interim leader from running for the permanent job.

Doerkson rejected Eby’s description as “absurd” when he took questions from The Canadian Press during a stop in Eby’s own riding of Vancouver-Point Grey. He said he is committed to leading the party and to being premier if elected. Two other Conservatives, Caroline Elliott and federal MP Aaron Gunn, have issued statements backing him.

The final days of the campaign centred on Surrey, which has 10 provincial ridings. Doerkson held a rally there Thursday night with former premier Christy Clark and Surrey mayor-elect Doug McCallum. Eby has said every Surrey seat is crucial and has accused the Conservatives of planning to cancel the new Massey Tunnel. The Conservatives have said they would build a bridge instead.

At dissolution, the legislature had 47 New Democrats, 29 Conservatives, two Greens, 13 Independents and two vacant seats. Most of the Independents had said they were returning to the Conservative fold, which put the Conservatives at about 37 seats going into the campaign.

Voters can check their voting place and the ID they need on the Elections BC website. Our report on advance voting turnout has earlier figures, and results will be added here once they are official.

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