There’s an old adage in politics that the voters are never wrong. If you start there, you can draw two very clear conclusions from the Oct. 24 provincial election: the BC NDP government was well past its best-before date, and Premier David Eby had no clue how unpopular he truly was.
Eby badly misplayed his political hand by calling an early election with two years left in his government’s four-year mandate. The result of his catastrophic error in judgement was the election of the first BC Conservative government in 98 years.
The Conservatives romped to victory at Eby’s expense, making historic gains through the voter-rich regions of Metro Vancouver, including the coveted suburban regions of Maple Ridge, Coquitlam, Burnaby, Richmond and even downtown Vancouver. In battleground Surrey, which can make or break entire governments, the Conservatives pulled off an unprecedented clean sweep of all 10 ridings.
The Conservatives emerged leading or elected in 63 ridings, with the NDP chopped almost in half to 28 seats and the Greens static at two. Nine ridings with slim margins led by Conservatives and New Democrats could yet change as part of a final count process set to start Nov. 6, as well as potential judicial recounts.
Eby quickly resigned as BC NDP leader in a somber concession speech barely an hour after polls had closed on election night. Once viewed as the party’s saviour to pick up the heavy mantle left by John Horgan, Eby will instead be remembered as the man who squandered the 13-seat majority and $6 billion budget surplus Horgan left the party, all in under four years.
For the B.C. business community, consequential policy change is on the horizon.
Premier-elect Lorne Doerkson, a former small business owner, campaigned on a platform crafted to appeal to the sector.
He’s pledged to eliminate the repeat-embedded Provincial Sales Tax on capital inputs like machinery and equipment for at least the next three years — a longstanding request of the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade and Business Council of BC.
The Conservatives also promised a core review of government spending, red tape reduction, a tax credit for youth hires and a blue ribbon panel to help simplify the province’s antiquated tax systems.
Doerkson’s approach contrasted sharply with Eby’s abrupt policy shift on the campaign trail into government intervention in the free market with caps on the price of gasoline, bread, poultry and dairy.
The populist version of Eby that emerged during the election saw him decry wealth and profitable business, including an attack on billionaire philanthropist Jimmy Pattison, whose various business ventures constitute one of the province’s largest employers.
The NDP also pitched a tax hike on those who earned more than $190,000, with Eby lumping them in with the millionaires he said are failing to pay their fare share for government services.
The Conservatives, meanwhile, talked about encouraging capital investment and business growth, describing Eby’s tax as a penalty on successful entrepreneurs and job-generators. And Doerkson pledged not to raise any taxes at all.
Ultimately, though, it was not a policy heavy election. No single issue appeared to capture the public’s attention as much as what became a sort of referendum on Eby’s premiership and his decision to call an early campaign.
Eby tried to cover his cunning with heaps of rhetoric about global uncertainty caused by U.S. President Donald Trump, and the threat of homegrown extremism inside the BC Conservative Party. But the electorate saw it for what it was, a crass power grab by a premier trying to take advantage of a moment for his own political gain.
“I accept full responsibility for that outcome,” Eby said in his concession speech.
It will likely take the better part of two months for the Doerkson government to transition into office, set a cabinet and begin actual decision-making.
His top item, he said, is an independent audit of the B.C. government’s financial position to determine the true state of the debt and deficit. At the same time, he said he’ll start up with his first 100 days a review of hospital ER closures to try and stabilise facilities.
And he said he’ll repeal the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA) as early as the spring, bringing a new path forward of cooperation with First Nations outside of legislation he says has become far too divisive.
Whether the Conservatives can pull all this off within their first few months in power remains to be seen. But they have an extraordinary mandate from the British Columbia electorate to try.
“After nearly a decade of the NDP government, people are paying more, and they are getting less,” said Doerkson.
“They have asked for something different. And we are going to deliver it.”
