By ReyFort Media
B.C. NDP Premier David Eby on Tuesday (September 22) called a snap election for October 24.
Eby announced the election in Victoria, citing threats to the province by U.S. President Donald Trump and amid the disarray among the political opposition.
The election will be held a week after voters cast their ballots for the October 17 municipal elections across the province.
This means that British Columbians will be going to the polls twice in October.
Eby’s government has made a flurry of announcements in recent days, including investments in health care.
Eby also announced he is committed to pausing the provincial sales tax expansion and will build new BC Ferries vessels in the province.
In his remarks Tuesday afternoon, Eby said “for British Columbians and for Canadians, this is an existential moment. The prime minister has called this a rupture, and he is absolutely right.
“Donald Trump is attacking our workers. He’s targeting our businesses, and he is threatening our sovereignty.”
Meanwhile, interim B.C. Conservative leader Lorne Doerkson has swiftly moved to reunite the Opposition’s splintered factions.
Doerkson was appointed temporary leader of the B.C. Conservatives on September 20 after Kerry-Lynne Findlay stepped down.
Eby has called the election less than two years into his mandate. The regular election was supposed to be held in 2028.
Eby and his B.C. NDP won the 2024 provincial election with a slim majority.
“When you smell smoke you don’t sit and wait to see what happens next,” Eby said, standing alongside his wife, Dr. Cailey Lynch, outside Government House in Victoria, where he went to ask Lt.-Gov. Wendy Cocchia to dissolve the legislature on September 22
He called for a firebreak against both the trade war and “Trump-style politics.”
Eby mentioned Trump by name more than 20 times.
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