I must admit, many people including myself were mystified and mortified that NDP Premier David Eby would call a snap election in B.C. with this election overlapping with the ongoing civic campaign. Having the election dates only a week apart meant confusion over party messaging, whether candidates were running for City Hall or the B.C. Legislature, not to mention the plethora of election signs on our streets, many of which were illegally posted. It was truly ridiculous hearing Eby trying to rationalize why the election was needed only two years into his mandate with the NDP enjoying a majority in the Legislature. His initial speech trying to put the blame on US President Trump and tariffs while mentioning "The Donald" nineteen times was laughable. If you look up "TDS - Trump Derangement Syndrome" you will likely see Eby's picture with a frowning face.
It was obvious to everyone that the real reason for the snap election call was the disarray within the Conservative Party of B.C. that saw an ever changing parade of leaders and a revolving door of MLAs leaving, getting kicked out or rejoining the party. With only a slim majority in the Legislature, Eby saw this moment of political turmoil in the opposition Conservative caucus as the opportune time to strengthen the position of the NDP with little concern over competing elections and the estimated $80 million cost to taxpayers for a Provincial election. I'm not sure who thought this was a good idea but it had to be one of the most bone-headed political strategies ever conceived. It was a very risky gamble, with little chance of worthwhile reward and a high probability that it could end up in an epic election disaster.
It turned out that the electorate was paying attention and were not buying what Premier Eby was selling. The Conservatives quickly managed to write their sinking ship installing Lorne Doerkson as their interim leader and welcoming disenfranchised MLA's back into the fold. In record speed they assembled candidates, put together a political platform and rose like a Phoenix from the ashes of the fiery turmoil that the Conservative Party of B.C. had been in. As soon as the results started trickling in on Election night, the rout of the NDP by the Conservatives was on. When the smoke finally cleared several hours later, the extent of the NDP destruction became apparent. In preliminary results the B.C. Conservatives won 63 seats (up from 44 seats) with 48% of the vote, the NDP sank to 28 seats (down from 47 seats) with 37.4% of the vote and the B.C. Green party won 2 votes (no change) with 11% of votes cast. The upstart OneBC and CentreBC each received just over 1.5% of the vote, winning no seats with both of their leaders failing to get elected. For full results visit https://results.elections.bc.ca/
Close to home, it was a blue tsunami as all of the 10 ridings in Surrey went to the Conservatives Party of B.C. along with those in Delta, Richmond, Langley and the Fraser Valley. In Surrey South, Eleanor Sturko, a former Conservative who joined CentreBC lost her seat to Megan Knight, the former Mayor of White Rock who stepped down during the civic election to run as a B.C. Conservative candidate. In Surrey-White Rock, Trevor Halford kept his seat after being the B.C. Conservative's interim leader before Kerry-Lynne Findlay first took over and then stepped down amid multiple party defections. Not surprisingly with two elections in only one week, this B.C. election saw the lowest turnout in the Province's history with only 48.1% of eligible voters voting. This marks a 10% decrease in voter turnout from the 2024 election and was almost 6% lower than the previous record low from during COVID. In real numbers taken from Elections B.C., 1,798,103 votes were cast from a total of 3,738,182 registered voters.
David Eby took full responsibility for this terrible political gamble that turned into a total gaffe, falling onto his sword and resigning as leader of the NDP on Saturday night when the rout became apparent. The B.C. Conservatives with Lorne Doerkson as interim leader will have an easy time passing legislation with their super-majority in Victoria and is likely they will waste no time getting the house reopened. This really was a historic election with the Conservative Party of B.C. finally returning to power since 1928, a period of 98 years. It was also a first in Canadian election history with the Conservatives being the only political party to ever win an election with an interim leader. By far the strangest outcome from the double election had to be the BC Conservative candidate Gary Thind winning the Surrey-Guildford riding only a week after being re-elected as a Surrey School trustee with the Surrey First Education state when his name remained on the civic ballot. It is likely he is the only person in B.C. who has ever won two elections in one week. I'd like to suggest that Thing goes for the third win and buy himself a lottery ticket for this Saturday.
Naturally yours,
Don Pitcairn
Local News
October 26. 2026
UPDATE: Marine Drive Parking Lot Closure:
The closed parking lot on Marine Drive just west of the museum is scheduled to be opened OCT 30th 2026.
As a bonus, final paving is done ahead of schedule so it will NOT be closed again in Spring.
The next lot further West by Oxford will re-open later in November in time for Bright Walk.
October 25, 2026
The CONSERVATIVE party of BC swept last night's election.
Locally TREVOR HALFORD returns as MLA for White rock/South Surrey. Plus ALL the ridings in Surrey turned CONSERVATIVE BLUE
CONGRATULATIONS to White Rock RCMP Constable Carly Godlien who participated in the 2026 Cops for Cancer Tour de Coast.
Cst. Carly Godlien rode in support of Caitlyn Sears, daughter of Cst. Sears, who was diagnosed with leukemia last year, as well as in memory of Cameron Bulger, the grandson of a Community Policing Volunteer who passed away
CARLY was one of 19 lower mainland RCMP officers and first responders who rode to raise funds to fight childhood cancers. The riders weaved their ways through the Fraser valley back in September over 5 days and raised $275,000.00.
In all, $1.75 million has been raised in communities across British Columbia through the Tour de Valley, Tour de Coast, Tour de North, Tour de Rock and Pedal for Hope, with the total expected to climb as more donations are counted.
October 22, 2026
Surrey May Get Its Own Charter
Every city in the Province of British Columbia is governed by the Community Charter. That is with the exception of Vancouver which has its own charter. Yesterday on a whistle stop in Surrey Premier EBY made the following promises:
BC NDP Leader David Eby spent the day in Surrey outlining his vision for the fast-growing city’s future. His plan will lower the cost of gas and groceries, strengthen health care, and get the big projects Surrey needs built–like new SkyTrain expansions and hospital infrastructure.
“Surrey will soon be B.C.’s biggest city, and it’s at the heart of my vision for our province’s future. Building a stronger British Columbia starts right here,” said Eby. “Our plan is fully costed, so I can tell people in Surrey exactly what we’ll build. Mr. Doerkson can’t. He wants to ‘review’ the infrastructure budget, and he won’t say what gets cut.”
Under the BC NDP, Surrey has received $12 billion in major projects, more than any other community. Those projects include the new Surrey hospital in Cloverdale, the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain, and the SFU Surrey medical school. All three are already under construction, and all three are funded through the infrastructure budget that BC Conservative Leader Lorne Doerkson wants to review.
Doerkson already promised to cancel the Massey Tunnel replacement, which is already underway and start over with a bridge. That would put hundreds out of work, sacrifice $3 billion in federal funding and leave commuters waiting even longer.
“A growing city like Surrey needs a government that will build and hire – not a one that will cancel and fire,” said Eby. “People here have seen that movie before. It means deep cuts, higher costs, and chaos at the worst possible time.”
Eby pointed to the record of the last conservative government. It tolled the Port Mann Bridge and left kids in overcrowded classrooms. And they sold the land for the second hospital in Surrey below its appraised value to a well-connected campaign donor.
Eby also warned that Doerkson's agenda includes a secret deal with personal injury lawyers that would double car insurance, and billions of dollars in backdoor cuts to health care.
“We’ve got a lot more work to do together. We can’t afford to go back to the days where people in Surrey bear the brunt of cuts and higher costs,” Eby concluded.
David Eby’s vision for a stronger, more livable Surrey includes:
Getting big projects done: A fully costed plan to complete the new hospital, the SkyTrain extension to Langley, and the new medical school. A re-elected BC NDP will also work with the mayor and council to build a SkyTrain extension to Newton and use the land offered by the city to build a new health care facility.
Lowering the cost of getting around: Taking on big oil and suspending a portion of the gas tax to save people up to 30 cents a litre on gas. Per tank, that’s savings of as much as $20 for families for $116 of diesel for trucks. A re-elected BC NDP will also cap car insurance rates for another three years and offer free transit passes to low-income seniors.
Strengthening health care: Launching an accelerated "bridging to practice" training program to fast-track qualified international medical graduates living in B.C. into family medicine, committing to 3 new primary care clinics in Surrey, and aggressively recruiting health care professionals and doctors from the U.S.
Getting homes built faster: Accelerate housing development by bringing in a new 30-day permit guarantee for small residential builds, standardizing technical codes province-wide, and partnering with the federal government to reduce development cost charges by up to 50%.
Giving Surrey the tools to deliver: A Surrey charter with the same kind of authority Vancouver has. This gives local leaders more power to make faster decisions on housing, transit, and community services tailored to Surrey's growing population.
What Will The North American Time Zones Look Like?
Photo of Constable Godlien with Caitlyn
