He called an election to exploit a fractured opposition. Voters took the opportunity to deal with him instead.
I am enjoying this far more than a respectable woman probably should. David Eby called an election two years early because, in my estimation, his opponents looked sufficiently dismembered to make the exercise profitable. British Columbians responded by removing his government. Honestly, you invite people over to admire your political genius and they carry the furniture out.
We told him this was a bonehead move. He had won a narrow majority in 2024, with the next scheduled election in 2028. Instead, he called one on September 22, two days after Conservative leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay resigned amid a caucus exodus. Thirteen MLAs had left or been expelled, and Lorne Doerkson had become interim leader. The Conservatives were still assembling themselves, and Eby evidently thought this would be an excellent time to confiscate the instructions.
He saw an opportunity. Unfortunately for him, so did the voters.
Now, there were solemn explanations involving uncertainty, sovereignty and leadership. There always are. Nobody approaches a microphone and says, “Their organisation has collapsed and I fancy my chances.” They say democracy needs refreshing. Funny how it develops that thirst when the opposition is bleeding.
Then Eby launched his campaign asking British Columbians to say “hell no to Trump.” David, love, you appear to have called the wrong election. Unless Victoria acquired jurisdiction over the White House while I was driving the school bus, you were asking people to vote against somebody who wasn’t running. Perhaps that authority was tucked behind the liquor regulations.
Trump’s tariffs and threats are serious, but pointing south does not answer every question north of the border. Housing, affordability, services, your record: those irritating subjects constituents insist on bringing up while you’re auditioning to become North America’s assistant deputy protector of democracy.
Gee, could Trump be the handy-dandy boogeyman politicians reach for when explaining themselves would be inconvenient? Pull the string, the orange man appears, and questions about your government are supposed to disappear. Except eventually people look under the bed, and there you are, David, holding the flashlight and their hydro bill.
The campaign subsequently shifted toward housing and affordability. A remarkable and convenient discovery: British Columbians live in British Columbia. Somebody alert the strategy department. Those problems hadn’t materialized halfway through the campaign like an unexpected aunt with luggage. People were already living with them when Eby decided the province urgently needed another election.
So what, exactly, was the judgment here? If governing was urgent, why interrupt it? If the opposition was hopelessly divided, why give it a deadline and a common purpose? Eby practically organised his own removal. All that was missing was a basket of complimentary swag at the polling station.
The Conservatives won a majority, and Eby resigned as NDP leader. In his concession, he acknowledged colleagues who hadn’t been re-elected and said, “I accept full responsibility for that outcome.” Very humble, David.
Accepting responsibility is appropriate. It is also considerably easier than being one of the colleagues whose career just went through your experimental wood chipper. Imagine winning a seat, learning the machinery, building relationships and taking on constituents’ problems, only to discover your leader has put everybody’s job on the roulette table because the opposition looks wobbly. Surprise, your career was the chips.
I’d be furious. I’d want more than a sorrowful expression and a paragraph about how hard I’d worked. B.C. requires at least six years of legislative service for pension eligibility. I haven’t counted how many defeated members fell short, but someone first elected in 2024 and defeated now would have only about two years, absent earlier service. An apology doesn’t add four years to that.
Nor does it restore the work they hoped to finish. Voters are entitled to dismiss their representatives, but Eby should answer for choosing to expose his caucus to an unnecessary early test. His judgment cost other people something. The rest of us generally have to do something after admitting a disaster was our fault: replace the fence, pay the deductible, explain why the tractor is in the dugout. Political responsibility too often means looking mournful until somebody offers you a fellowship.
Then there was the daycare business. His family accessed the $10-a-day program while childcare advocates criticised stalled expansion and said only about ten per cent of spaces offered that rate. Eby said the centre joined the program after his child was enrolled, and that his family donated the difference because they didn’t need the benefit.
That explanation doesn’t answer the access problem. The government promised universal access, yet most spaces still weren’t available at the promised price. Delivering the benefit to a small minority while everyone else waits is a fairly constipated interpretation of a universal promise. A private donation may help a provider; it doesn’t fulfil a provincial government’s commitment.
And now I’m supposed to regard his departure with dignified melancholy? No. I’ve watched this country deteriorate for eleven years while politicians explain that my main problem is insufficient appreciation. Seeing accountability arrive at the correct address brings me actual joy. I may put the kettle on twice.
Other premiers, and Mark Carney, should pay attention. Canadians have been marinated in emergency rhetoric since 2020: another menace, another existential election, another reason your government must never be judged by ordinary results. Some of us are no longer frightened. We’re getting bloody angry. Eventually somebody opens the cupboard you’ve been rattling and finds a campaign consultant with a tambourine.
Find a new schtick, or try governing for everybody instead of arranging the longest possible future for yourself. That applies to the Conservatives too. Winning doesn’t confer sainthood. Deliver something besides relief that you aren’t David Eby.
As for David, his next career practically writes itself. Send him around the speaking circuit explaining why he lost the B.C. election and why other leaders should resist repeating his magnificent idea. He could walk them through spotting a wounded opponent, mistaking public frustration for personal popularity, and voluntarily requesting a performance review he couldn’t survive.
I’d attend that talk. I would, however, wait until afterwards to pay him. His judgment about when to collect has already cost enough people their jobs.
Melanie in Saskatchewan
Sources:
• Campaign launch and election timing, Associated Press: https://apnews.com/article/631ff2622c5c30f8a3988db89f4bdcae
• Campaign background and change in emphasis, Global News: https://globalnews.ca/news/12112175/bc-election-results-live-numbers-2026-vote/
• Election outcome and concession remarks, Rob Shaw:
Rob Shaw: David Eby’s epic blunder sends the NDP out of power in British Columbia
• MLA pension eligibility, Legislative Assembly of British Columbia: https://members.leg.bc.ca/home/remuneration-benefits/members-pension-plan/
• Childcare access and stalled expansion, Coalition of Child Care Advocates of BC: https://www.10aday.ca/statement_on_david_eby
• Eby’s daycare explanation, The Tyee: https://thetyee.ca/News/2026/10/13/Eby-Criticized-Limited-Government-Subsidized-Child-Care-Spot/