British Columbia's new premier lucks into the job in unexpected political turn
An electoral gamble by the Canadian province's outgoing premier, David Eby, backfired as the provincial Conservatives take power for the first time since 1928.
British Columbia’s new premier lands the job in an unexpected political shift
A relative outsider has become the new leader of the Canadian province of British Columbia after the provincial Conservatives swept to victory in a snap election.
Lorne Doerkson, who only took over the party weeks ago, will be British Columbia’s new premier after the Conservatives secured a majority of seats in the legislative assembly. It is the first time the party has won in the province in nearly a century.
Outgoing Premier David Eby, from the New Democratic Party (NDP), called the snap election last month — two years ahead of schedule — in an effort to strengthen his party’s hold on power.
That gamble failed in what has become the province’s biggest political upheaval in decades.
Doerkson, a former rodeo announcer and newspaper publisher, was first elected to the British Columbia (BC) Legislative Assembly in 2020.
But the 58-year-old was caught off guard himself when he learned, while on a flight home from South Africa last month, that his caucus colleagues wanted him to be the party’s new face.
The announcement came soon after the former leader of the BC Conservatives, Kerry-Lynne Findlay, stepped down in September amid internal party turmoil that led a third of her caucus to leave the party.
“Of course, it was a little bit of a short notice,” Doerkson said in an interview with Canadian broadcaster CBC earlier this month.
Eby, who became premier in 2022, tried to capitalize on the split within the BC Conservatives by triggering the snap election.
He said the western Canadian province needed a “fire break” against US President Donald Trump’s economic attacks and “Trump-style politics that threaten to infect” the province.
He defended his early election decision by saying his left-leaning party needed a larger majority in the assembly to pass its policies more quickly and easily.
“A one-seat majority meant every single vote could bring down the government,” he said in a campaign video.
But Saturday’s election results indicate voters were ready for a change.
The NDP is projected to have won only 27 of the 93 total seats, while Doerkson’s Conservatives are projected to have taken 64.
The BC Green Party won two seats.
“British Columbians are hardworking, trailblasing people,” Doerkson said in his victory speech Saturday night. “They want a fair shot at building something in this province.”
That “trailblasing spirit,” he said, “just needs government that’s on its side.”
Doerkson has pledged to cut red tape “like it’s never been cut before” by fast-tracking forestry and mining permits, and to triple natural gas production by 2035.
Eby resigned as provincial NDP leader in his concession speech and said he accepts “full responsibility” for the result.