Vaughn Palmer: B.C. premier hints strongly at snap election call

VICTORIA — Premier David Eby tried to make one thing perfectly clear at a news conference on Wednesday, namely that he had “no election announcement to make today.”

He said that several times, just in case any reporters jumped to conclusions about an imminent election call based on the other things he said.

Or the premier acknowledging that the party has already chosen his former chief of staff, Cheryl Oates, to manage the NDP campaign “whenever the next election is.” Normally, the next election would be Oct. 21, 2028.

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Then there was Eby’s acknowledgment that the government’s hold on power is “fragile,” being reduced to a one-seat majority with the recent death of MLA Joan Phillip.

Plus he couldn’t help pointing out that the Conservatives are in chaos, its members spread over a dispersed “constellation” of political entities, one of them still unnamed.

The premier even admitted near the end of the news conference that he already has the ballot question in mind: What is the best direction forward for our province, given the incredible upheaval brought on by Donald Trump and his tariffs?

A day earlier, Eby had jump-started the latest round of speculation when he said that “all options are on the table but if we ever move in that direction” — to an early election — “it would only be to ensure more stability for British Columbians.”

He doesn’t actually want to call an early election, see. He’d just be doing it for our benefit, not for his own political self-interest.

The election speculation, which had been ticking along for several weeks as the Conservative troubles metastasized, really kicked into high gear with the release of two opinion polls this week.