British Columbia Premier David Eby fielded multiple questions Wednesday about whether he would call a snap election—and his answer did nothing to quell mounting speculation that voters could be going to the polls early. “I don’t have any election announcements to make today,” Eby said at an unrelated news conference. “We have a one-vote majority, and so we’re election-ready as the NDP.” Eby also acknowledged that he’s secured a campaign manager—his former interim chief of staff—and that he has been in touch with Elections B.C. Elections B.C. confirmed to CTV News that it is taking steps to be ready for an early election, citing the current political landscape, supply chain issues, recent commentary and speculation. Former B.C. Conservative leader and current Nechako Lakes MLA John Rustad said Wednesday he’d also heard from the provincial elections oversight body. “I am hearing from Elections B.C. that they are reserving space in my riding, and I have heard from several other MLAs that they are reserving space in their ridings for an election that is not municipal,” he said. Meanwhile, an Angus Reid Institute poll out Wednesday shows Eby’s popularity has gone up 10 points since June, a bump that experts partly attribute to U.S. President Donald Trump and Eby’s demonstrative opposition to him and the trade war. “He’s definitely going to play ‘Captain B.C.,’” said Hamish Telford, a political science professor at the University of the Fraser Valley. “And he’s going to try to define his opponent as more ‘Trumpish.’” Further fueling the fire is the Opposition’s state of disarray. The B.C. Conservatives are plummeting in polls under new leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay, and a new splinter party has already emerged. “I think he wants to move while the free enterprise vote is split, I think there’s no doubt about that,” said former B.C. Liberal premier Christy Clark on Wednesday. “This cannot be about the personal ambition of one man to cling onto power for another two years,” she cautioned. Eby has repeatedly framed Findlay as tight with Trump, including on Wednesday. “I put it in slightly crass terms when I said she was sucking up to Donald Trump, but that’s what I’ve seen, I repeatedly see their MLAs say we should do what Trump wants,” he said. Asked, hypothetically, what he thinks the ballot box issue would be Eby pointed to Trump and the impact of the trade war. “It’s important for British Columbians to be able to have a say about the direction of our province, given the incredible disruption that Donald Trump has brought to the economy and politics here in B.C.,” he said. The B.C. Conservatives called a caucus meeting for Thursday, before moving the meeting up to Wednesday evening on an emergency basis.
