Money, candidates, message: The considerations and risks of David Eby calling a snap election in B.C.

B.C. Premier David Eby holds a news conference in a B.C. liquor Store on Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026. Photo by Government of B.C.

Article content

The halls of the Union of B.C. Municipalities conference in Vancouver this week have been buzzing over a possible snap provincial election and it is causing consternation among local officials already gearing up for their own re-election bids on Oct. 17.

Article content

Cori Ramsay, UBCM president, called on Premier David Eby to respect the fixed provincial election date of Oct. 21, 2028, and the conference held an emergency resolution debate on the issue.

Article content

Article content

Article content

“Overlapping elections will lead to less scrutiny, less accountability, and it’s not in the public interest,” said Ramsay. “Local elections should provide space for discussions of local priorities without being overshadowed by concurrent provincial campaigns.”

Article content

Article content

B.C. Conservative Leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay quipped during her own speech at the conference that “these halls have been full of talk about an election call as early as tomorrow.”

Article content

Eby is scheduled to speak Friday and so far has done little to tamp down the speculation.

Article content

Here are three things you need to know:

Article content

B.C. Conservative Leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay addresses the annual meeting of the Union of B.C. Municipalities on Sept. 17, 2026, in Vancouver. Photo by Scott McAlpine /UBCM

Article content

What are the considerations for calling a snap election?

Article content

Geoff Meggs, former chief of staff to late NDP premier John Horgan, said the most important part of going to the polls early is to know you have a strong likelihood of not only winning, but also improving your seat count.

Article content

He said the government needs to convey to the electorate why it needs a new mandate, and that it has a fully funded campaign war chest and strong candidates.

Article content

In 2020, Meggs said the COVID-19 pandemic and the increasing friction with the B.C. Greens over their confidence-and-supply agreement both provided rationales for an early election.

Article content

Article content

The polls were also in the NDP’s favour and the party wound up getting a strong mandate, increasing their seat total from a 41-seat minority to a 57-seat majority.

Article content

Article content

Meggs cautioned Eby against calling an election just because of the chaos engulfing the B.C. Conservatives.

Article content

“The fact that your opponents are in disarray, which they also were at that time — nothing like this — is not good enough,” he said.

Article content

Meggs said that, to his understanding, the NDP is flush with money but, at the same time, many of the people who would normally volunteer with the party during a provincial election are already working on municipal campaigns.

Article content

For Meggs, the rationale around needing a stronger mandate may not be enough for some voters, pointing to the 2013 campaign as a cautionary tale. The NDP, then under Adrian Dix, were projected to run away with the election and still lost.

Article content

“There’s always a risk in an election. I mean, the NDP thought in 2013 that it was ours to lose, and we did,” said Meggs.

Article content

“This has even got more dynamics because it feels to me more like a byelection, where the voters may feel that, if the result seems inevitable, then they feel free to make decisions they wouldn’t make if it was actually just a head-to-head contest.”