Vaughn Palmer: NDP knives were out for David Eby before the last vote was cast

B.C. NDP Leader David Eby announces his resignation Saturday night after his party was trounced in the B.C. general election. Photo by Jason Payne /PNG

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VICTORIA — NDP Leader David Eby was asked again and again during the campaign “why are we having this election?”

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It was the No. 1 question of Election 2026, as Eby himself admitted. And he never had a good answer.

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He started with the need for a stronger mandate to deal with Donald Trump. He made 20 references to the hated U.S. president in the kick off speech to the campaign.

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But it went nowhere. By the televised leaders debate on Oct. 14, he mentioned Trump by name only once.

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He brought out his platform. More promises, more programs, more spending.

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Voters, meanwhile, were still asking the whereabouts of the $1,000 grocery rebate he promised last time.

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He’d already turned a $6 billion surplus into a $14 billion deficit. Could more borrowing and debt really make all that much difference?

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He stood outside a Save-On-Foods, vowed to cap grocery prices, and said not to worry about owner Jimmy Pattison, he and his family would continue to prosper.

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When reporters asked why he was targeting the province’s leading philanthropist, Eby replied “I’ve got nothing bad to say about Jimmy Pattison.”

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Other than accusing the billionaire of gouging moms and dads on the price of milk for the kids.

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As the campaign went on, he touted a new reason for the election call — his supposed one-seat majority in the legislature.

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The Conservatives could force an election at any moment. The government could fall in an instant. He couldn’t get anything done.

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None of it was true.

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On the day he called the election, he held a three-seat majority with the option of turning it into four by calling a byelection in the safest NDP seat in the province.

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Besides, the government controlled the legislature. It decided when to call votes and designate them as matters of confidence.

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Late in the campaign, New Democrat Roly Russell, seeking a comeback in Boundary-Similkameen, shed light on the premier’s real concern about the balance of power in the chamber.

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“With an NDP caucus with only a one-seat majority, everybody around the table had a veto,” Russell told the Castanet news service.

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A veto?

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Or did it just mean that the premier had to explain things to the caucus, persuade MLAs, not just order them to go along with whatever idea had lately sprung fully formed from his superior intellect.

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“John Horgan delegated, David Eby dictated,” as one insider who served both leaders described it.

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Eventually, as the campaign went on, all Eby did was attack, attack, attack.

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But, Lorne Doerkson proved to be was an elusive target. If you posted something stupid on the internet 20 years ago, the NDP research department will exhume it and turn it into an attack ad.