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B.C. elects a new Premier. What’s next?

October 26, 20260 comments♥ 0
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00:37 Man, I am out of breath. I am so excited. Together, we seize this opportunity to you guys. And together, we voted for a better British Columbia. And from here, I will do everything and my power to get British Columbia back on track. Lauren Dirkson could barely contain his excitement. Polls had put his conservative party in the lead, but it looked like a tight race. In the end, though, on Saturday, British Columbians voted for change in a big way. The conservatives won 63 seats, the NDP 28, and the Greens two.
01:17 It's a dramatic outcome for a conservative party that seemed to have come undone at the seams when the NDP's David E.B. called the snap election. Now, Eby has resigned as NDP leader, and Lauren Dirkson, who just five weeks ago, was hardly on any British Columbians political radar is BC's premier designate. A baby was born in this province tonight, maybe in Surrey, maybe in Williams Lake, or Prince George, Penticton or Port Hardy.
01:45 But in 2036, that child turns 10. And I want our sons and daughters to grow up in a BC that is the envy of the world where their parents can afford a home, where they don't have to. to leave town to get ahead. Those trailblazers who walked into the caribou didn't have a road map.
02:08 They had hope. And that is exactly what we all need right now, is hope. To break down this high political drama, I am joined by Katie DeRosa, CBC's legislative reporter in British Columbia, and Rob Shaw, a political correspondent for Czech News and host of the podcast,
02:26 Political Capital, they are both in Victoria. Good morning to you both. Good morning, Catherine. I'm very top. tired, I'm sure both of you, after a pretty rock and roll weekend. We are certainly Rob going to get to Lauren Dirkson in a moment, but we have to just take a minute here and talk about the NDP. David E.B. chose to go to the polls two years early. How did he get this so wrong? You know, I think it might be a slight oversimplification for us to start from the idea that
02:56 David E.B., this entire outcome is just David E. E.B., choking. on one decision to go early. You have to go back to the 2024 BC election where he was almost defeated. He was brought down to one seat majority, wearing the mantle as this incredibly bright, intelligent successor to John Hogan, a very popular NDP Premier
03:22 who left him a $6 billion surplus and a massive majority. The end of the NDP government, I guess my point is, has been coming for a while. And that is the subtext to this incredible defeat is that people were tired of the government. They were tired of David E.B. They were tired of the direction of the province. And they almost threw them out two years ago. And so that combined with the success of the conservative campaign,
03:51 combined with the removal of the conservative leader, Carrie Lynn Finley, combined with the disastrous snap election call, led to this tsunami. but I think increasingly we're going to look back and realize that the best before date of this government had passed, and it probably should have fallen in 2024, and the fact it didn't pent up some of this voter anger. Katie, though, Rob referenced the problems that the party was having, the conservative party was having in the lead up to this. You may have been prescient. At the very start of the campaign, you asked David E.B.
04:28 If his election call would unite the right. they were, I mean, this was really a party that was a big political mess. Fourteen MLAs had left the party. How did they pull it together? Well, I think they just, they needed to. And it was the right person, you know, the caucus, which had been divided already at that point. Even, you know, the remaining individuals who hadn't left had united around Lauren Dirkson, put him forward. You know, he was the party's deputy speaker.
05:00 so he is kind of used to, you know, trying to make peace between two sides in the legislature. And when he was installed back, the MLAs who left saw him as someone they could trust. He was, again, the key word around Lauren Dirkson, throughout the whole campaign, it was normal. He's, you know, centrist. He doesn't have any fringe views. And he was able to compel the trust of the MLAs who left to come back. And clearly he's obviously won over the base of the party as well. Enough people voted for him.
05:36 I'm sure there are a small number on social media anyways who might still want someone like Carolyn Finley, but the message is that most British Columbians do not want that. And they saw in Lauren Dirkson someone that they could trust. I mean, there was obviously a few incidents during the campaign where there was candidates who weren't properly vetted that had social media posts with very offensive views. In those, there are two cases. He acts them very quickly. So I think that showed leadership.
06:08 There are still other candidates who David E. He pointed out, well, he still has extreme elements in his party. But that's something that he'll have to contend with as he has this huge caucus of 63 MLAs. And we'll have to see who he decides to promote within cabinet. I think that will say a lot about who he values and who he's going to put into leadership positions. Well, Rob, let's just talk a little bit more about who he is and how he got here because it is a fascinating story, right? I mean, he's been called the accidental premier. He said to you during the campaign, I got to say, this wasn't on my dance card.
06:44 I find this story of how he actually became the leader when he was overseas fascinating. Can you tell us how Lauren Dersen got here? Well, the fundamental difference between Lauren Dirkson and Katie outlined this well already and Carrie Lynn Finley is one was chosen by the caucus and one was chosen by the membership. Lauren Dixon was picked, you know, by the elected MLAs as this kind of emergency leader at the moment that Carrilyn Finley was thrown out slash retired slash removed and then sort of made permanent in the job. And that's not how political parties, you know, elect leaders. They go to leadership races. And everyone with, you know, five bucks or whatever the membership fee is for the party, sometimes it's free if you're a member of the Greens, it gets to cast a ballot.
07:37 And sometimes they're wearing tinfoil hats and sometimes they're normies. And the difference here is that, you know, this process allowed the conservative MLAs to take a look at who was best in line with. the electorate in their mind, or who was best able to represent them, or who was most palatable and do it. And they didn't have to suffer through an awful internal membership vote. And I think that's why one of the reasons here. But he's a normal guy. He's a small business owner type person from the interior. He's authentic. The magic sauce in politics is authenticity. He's more John Horgan than David Eby.
08:22 He's relatable. He makes mistakes. He gets nervous. That part of it all shines through. And that, I think, is one of the keys to his success. Yeah, I was in BC for CBC's election coverage. And one of the stories that a conservative candidate told me was he changed someone I know is tire, you know, like a real sense.
08:40 I think the conservatives were trying to push that he's just a nice, normal guy. Katie, in terms of what the conservatives were offering to voters, as you said, there's this pitch of normal, not scary, but what do you think was the fundamental proposition in terms of, in terms of policy, in terms of what they wanted to do with the province that they were offering British Columbians? Well, you know, on the start of the campaign, David E.B. tried to make this election one about Trump, about tariffs. And early on in the O, Angus Reed opinion polls, we saw that that issue was near the bottom of people's list and near the top, at the top, cost of living, affordability. And so,
09:18 you know, Lauren Dirkson had fairly bread and butter promises, which is lower taxes, a $1,000 tax cut for every British Columbian by raising the threshold, you know, at which you start paying taxes. No new taxes that he promised, you know, he promised to make sure that emergency room, in emergency rooms in rural British Columbia are not closing. He says in his first 100 days, he will strike that commission to just start that process. but I think really about affordability was the major issue. The only time he really talked about Dripa and Soji,
09:57 Soji being sexual orientation and gender identity policies in schools, which has been controversial for some conservatives and parents' rights advocates, was really when journalists asked him. It wasn't a topic that he brought up. I mean, he did talk about repealing DRIPA, which is the Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous People's, Act. That's, you know, a law that he says we don't need to legislate our relationships with indigenous peoples and it's caused more problems than it has solutions. So that is something
10:29 he brought up yesterday in his press conference. So I think that's where the party will go in the first hundred days. Well, I do want to dig into both of those issues in a minute, but I want to stay with this sort of economic pitch because that was such a big part of it. Rob, the conservatives, as Katie said, promised not to increase taxes. They're promising to keep health care funding stable. there were already some signs, I think, from Lauren Dirkson yesterday, saying, you know, we got to look at the province's books. We're pretty worried about what we're going to find when we get there. The NDP spent a lot of time warning that the conservatives were going to be making cuts. Where do you think this economic picture is headed for BC? Yeah, well, it's a popular move by incoming governments to come in and profess to be shocked at the shape of the finances.
11:13 That's right. So they're pulling that one. But they have a very clear, no new taxes promise, and they're going to be hard to get out from underneath that one. And I think the new Democrats in the campaign continually oversold, you know, the idea. They put words in the mouth of the conservatives quite often on the idea that health care is going to be cut. And Lauren Dirkson would come out and say, I'm not cutting the budget from health care at all this year. We're going to keep that budget. And the NDP kept going on it. And, you know, that disconnect kind of kept growing throughout the campaign.
11:48 So the elephant in the room on all of this, whether we're talking about tax reform or health care or anything, it's a gigantic, massive looming deficit in British Columbia, $14 billion this year, the biggest in our province's history. It will handcuff this government in its agenda. It handcuff the last one. And it's going to have to navigate very carefully anything it does that costs money with a corresponding move to cut something somewhere else or curtail something or change something or roll something back. And that balance is going to be, it's very hard. David Eby struggled with it immensely. And Lauren Dirkson's coming in with very little experience and he's going to be struggling
12:37 with it too. So that is, that loomed throughout the entire campaign, I think, as well. Listen to this paid content by Beneva. Now on CBC Listen. There are many factors that need to be considered in business. Experience and information can help you make informed decisions. Join host Catherine Duranso and her guests as they deep dive into the world of insurance and financial products. From claim prevention, consumer psychology, and organizational health, each episode gives you real-life examples and practical advice. Tune in to Beneva's brand new Ask the Experts podcast to learn more. I almost bailed on brunch this morning.
13:16 I opened my banking app before leaving. saw a few unexpected expenses and just felt that instant wave of stress. I hear you. Money stress is real and it's exhausting when it feels never ending. Yeah. It feels like every time I get a handle on things, three unexpected bills hit at once. I'm just trying to get to a point where managing money doesn't feel so overwhelming.
13:41 Honestly, just being open about it helps take away some of that pressure. You're definitely not alone in feeling that way. Thanks. It really does help to just talk it through and hear how other people are handling it. Money is a big part of life, but you don't have to navigate the conversation alone. If you're looking for real stories and open dialogue, check out, count us in. A web series where host Michelle Spina sits down with members of Gen Z to share real perspectives and experiences on money, life, and what comes next. Paid content with Desjardin.
14:14 Now streaming on CBC Gem. Katie, one thing I noticed too was there was a lot of channeling Mark Carney, frankly, from both political parties in this. But we heard Lauren Dirkson talking about major projects, talking about the new Pacific Link pipeline that would go to BC. What will you be watching for in terms of what the conservatives are going to do when it comes to natural resources projects here? Because they're counting on a lot of that for some of their economic growth. Yeah, I'll be watching for, you know, the first in-person meeting between Lauren Dirk. and Mark Carney, Mark Carney did on social media, congratulate him and said that he's looking forward to working on housing and building our resource economy, making Canada and energy superpower.
15:02 So what does the, you know, what does the pipeline look like in terms of, does it get any resistance from, you know, either environmental groups or indigenous groups in BC and how will Lauren Dirkson deal with that. You know, not everyone is in favor of the pipeline, even though it's going to the south as opposed to lifting the North Coast tanker ban. So, but Lauren Dixon says he's very much in favor of that pipeline. So I'm just looking forward to how he's going to navigate any of the challenges that come up with groups that are opposed.
15:38 And, you know, if he tries, if Lauren Dirkson tries to set a different tone with the relationship with Ottawa, if there's any. you know, changes in terms of the relationship, but certainly he's talking about, he's pointing the finger at the NDP for, he says, you know, having red tape. And even though the NDP has been open arms towards the LNG industry, Lauren Dirkson says that we could have, we could have been doing more. So what exactly does that look like and what does the plan look like to, quote unquote, supercharge the economy? Because now we are past talking points and we're into, you know, the action. So I'm just looking for what signals does he have to the industry that he's going to, like he said,
16:21 cut red tape like never before. Well, you know, what does that mean? What does that actually mean? Yeah, rubber hits the road here. Pipeline hits the dirt, whatever the metaphor is. Rob, Katie, I talked a moment ago about the Conservatives pledge to repeal Dripa, the Declaration and the Rights of Indigenous People's Act. Do you expect this to be a contentious relationship between the new Premier and First Nations in BC? Well, I think so because the relationship was contentious with the last government as well. And the last government went out of its way to try and set this new path under John Horgan and then David Eby. And it wasn't good enough, according to First Nations leaders.
17:03 And it wasn't working according to the public. There is immense dissatisfaction, I think, and worry about the direction of kind of the reconciliation agenda in British Columbia. And although it did not manifest in the election, really, at all, it was only a year ago that the public was seized with the idea that private property rights had collided with Aboriginal title in court rulings. What does it mean? Even David Eby admitted that there's kind of fundamental underpinnings of our economic sort of ownership of land. at play. And those chipped away at DRIPA. DRIPA became much like Soji, kind of a flashpoint for a larger concern. And Lauren Dirkson's point is that it's just too far gone now. It's too contentious. It has to be redone, perhaps a different mechanism that will be less, more supported by the public at large.
17:59 Simply continuing DRIPA, as First Nations leaders, I guess, want, is out of line. I think with the sentiment of many in the electorate. And so Lauren Dirkson's got to contend with that. But First Nations leaders have to contend with it too because the status quo was repudiated in this election and simply continuing to hammer whoever wins to continue to do what the guy who just got ran out of office in record pace was doing is not a viable position for them either.
18:31 So, Katie, we've laid out a few of the challenges that Lauren Dixon has here, the state of the books, the questions around how he's going to deal with the rights of indigenous peoples, some of the culture war questions, the extent to which his caucus is going to want to put that on the agenda. Do you think he's going to be able to keep this conservative party together? He certainly did it during the election campaign, but there's a lot of runway ahead. Well, you know, I think when he appoints his cabinet, that could be the first stumbling block for individuals who, you know, thought they should get a position in that they didn't. Again,
19:04 he's choosing from 63 MLA. So that is a large, large caucus to choose from, but certainly some people are going to be left out. So that will signal the direction he wants to go. And I think could be the first chance for any division. But certainly, you know, a government might have more discipline in terms of caucus than an opposition. So I guess that that is the question that he, you know, he was asked yesterday as how do you unite this caucus? And And I think, you know, he says he's confident he can do that and that everyone is working towards the same goal. But, yeah, I think that's, the proof is in the pudding to see if that unity can extend beyond the election. You know, they came together when they needed to, but when egos are a play and there's elbows up in terms of who gets what position.
19:58 And, you know, he was asked yesterday, is this the liberal, BC Liberals 2.0 because he did appoint. you know, Kim Henderson, who's a former chief of staff to Christi Clark. So maybe the quote-unquote true conservatives are saying that's a first sign that he's just a BC liberal in conservative clothing. Indeed, which are the predecessors for the rest of Canada to the conservative party. Rob, we just have a minute left. A quick thought from you. What's his biggest challenge?
20:24 We created quite a list for him here. Well, you know, his biggest challenge and his biggest opportunity is that first kind of few months is premier. It's never going to get easier to do the things he wants to do than now, but it's also the hardest because he hasn't started doing anything yet. But if he's got unpopular ideas or things to do, it's the best time in a new government's mandate is to get them out at front. And inexperience is going to be one of the big things he's got to deal with and kind of just the immensity of the job and staying true to himself.
21:00 Like the secret to Lauren Dirkson is Lauren Dirkson. And the more he gets put in a bubble, and surrounded by people. As you know, Catherine, in Ottawa, you get put in the bubble, and suddenly you're not the person anymore. Yeah, that's it. And he's still introducing himself to British Columbians, too. It's a fascinating time.
21:16 You guys are never dull in BC with your politics. Really appreciate both these yet never really. Maybe you can have a little nap today. Thank you for taking the time to talk to us about it. Thanks for having us on. Katie DeRosa, CBC's legislative reporter in British Columbia. And Rob Shaw is a political correspondent for Czech News and the host of the podcast, Political Capital.