PENTICTON — Ten days after the writ dropped, British Columbians are being asked to navigate two elections in eight days, and the lawn signs are running wild.
Municipal civic voting day lands on Saturday, October 17, overlapping directly with provincial advance voting, which runs October 16 through October 21. Final voting day for the provincial election is Saturday, October 24.
Election-mania
An early contender for "photo of the 2026 British Columbia election season" surfaced Wednesday morning, capturing the sheer absurdity of running municipal and provincial campaigns side-by-side.
Sarbraj Singh Kahlon posted a photograph of a chain-link fence at a busy Surrey intersection with a brief, two-word caption: "Meanwhile Surrey." The frame captures a corner lot in front of a grey house, traffic light at the curb, and political signs stacked shoulder-to-shoulder from the sidewalk several feet into the air.
The wall of political cardboard includes placards for mayoral candidates Brenda Locke, Doug McCallum, and Troy Van Vliet; council candidates Gagan Nahal, Linda Annis, Pardeep Kooner, and Rahul Gill; a Conservative Party of Surrey slate board; and, squeezed onto the same fence, an orange re-elect sign for BC NDP candidate Jessie Sunner.
Locals have voiced growing frustration that the wild, unruly thicket of competing placards leaves voters overwhelmed, while homeowners find their windows and views completely blocked by campaign sign wars. Motorists stopped at the adjacent traffic light noted it is virtually impossible to read all the competing names before the light turns green.
The visual spectacle highlights precisely what municipal leaders warned Premier David Eby about on writ day.
Delta Mayor George Harvie told CBC he was "pissed off," calling a provincial election during local campaigns "insulting." Victoria Mayor Marianne Alto warned the overlap could confuse voters and stoke disenfranchisement, while Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke noted municipal turnout is already historically low.
As Union of BC Municipalities Councillor Cori Ramsay cautioned just days before the writ drop, the public and journalists only have "so much bandwidth." On Surrey street corners, it would appear physical space itself is running out just as fast.
Orange shirt good
David Eby spent Wednesday leaning heavily into statutory holiday symbolism, embracing every available drop of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
The premier began his morning at 7 a.m. PDT with a 56-second standup monologue wearing a white-collared shirt beneath an orange "Every Child Matters" t-shirt.
“Today is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day,” Eby declared. “We honour survivors, remember the children who never came home, and stand with the families and communities still healing. We know the truth about residential schools. Survivors told it. The courts confirmed it. And yet denialism and hate are still with us. We saw it on Sunday, when masked white nationalists showed up on Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc land to frighten people in their own homes. That’s how we build a stronger BC, where every child knows they matter."
Eby then traveled to Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc for official commemorations alongside Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak.
At 1:28 p.m. PDT, while in Kamloops, Eby posted to X about a tragic collision 350 kilometres away in South Delta that left two people dead.
“On a day already set aside for solemn reflection, a tragedy during the Tsawwassen First Nation Truth and Reconciliation event has shocked and saddened us all,” Eby wrote.
“Delta police have confirmed two people have died in a vehicle collision. Others who were injured are receiving medical attention. Police say it appears the driver of the vehicle experienced a medical event before the collision. As we wait for more details, our thoughts are with the families, with those injured, and with everyone at Tsawwassen First Nation," Eby continued.
The Delta Police Department had already issued an official update at 12:20 p.m. PDT clarifying that the fatal crash “is not related to the Truth and Reconciliation Walk that was taking place on Tsawwassen First Nation lands at the time,” adding that “the incident is not related to the Truth and Reconciliation Walk... There is no ongoing risk to public safety."
Social media users quickly appended a Community Note to Eby's post highlighting the official police findings. Eby has not amended his original post, provided additional context, or offered an explanation for why he chose to tie a fatal off-site traffic incident to the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
By the end of the day, his team had released a 21-second video montage featuring Eby in his orange shirt near a drum group at the Powwow Arbour, captioned simply: "Every Child Matters, today and every day."
Doerkson takes the mic again
Conservative Party of BC Interim Leader Lorne Doerkson is stepping back in front of media cameras in Vancouver on Thursday morning following a multi-day policy sequence and fresh polling showing his party in the lead.
The Conservative Party of BC issued a media advisory Wednesday scheduling a 10 a.m. PDT press conference in Vancouver, promising a live stream on party channels.
The upcoming presser follows Doerkson's Tuesday stop in Langley, where he pledged to remove the provincial sales tax from Canadian-made beer, wine, and spirits.
On Monday in Vancouver, Doerkson unveiled his "BC Energy Superpower Plan," promising to double provincial liquefied natural gas roduction by 2032 and triple it by 2035 off a baseline of roughly 20 million tonnes.
That energy plan builds on his Sunday campaign kickoff in Surrey, where he pledged a total freeze on new taxes across the duration of a Conservative administration.
For the last ten years, David Eby and the NDP refused to build. That changes with me," Doerkson said during his energy launch.
The expanded campaign tour comes as new polling data from Leger puts the Conservatives at 39% among decided voters, holding a narrow three-point edge over the NDP's 36%, with the Greens at 13%, OneBC at 5%, and CentreBC at 5%.
When asked about the figures during a Vancouver availability, Doerkson sought to dispel suggestions that his party is unready to form government.
OneBC reneges on non-aggression deal in two tight ridings
OneBC has officially abandoned its courtesy stand-down agreement in two key ridings, announcing plans to run candidates against sitting right-of-centre incumbents in North Island and Kelowna Centre.
OneBC Leader Dallas Brodie posted a video to X at 3:13 p.m. PDT Wednesday declaring the party is active in both districts.
Conservative MLA Anna Kindy holds North Island, while Conservative incumbent Kristina Loewen holds Kelowna Centre by just 40 votes following the November 8, 2024 judicial recount.
“As you know, OneBC has decided to optimize the conservative movement,” Brodie said. “In a gesture of good will we were willing to avoid running candidates against real conservatives in tight ridings. In response, not only was there no cooperation, but also the same corruption and backroom dealing that has derailed the province. This is not acceptable behaviour, and as a result, we will be running two amazing candidates in North Island and in Kelowna Centre”.
Brodie did not disclose the names of the two OneBC nominees.
The move collapses the "principled eight" courtesy list circulating earlier this week, in which OneBC indicated it would leave select Conservatives unchallenged. The party had already corrected its sheet to run in Prince George-North Cariboo and Salmon Arm-Shuswap, while opting against running in Peace River North, where former Conservative Jordan Kealy sits as an Independent.
Brodie made no mention of Carson Binda, whom the Conservatives nominated in Vancouver-Quilchena on Tuesday night to run directly against Brodie and an NDP candidate.
The addition of a second right-of-centre candidate in Kelowna Centre poses a direct threat to Loewen's paper-thin margin. Justice Alison Beames confirmed Loewen's 2024 victory at 11,033 votes to NDP candidate Loyal Wooldridge's 10,993. With Wooldridge nominated for the rematch, a split right-of-centre vote significantly lowers the threshold for an NDP pickup.
Loewen previously told the Western Standard that right-of-centre voters should “come together, put differences aside, and focus on the issues that matter most,” emphasizing that her attention remains squarely on Kelowna Centre. OneBC's entry guarantees a three-way battle on one of the closest ballots in the province
What Polymarket is saying about the 2026 BC provincial election
OneBC has positioned itself as a potential game changer in the 2026 BC provincial election, but it would appear a small group of Polymarket gamblers disagree.
Offshore crypto prediction market Polymarket was pricing the October 24 election as a narrow two-party race late Wednesday, giving the Conservative Party of BC a slight edge to secure the most seats while leaving the premier's chair at a virtual coin-flip.
A contract paying out if the Conservatives win the highest number of seats in the 93-seat Legislative Assembly sat at 55 cents at 11 p.m. PDT, while the BC NDP contract was marked at 45 cents.
On which party is most likely to secure the third-most seats, the BC Greens were running at 85% as of Wednesday evening, with CentreBC and OneBC far behind.
For overall winnability, Greens, CentreBC, and OneBC were each pinned at a tenth of a cent.
