They’re off.British Columbia’s provincial election began Saturday after province's lieutenant-governor dissolved the legislature and issued orders to begin the official election campaign.The chief electoral officer will then issue writs — issued in the name of the King, that state an election is underway — to each of 93 ridings.While pre-election campaigning has been happening since late July, the leaders unofficially began their campaigns on Friday with photo ops and social media posts.The NDP's David Eby and the Conservatives' John Rustad will each run in an election for the first time as party leaders. Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau has already run for the premier's job during the 2020 provincial election.But it’s widely considered a two-horse race.Eby made several Lower Mainland stops Saturday on the first full day of campaigning, starting in Richmond for the opening of his campaign office. Rustad started his campaign at Vancouver’s CRAB park Saturday, where the city recently spent thousands cleaning up a homeless camp, and he’ll be at an election rally on Vancouver Island later in the day.“Unlike David Eby, I’m not interested in building drug dens in neighborhoods where we continue to just distribute this drug problem in communities,” he said.“We do need to build out housing and support that’s needed, but the key there is you need to be able to address the addictions.”Polls suggest the Conservatives could form the party’s first ever government.On Aug. 28, BC United, formerly the BC Liberals, announced it was suspending its campaign, and Leader Kevin Falcon offered his support to the Conservative Party.Even though BC United has decided not to run any candidates in the election it will still exist as long as it runs candidates in the election after this one, according to Elections BC.With the official election campaign beginning Saturday, it will mean BC residents are likely to start seeing more lawn signs and more large events.In addition, the MLAs who were elected in the previous election will no longer be able to refer to themselves as such, and they are restricted from using public funds for the next month.During the campaign period, election canvassers are allowed to distribute candidate information, and should not be unreasonably restricted while doing so according to provincial law.However, property owners and managers are only obligated to give them access between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. local time each day.Andrew Watson, the communications director for Elections BC, said the writs signal that expense limits are now in place for parties and candidates.Canadian citizens who are 18 or older and who have been a resident of BC since April 18 this year can register to vote or update their voter information online or by phone at 1-800-661-8683 until Oct. 7.Advance voting is slated for Oct. 10-13, and again on Oct. 15-16. Voters can also vote by mail.
They’re off.British Columbia’s provincial election began Saturday after province's lieutenant-governor dissolved the legislature and issued orders to begin the official election campaign.The chief electoral officer will then issue writs — issued in the name of the King, that state an election is underway — to each of 93 ridings.While pre-election campaigning has been happening since late July, the leaders unofficially began their campaigns on Friday with photo ops and social media posts.The NDP's David Eby and the Conservatives' John Rustad will each run in an election for the first time as party leaders. Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau has already run for the premier's job during the 2020 provincial election.But it’s widely considered a two-horse race.Eby made several Lower Mainland stops Saturday on the first full day of campaigning, starting in Richmond for the opening of his campaign office. Rustad started his campaign at Vancouver’s CRAB park Saturday, where the city recently spent thousands cleaning up a homeless camp, and he’ll be at an election rally on Vancouver Island later in the day.“Unlike David Eby, I’m not interested in building drug dens in neighborhoods where we continue to just distribute this drug problem in communities,” he said.“We do need to build out housing and support that’s needed, but the key there is you need to be able to address the addictions.”Polls suggest the Conservatives could form the party’s first ever government.On Aug. 28, BC United, formerly the BC Liberals, announced it was suspending its campaign, and Leader Kevin Falcon offered his support to the Conservative Party.Even though BC United has decided not to run any candidates in the election it will still exist as long as it runs candidates in the election after this one, according to Elections BC.With the official election campaign beginning Saturday, it will mean BC residents are likely to start seeing more lawn signs and more large events.In addition, the MLAs who were elected in the previous election will no longer be able to refer to themselves as such, and they are restricted from using public funds for the next month.During the campaign period, election canvassers are allowed to distribute candidate information, and should not be unreasonably restricted while doing so according to provincial law.However, property owners and managers are only obligated to give them access between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. local time each day.Andrew Watson, the communications director for Elections BC, said the writs signal that expense limits are now in place for parties and candidates.Canadian citizens who are 18 or older and who have been a resident of BC since April 18 this year can register to vote or update their voter information online or by phone at 1-800-661-8683 until Oct. 7.Advance voting is slated for Oct. 10-13, and again on Oct. 15-16. Voters can also vote by mail.
