B.C. Premier John Horgan is sending residents to the polls in an early election..Voting day across the province is Saturday Oct. 24..The NDP in the last week have been falling over themselves with funding announcements and candidate finalizations and on Monday morning Horgan visited Lt.-Gov. Janet Austin to ask for the election..Horgan was also looking for a way to break his deal with the Green Party that put him in power..He was mandated to ask for an election by September 2021. Both the NDP and Liberals ended the last election with 41 seats..A poll out earlier this month showed Horgan with a massive lead over the opposition which may have led him to call an early election..At a press conference in Langford, Horgan said the election was about having a “secure and stable” government to work its way through the COVID-19 pandemic..The said the pandemic has “changed everything” and he “struggled mightily with the decision..“We are far from being out of the pandemic…in fact this is just the start,” he said..“To wait for the next (election period) seems to me to be time wasted..“The future is bright…the present is challenging.”.But pollsters say the lead also comes with a warning..“The New Democrats have opened a whopping 19-point lead over the opposition B.C. Liberals, with half of residents (48 per cent) saying they would cast votes for the party that has helmed a minority government for three years. The B.C. Liberals take 29 per cent of the decided and leaning vote, while the B.C. Greens are at 14 per cent of current vote intention,” polling group Angus Reid said..“But against these sunny skies, dark clouds are forming on the horizon. The government is fighting a pitched battle with the union representing B.C. teachers as anxiety mounts over sending children back to school next week. The province is also continuing to fight – some would argue unsuccessfully – a sustained increase in COVID-19 cases.. POLL: Many Albertans say they will ignore Christmas COVID lockdown .“Indeed, fully one-in-three B.C. residents say they would not be comfortable heading to the polls in person this fall as they would during a normal year, due to concerns about the coronavirus. B.C. NDP feel this more acutely than those who support other parties, with two-in-five New Democrat supporters saying they would be uncomfortable going physically to the polls.”.Horgan said voters will have the opportunity to have mail-in ballots or advancing voting to increase safety during the pandemic..“I believe it can be conducted safely,” he said..Other key finding by Angus Reid include:.More Key Findings:. UPDATED: B.C. Premier John Horgan calls early election .The NDP holds a commanding lead in Metro Vancouver, 53 per cent to 26 per cent over the Liberals, and also leads by nine-points in the rest of the province, 42 per cent to 33 per centFour-in-five residents (83 per cent) say the Horgan government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been “good”By contrast, British Columbians are critical of its response to the opioid epidemic. Only 22 per cent of residents say the government has done a good job on this file, compared to 71 per cent who say they have done a poor job..Poll results released Monday by Lean Toss show the NDP with 48 per cent of the vote which should result in winning 55 seats, an increase of 14..Andrew Wilkinson’s Liberals are predicted to have 33 per cent, translating into 30 seats, a decrease of 13. The Sonia Furstenau Greens have 13 per cent and are likely to win one seat..Lean Toss says chances of a NDP majority are at 98.9 per cent with a Liberal majority at 0.6 per cent..Dave Naylor is the News Editor of the Western Standard.dnaylor@westernstandardonline.com.TWITTER: Twitter.com/nobby7694
