Dr. Bryan Brulotte is Chairman of Sterling-Trust, a Canadian private equity firm. He brings more than four decades of leadership experience spanning the military, private, and public sectors.British Columbians will go to the polls on October 24 after Premier David Eby called a snap provincial election. The campaign will inevitably focus on affordability, housing, healthcare, public safety, and the record of the NDP government. But Canadians outside British Columbia should pay attention, because this election is about considerably more than who governs from Victoria for the next four years.The political landscape has shifted considerably since the election was called. A new Angus Reid Institute poll puts the BC Conservatives at 43% and the NDP at 35% among decided and leaning voters, an eight-point Conservative lead. Just days earlier, the NDP had held an advantage in other polling, suggesting that the decision to call an early election may have changed the political dynamics of the campaign. Angus Reid also found that 62% of British Columbians believe it is too soon for an election, while 54% say it is time for a change in government.Those numbers should not be interpreted as a settled verdict. One-in-five British Columbians remain undecided, and only 35% say they are very certain about their choice. There are also significant reservations about the opposition, with 56% saying the BC Conservatives are not ready to govern. What the poll does demonstrate is that this is now a genuinely competitive election in which the governing NDP begins the campaign confronting a dissatisfied electorate and a Conservative opposition that has suddenly moved into the lead.British Columbia is consequential nationally because it occupies a unique strategic position. It is Canada’s gateway to the Pacific, sitting between the enormous natural resources of Western Canada and some of the fastest-growing economies in the world. Decisions made in Victoria about energy, mining, infrastructure, and resource development consequently have implications far beyond the province..Nowhere is that clearer than with liquefied natural gas. LNG Canada at Kitimat has transformed Canada from a country that talked about exporting LNG into one that actually does it, while Cedar LNG, Woodfibre LNG, and Ksi Lisims LNG could further establish British Columbia as a major Pacific energy exporter. Canada needs customers beyond the United States, and every additional pipeline, terminal, and trade corridor reaching the Pacific gives our country greater economic leverage.The economic numbers reinforce the urgency. The BC government now forecasts real GDP growth of just 0.9% in 2026, followed by 1.9% in 2027. Yet there is another number worth noticing: despite trade uncertainty, British Columbia’s exports to non-US destinations increased 16% year-to-date through July. That demonstrates both the challenge and the opportunity facing the province.The same argument applies to critical minerals. Competition for copper, nickel, and other strategic resources is increasingly intertwined with economic and national security as Western countries seek more secure supply chains. British Columbia possesses substantial mineral resources and something equally important: Pacific ports capable of moving Canadian products efficiently into allied markets.Canada cannot claim that critical minerals, energy security, and supply chain independence are strategic priorities while allowing projects to spend years trapped between regulatory processes, overlapping jurisdictions, and political uncertainty. Environmental protection matters, but so do timelines, investment certainty, and our ability to actually build things. A resource-rich country that cannot develop its resources is voluntarily surrendering one of its greatest economic advantages..British Columbia will also remain at the centre of the debate over indigenous participation in major projects. The answer should not be to choose between development and indigenous prosperity. Cedar LNG, majority owned by the Haisla Nation, demonstrates that First Nations can be owners, investors, and beneficiaries of major resource developments rather than simply observers of them.Consultation must be serious, respectful, and meaningful. Governments must honour their constitutional obligations and work constructively with affected First Nations, while maintaining a regulatory system capable of reaching decisions. Consultation cannot become permanent paralysis.Then there is the United States. Whatever government emerges from this election will govern a province deeply integrated into the North American economy while simultaneously facing the Pacific. British Columbia can therefore help Canada pursue two objectives at once: strengthening our indispensable economic relationship with the United States while expanding trade with Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia, and other Indo-Pacific markets.Canada desperately needs stronger economic growth, greater productivity, and more private investment. We have energy, minerals, agricultural resources, educated workers, political stability, and access to three oceans. Our problem has too often been translating those extraordinary advantages into projects, exports, and rising prosperity.British Columbians alone will decide who should govern their province. The latest polling suggests they are approaching that decision with considerably more appetite for political change than appeared evident only days ago, but also with substantial uncertainty about the alternatives. The next month will determine whether the Conservatives can consolidate their early advantage or whether the NDP can persuade dissatisfied voters to return.But whichever party forms the next government will make decisions about LNG terminals, mines, transmission lines, ports, trade corridors, and indigenous partnerships that could shape Canada’s economy for decades. British Columbia is more than Canada’s westernmost province. It is our Pacific gateway. And in an increasingly competitive world, what happens there matters to every Canadian.Dr. Bryan Brulotte is Chairman of Sterling-Trust, a Canadian private equity firm. He brings more than four decades of leadership experience spanning the military, private, and public sectors.
