Eby mum on snap election as Conservatives lose three more MLAs

Andrea Woo and Jesse Winter Published YesterdayUpdated 3 hours ago Open this photo in gallery: B. Premier David Eby, shown in Burnaby earlier this month, spoke at the Union of BC Municipalities conference on Friday as speculation swirled that he would call a snap provincial election. DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press Comments Save for laterPlease log in to bookmark this story. Log InCreate Free Account B. Premier David Eby on Friday refused to say whether he plans to trigger a snap provincial election, as two centre-right parties joined forces and the opposition Conservatives shed three more members in an escalating internal revolt. In a question-and-answer period with Union of BC Municipalities conference delegates after his keynote address, Mr. Eby ducked questions about an early election call, which party insiders say could come in a matter of days. Conference delegates on Wednesday had passed an emergency resolution urging Mr. Eby to hold off on calling a provincial election until after municipal voting on Oct. 17, to avoid interfering with local campaigns. Eby told the crowd he understood the anxiety that duelling elections could create and he would take the resolution and its concerns seriously. “We haven’t made any decisions yet,” he said, eliciting a couple of boos from the room. The Premier was similarly tight-lipped while speaking with reporters afterward, using variations of the phrase, “I have no announcement to make about an election today” seven times in 20 minutes. Eby kept his intentions under wraps, the prospect of an imminent election accelerated efforts to consolidate the province’s centre-right, with two groups that had been charting separate paths instead joining forces. Peter Milobar, who left the Conservative caucus on Aug. 14 to form his own party – which had not yet been named – with other defectors, on Friday replaced Mike Bernier as the leader of CentreBC. That party was established in March, 2025, after the collapse of BC United. The move gives the party access to CentreBC’s established infrastructure and the heft of at least eight sitting MLAs recruited by Mr. C.’s centre-right movements struggling to come together At a joint news conference outside the convention, Mr. Milobar said he and Mr. Bernier had been in discussions about voting as a bloc, and had planned for an announcement on the steps of the legislature when the fall session resumed on Oct. 5. “David Eby, one can only assume, very worried about a new upstart party with us and Centre BC starting to form together, decided to call an election on top of a by-election, which means Elections BC has to stop all paperwork of any other political opponent that might be trying to get registered,” Mr.