After the final count was conducted and the BC NDP won the election by a narrow margin with 47 seats to the BC Conservatives’ 44, Premier David Eby held a press conference on Tuesday, October 29th.
First, he reflected on the election and how proud he is to have had his party win for the third consecutive time. Eby also acknowledged that the results indicate he and the BC NDP need to listen to the people they serve.
“I think this was a message that was sent certainly to me, to our government, from British Columbians that they expect us to do better on a number of key files,” Eby said.
“But equally it was the opportunity for us to do better and I am very grateful and honoured by the opportunity presented by British Columbians to be able to do just that with the team we are bringing to the legislature.”
He says he and his colleagues ultimate goal is to make sure the Legislative Assembly works for BC residents, especially when it comes to matters of affordability, the need for affordable housing, strong and safe communities, addressing big challenges like climate change and ensuring a strong healthcare system.
Premier Eby says that work is underway to select a cabinet, elect a Speaker and then get the newly formed government into the BC Legislature to begin their work.
He noted that he can’t select a cabinet until the judicial recounts are done and they are done navigating Elections BC’s post-election process.
Eby also says that he hopes to work with all parties’ MLAs to make BC a better place. He added that he will be meeting with the BC Greens to chat about priorities and how the two parties can work together later on Tuesday.
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The Premier was asked if he would consider selecting a BC Conservative Speaker. To this he said that the selection process is still underway.
“There are a number of ways MLAs can work with us, one of those ways is Speaker,” said Eby.
“I know we’ve got some great candidates on our bench, I’m sure the Greens would be able to put forward a good Speaker, maybe the Conservatives—we’re not ruling anything out.”
On the matter of cabinet selection to ensure representation from all regions of BC, Eby was asked how he will make sure that northern BC is represented when it is comprised of largely Conservative MLAs.
“I do see an urban-rural divide in the election results, it’s very concerning to me,” said Eby.
“We need to govern for the entire province, we need to represent the entire province and that’s what we are going to do. We’re going to make sure that we’re finding ways to reach out to and engage rural communities and make sure that they see themselves in the legislature.”
Premier Eby said several times during the press event that he intends on working across the aisle on many matters to make sure that all legislation works for British Columbians.
