Shades of David Peterson and Niccolò Machiavelli
TORONTO – As we were closing the paper yesterday afternoon, one David Eby former, and still, Premier of British Columbia (BC), Canada’s westernmost province, called for an emergency general election to take place October 24, 2026.
The newsroom burst out in uproarious laughter. Mr. Eby has an unimpeachable majority government with no need to test public support for another two years at least. The newsroom thought he was auditioning for a spot to replace Mr. Bean in a British comedy routine. Or maybe he fancies himself a hero of the “downtrodden” yet to come.
BC is a wealthy province; a gateway on to the Pacific Rim countries for commerce and [potential] oil and LNG pipelines; the exporter of about 50% of all Canadian lumber; the envy of fisheries processors world-wide, and an agricultural industry to lust for – truly “a la-la land”.
Did I forget to mention that its biggest agricultural cash crop is “legal” marijuana – cannabis, “Vancouver Gold”? Agricultural publications, including federal and provincial backed ones, place the economic value of legal cannabis to the BC economy at 10% of total GDP ($232.8 billion, measuring all industrial activity in 2024).
He has been a one man wreaking crew for trans-provincial projects of “national importance”, preferring to support more limiting infrastructure projects, as is his power to do.
Some suggest it is characteristically blatantly self-serving and tending to the arrogant. The immediate responses to the decision to go to the polls are neither flattering nor polite.
The decades long Mayor of Delta, George Harvie, publicly claimed to be “pissed off” about the election call. Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim said it showed a lack of respect for municipalities. Malcom Brodie, who is not running for re-election after serving 25 years as mayor of Richmond, wondered whether calling a provincial election early would anger the electorate and ultimately backfire on the B.C. NDP.
“I find this to be one of the more cynical moves I’ve ever seen in political life,” he said.
He probably had not heard of one David Peterson, former Premier of Ontario, 1985-1990, who was equally opportunistic when he chose to call an election despite holding 95 of the 130 seats in the Legislature and enjoying a dominating 47% in the polls. He and his party were “clobbered” in the election.
In the pic below, British Columbia Premier David Eby (Twitter X – @Dave_Eby); alongside, a famous portrait of Niccolò Machiavelli
