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B.C. Conservative Leader Lorne Doerkson responds to snap election call
Lorne Doerkson calls David Eby’s snap-election decision cynical, confirms he plans to seek the premiership and outlines priorities for the B.C. Conservatives.
B.C. Conservative Leader Lorne Doerkson called NDP Leader David Eby’s decision to call a snap election “cynical,” criticizing Eby for comparing wildfires with the trade dispute between Canada and the United States. Eby called the election Tuesday, saying his party needs a renewed mandate to address the economic effects of tariffs. The election is scheduled for Oct. 24.
Doerkson said his interim title should not cause confusion about his intentions. The party board appointed him after Kerry-Lynne Findlay resigned Sunday, but party rules require a member vote before a leader becomes permanent. He said the party could change those rules if he wins, adding that he is running to be premier.
If the party wins, Doerkson said repealing the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act would be his top priority. He said the position is not an attack on Indigenous people and that the party has a “100 per cent” role in addressing anti-Indigenous racist rhetoric. He said such rhetoric would not come from him or appear on his social media.
Doerkson said he does not expect further incumbent departures as candidates are announced. Surrey South incumbent Brent Chapman has left the party to run with OneBC, and Doerkson said he understands Findlay, Chapman’s wife, will no longer run in Abbotsford-Mission. Findlay had been set to run in a byelection scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 26, but that vote was cancelled when the snap election was called.
Many MLAs who left under Findlay have returned to the B.C. Conservatives, including seven who had planned to run under the CentreBC banner. Elenore Sturko is now CentreBC’s leader and its sole incumbent MLA.
Eby has repeatedly cited U.S. President Donald Trump and his tariffs as reasons for calling the election. Doerkson called Trump an “absolute bully” and said Canada will never become the 51st state. But he said Eby’s government had opportunities over the past decade to improve conditions in the province, and argued that David Eby and the NDP, rather than Trump, are responsible for problems now affecting industry sectors.