Close X
Saturday, December 28, 2024
ADVT 
National

B.C. election: NDP takes lead in key riding, putting Eby on track for majority

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 28 Oct, 2024 12:20 PM
  • B.C. election: NDP takes lead in key riding, putting Eby on track for majority

The NDP has overtaken the B.C. Conservatives in the ongoing count of absentee votes in a crucial Metro Vancouver riding, putting Premier David Eby on course to win government with a razor-thin majority.

The NDP now leads Surrey-Guildford by 14 votes and if it hangs on there and in other races, it would have a one-seat majority in the 93-riding legislature.

Elections BC officials are counting more than 22,000 absentee and special ballots provincewide today, nine days after the province’s election.

The Conservatives had been ahead in the closest race of Surrey-Guildford by 12 votes going into the tally, but there were an estimated 226 votes still to count and each hourly update saw that lead whittled away. 

In a noon update by the elections authority, the NDP was elected or leading in 47 seats, while John Rustad’s B.C. Conservatives were leading or elected in 44 and the Greens had won two seats.

A count of more than 43,000 mail-in and assisted telephone votes over the weekend put the NDP within range of victory in Surrey-Guildford, sending the race down to the absentee ballots.

While today’s absentee vote could finally produce a winner in the election, there could still be judicial recounts in any riding where the margin is less than 1/500th of all votes cast.

In Surrey-Guildford, where an estimated 19,306 votes were cast, the margin for a judicial recount is about 38 votes or fewer.

MORE National ARTICLES

Fourth accused in Nijjar murder appears in B.C. court

Fourth accused in Nijjar murder appears in B.C. court
A fourth man accused in the murder of British Columbia Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar will next appear at provincial court on May 21, the same day the other three accused are scheduled for a hearing. The BC Prosecution Service says 22-year-old Amandeep Singh appeared via video link for his first appearance in a Surrey, B.C., court on Wednesday, and the matter has been put forward to next week.

Fourth accused in Nijjar murder appears in B.C. court

Rain keeping Fort McMurray fire at bay, as thousands out of homes in Western Canada

Rain keeping Fort McMurray fire at bay, as thousands out of homes in Western Canada
A wildfire that has forced thousands out of their homes in the Alberta oilsands hub city of Fort McMurray was held in place Thursday as rain and cooler temperatures swept the area. Alberta Wildfire information officer Christie Tucker said the blaze remained out of control – the only such designated fire in the province – but it did not grow overnight and remained at 200 square kilometres in size.

Rain keeping Fort McMurray fire at bay, as thousands out of homes in Western Canada

Teenagers target people's faces by 'soft air guns' on Vancouver Island

Teenagers target people's faces by 'soft air guns' on Vancouver Island
Police on Vancouver Island have issued a warning after responding to a series of reports about people being struck in the face and neck by teenagers shooting what police describe as "water gel blasters" or soft air guns.  The statement from Campbell River R-C-M-P says the teens are driving by and shooting at pedestrians.

Teenagers target people's faces by 'soft air guns' on Vancouver Island

Fuel surcharge removed from BC Ferries 

Fuel surcharge removed from BC Ferries 
BC Ferries is removing a four per cent fuel surcharge from all fares, as it expects a record number of people and vehicles on board its vessels this summer. It says the move set to take effect June 1st will increase affordability for customers.   

Fuel surcharge removed from BC Ferries 

3 charged in illicit drug lab

3 charged in illicit drug lab
Three men have been charged after a Vancouver Police investigation into an illicit drug lab that was producing fentanyl and other deadly street drugs. Police say the 14-month investigation targeted a group that was manufacturing and trafficking illicit drugs at various locations throughout the region. 

3 charged in illicit drug lab

B.C. government and social media giants make deal on non-consensual intimate images

B.C. government and social media giants make deal on non-consensual intimate images
The British Columbia government and social media giants have made what they call a "historic collaboration" for youth safety online. A joint statement from Premier David Eby and representatives of Meta, Google, TikTok, X and Snap Inc., the parent of Snapchat, says they met to help young people stay safe online, one of the most important challenges facing families, government and companies. 

B.C. government and social media giants make deal on non-consensual intimate images