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

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.

Final count continues today. We have updated results on our website and will update results hourly until final count is complete. Find the updates here: https://t.co/m9nVXkpnMa
— Elections BC (@ElectionsBC) October 28, 2024

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.

We knew this was going to be a close election, but we’ve been here before. BCers support our fair election process and the people at Elections BC making sure every vote gets counted.

Thanks to candidates, volunteers & election workers who make democracy work.
— David Eby (@Dave_Eby) October 27, 2024

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.

Our movement is only beginning. #bcpoli https://t.co/y8yOGNwS1m pic.twitter.com/svFI9XeUYU
— Conservative Party of BC (@Conservative_BC) October 27, 2024

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.

Prev Next

MORE National ARTICLES

Crypto mining company loses bid to force BC Hydro to provide power

A cryptocurrency mining company has lost a bid to force BC Hydro to provide the vast amounts of power needed for its operations, upholding the provincial government's right to pause power connections for new crypto miners. Conifex Timber Inc., a forestry company that branched out into cryptocurrency mining, had gone to the B.C. Supreme Court to have the policy declared invalid.

Crypto mining company loses bid to force BC Hydro to provide power

City of Calgary receives notice of petition to recall Mayor Jyoti Gondek

The City of Calgary says it has received notice of a recall petition against Mayor Jyoti Gondek, but it adds that the petition would need more than a half-million names in the next 60 days to remove her from office. Gondek has faced criticism for everything from property tax increases to a new NHL arena for the Flames to her decision late last year not to attend the annual menorah lighting ceremony to mark the beginning of Hanukkah.

City of Calgary receives notice of petition to recall Mayor Jyoti Gondek

Vehicle fire in Downtown Eastside

One person was left with burns on their hands after a vehicle fire in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. Officials say there was heavy fire coming from the vehicle when crews arrived just before 10 a-m at Powell Street and Gore Avenue.

Vehicle fire in Downtown Eastside

Passenger levels at YVR to hit pre-pandemic levels in the coming week

Passenger levels at Vancouver International Airport are expected to be almost completely recovered to pre-pandemic levels over the next week. Y-V-R officials say the airport is expecting an average of 60-thousand-177 passengers per day this week, with a total reaching 421-thousand.

Passenger levels at YVR to hit pre-pandemic levels in the coming week

Man steals over 1M from 9 investors

A North Vancouver man has pleaded guilty to one count of theft after an investigation found he stole more than one-million-dollars from nine investors. A statement from B-C Securities Commission says the 55-year-old man was arrested in October 2022 and remains on bail, entering the guilty plea last week with sentencing scheduled for early May.

Man steals over 1M from 9 investors

108-year-old newspaper buyout in Prince George

Cameron Stolz is the new owner of the 108-year-old Prince George Citizen after buying the paper from Glacier Media. Stolz, a businessman who owns a toy and comics store, said he entered talks to buy the weekly newspaper last November after outlets in Fort St. John and Dawson Creek closed, followed soon after by the newspaper in Kamloops.