Close X
Wednesday, October 30, 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

U.S. escalates efforts to halt Ottawa's digital services tax

U.S. escalates efforts to halt Ottawa's digital services tax
The federal government says it's in close contact with its American partners as the Biden administration escalates efforts to halt Canada’s tax on large foreign digital services companies.  The Office of the United States Trade Representative has requested dispute settlement consultations with Ottawa under the Canada-United States-Mexico trade agreement.

U.S. escalates efforts to halt Ottawa's digital services tax

International student enrolment drops below federal cap: Universities Canada

International student enrolment drops below federal cap: Universities Canada
The immigration minister announced a cap in January as a way to quell the rapid increase in the number of international students, citing pressure on housing, health care and other services. The new policy limits the number of student visa applications the government would accept into processing, and that was expected to result in a 35 per cent drop in the number of students in 2024 compared to last year.

International student enrolment drops below federal cap: Universities Canada

Truck crash in ditch turns fatal

Truck crash in ditch turns fatal
A man has died in Abbotsford after the truck he was driving crashed into a ditch. Police say they were notified of the crash this morning and found a 42-year-old male driver was the sole occupant of the pickup.

Truck crash in ditch turns fatal

Increase for towing fees in September

Increase for towing fees in September
Fees for towing and storing impounded vehicles are set to go up starting in September. The province says it's bumping up the fees to increase the consequences for people who drive dangerously. 

Increase for towing fees in September

Senior assaulted with a baton

Senior assaulted with a baton
Police in North Vancouver are searching for a suspect after a road rage incident where a senior was assaulted with a baton. R-C-M-P say on August 12th at about 4 p-m, a man driving a black Tesla Model 3 was allegedly tailgating another vehicle and speeding.

Senior assaulted with a baton

192 toxic drug deaths in B.C. in July, down 15 per cent, says coroner

192 toxic drug deaths in B.C. in July, down 15 per cent, says coroner
The British Columbia Coroners Service says at least 192 people died in July in the province due to unregulated drug toxicity, down 15 per cent from the same month last year. The service says in a release that 1,365 people have died of drug toxicity this year up to the end of July, a rate of death that is also down.

192 toxic drug deaths in B.C. in July, down 15 per cent, says coroner