A new word entered the political lexicon of British Columbia Saturday night: “to Eby.”
asserted
word → enter → Eby
It means massive self-inflicted failure due to a colossal and hubristic miscalculation.
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It → mean → miscalculation
Indeed, the scale and magnitude of Eby’s misreading of the B.C. electorate in calling his early snap election cannot be understated and it may well be the greatest political blunder in Canadian history.
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it → call → history
The resultant electoral rout will be studied and referenced for decades as a stunning backfire and cautionary tale of what can happen when a politician loses sight of the people and makes decisions for their own political benefit.
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politician → study → benefit
Broad and rich though the English language may be, few words adequately convey how bad this loss was for David Eby and the NDP.
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loss → convey → Eby
The B.C. Conservatives won 64 seats.
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Conservatives → win → seats
The NDP limped in with 27 seats and the Greens took two.
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Greens → limp → two
That’s a blowout.
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That → ’ → ?
That’s a walloping.
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That → ’ → ?
That’s a repudiation.
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That → ’ → ?
That’s the voters of British Columbia roundly and unequivocally saying to David Eby and the NDP: “Get out.”
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voters → ’ → Eby
It is a summary political execution and Eby tendered his resignation as premier and NDP leader his brief concession speech.
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Eby → tender → speech
After acknowledging that several NDP MLAs lost their seats, he said, “I accept full responsibility for that outcome.”
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I → acknowledge → outcome
He will likely get no argument from anyone on that point.
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He → get → point
It now truly beggars belief to remember that Eby was already elected with a majority government when he called this election two years early and cynically tried to take advantage of turmoil within the Conservative party, which was roiling under the catastrophic leadership of former leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay.
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which → beggar → Findlay
At dissolution, Eby’s NDP held a three-seat majority, with a by-election to be held in the safest NDP riding in the province.
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NDP → hold → province
His majority was small, but manageable, and not at all the one-seat tightwire he tried to convince voters of the latter part of the campaign.
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he → try → campaign
That is to say, he could have done as he pleased for two more years before facing the voters.
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he → say → voters
He chose to go early and has paid dearly.
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He → choose → ?
In to the public consciousness now steps Lorne Doerkson as B.C.’s Premier-elect, swept to power with a majority government fuelled by a voter base fed up with Eby’s relentless ideological decision making at the expense of governing for all British Columbians.
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Doerkson → step → Columbians
During the campaign, Doerksen’s calm and understated presence contrasted sharply with Eby’s incoherent and confused message and who ultimately never gave British Columbians a reason to re-elect him.
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who → contrast → him
Doerkson is a somewhat unlikely leader, lifted to the Conservative helm to navigate the wild seas churned up by Findlay’s short and stormy tenure.
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Doerkson → lift → tenure
Faced with that Herculean task, he has pulled one of the most remarkable political turnarounds we are ever likely to see.
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we → face → turnarounds
Readers must remember that in May the Conservatives held a 10 point lead over Eby’s struggling NDP.
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Conservatives → remember → NDP
By Sept. 15, five days prior to Findlay’s resignation and a week before Eby dropped the writ, Findlay had turned that advantage into a four-point deficit.
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Findlay → drop → deficit
That is to say, the Conservatives were in a leaderless tailspin until Doerkson showed up to steady the ship.
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Doerkson → say → ship
He has delivered victory in spectacular fashion and deserves every laurel and flower he gets.
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he → deliver → laurel
The 2026 campaign will also be remembered for NDP blunders and mistakes, as well as the incredible speed of the Conservative coalescence around Doerkson.
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campaign → remember → Doerkson
On the campaign trail, Eby tired to make the election about Donald Trump, and the first weeks of his campaign largely fell flat for that reason.
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weeks → tire → reason
Eby then, very bizarrely, targeted the rich and local philanthropist Jim Pattison and Save-on-Foods.
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Eby → target → Foods
That attack on a local business hero, following the anti-Trump rhetoric was largely panned by the media and also failed to resonate with voters.
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attack → follow → voters
Finally, Eby’s admission that his family had taken advantage of one of B.C.’s rare $10-a-day daycare spots was ultimately the final nail in the coffin.
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family → take → coffin
Towards the end of the campaign, Eby pivoted desperately towards convincing B.C. that his majority was too small to govern effectively and he had no choice but to blunder headlong into an unnecessary election.
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he → pivot → election
In his flailing desperation of the final week, Eby went so far as to attempt using the tragic deaths of the Wainwright tragedy to impugn the patriotism of Doerkson.
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Eby → flail → Doerkson
British Columbians were clearly neither fooled nor impressed and have unceremoniously shown him the door.
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Columbians → fool → door
Doerkson deserves immense credit for focusing the minds on Conservatives on what really mattered: NDP defeat and election victory.
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what → deserve → defeat
Under Doerkson, the Conservatives were effectively able to deliver the calm, mature message British Columbians had been waiting for on key issues affecting their lives.
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Columbians → deliver → lives
Doerkson’s campaign focus on steady leadership and economic development ultimately resonated with voters who had had enough of broken promises and spiralling deficits with no end in sight.
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who → resonate → sight
The task facing Doerkson and the B.C. Conservatives is to now reward the trust British Columbians have placed in them.
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Columbians → face → them
Doerkson may in many ways be an unlikely premier, but so was the late NDP premier John Horgan and his success is widely recognized on both sides of the aisle because he spoke to and understood, the issues affecting regular, every day people.
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he → recognize → people
…and 2 more, not listed.
The Aporia
