The BC NDP Is Boring Voters. That Could Be Their Selling Point

[Editor’s note: This is the latest in an occasional series by Mo Amir called Logic Check, whose focus is explained in a sidebar to this article.]

In an election where his rival claims to be riding a wave of desire for change, what should David Eby be saying in the final sprint to voting day?

Oddly, a logical case can be made for reinforcing the message that Eby and his long-governing BC NDP are the steady and boring alternative to the kind of change no one wants.

There’s no doubt Eby and his party have their work cut out for them. The BC NDP have run a confusing campaign. And Eby entered it having changed enough positions that the BC Conservatives put his face on a weather vane. That advertising campaign flirts with defamation and relentlessly accuses the premier of being a “flip-flopping liar” who backtracked on his policy positions, only to adopt Conservative ones. Rehashed from the playbook that brought BC United Leader Kevin Falcon to heel, the Conservatives have obfuscated much of the NDP’s value proposition to voters.

“Which David Eby does David Eby want you to vote for?” the Conservatives ask.

The premier’s defenders rebut that leadership is about having the courage to admit being wrong and change course.

OK, but they wilfully ignore the coincidental timing of Eby’s calculated retread in Kevin Falcon’s footsteps.

If that logic extended to voters, wouldn’t it also be courageous for unsatisfied BC NDP voters to change course and support the Conservatives, Greens or any of the record number of Independent candidates?

A missed chance for a larger vision

More concerning to the BC NDP’s campaign is the party’s reluctance to offer voters a transformative vision of achieving the province’s true potential.

Instead, Eby has overseen a status quo campaign, stubbornly built on promises of incremental progress. The party may argue that it’s realistic, but for voters, it’s mid.

Of course, incumbent governments putting forth new policy proposals face the same question in a re-election campaign: Why didn’t they do it while in power?

Unfortunately for the BC NDP, this applies to a majority of the highlights in its platform: a targeted income tax cut; free transit for seniors, but only in off-peak hours; the allowance of pets in purpose-built rentals; the elimination of blind bidding for homebuyers; free menopause treatment; and the expansion of the speculation and vacancy tax.

These election promises give the vibes of a planned obsolescence approach to policy-making.

Particularly questionable is the BC NDP’s grocery rebate that morphs into an income tax cut, since inflation surged throughout 2021 and into 2022. (It’s almost 2025.)

The BC NDP’s tax-cut promise also came after Conservative Party of BC Leader John Rustad’s promise to exempt $3,000 per month of rent or mortgage costs from provincial income taxes.

Eby’s tax relief would save households $1,000 per year, but Rustad’s policy would save renters and homeowners up to $1,700 per year. In fairness, the BC NDP’s tax cut would be fully implemented four years sooner and seems less administratively cumbersome.

But, much as in the wider campaign, there has been a lack of policy that inspires hope for the future generations of British Columbians. The yawn of the BC NDP’s platform may actually have relinquished an opportunity for David Eby.

Eby could still have touted his legislative achievements as premier, including housing policy, the B.C. family benefit, free in vitro fertilization treatments, and historic investments in school food programs. But, as an “unelected” premier, he could have also sought a mandate from voters to pursue a truly transformative vision for the province.

As Fairview Strategy’s Kareem Allam outlined, a generational investment in public transit could have been the centrepiece of such a grand vision. Investment in transportation infrastructure supports the economy, creates jobs and improves quality of life, with appeal across industry, municipalities and individuals.

(Bewilderingly, the BC NDP’s newsworthy public transit announcement was a sidebar in its platform, with no details.)

Instead, a disproportionate amount of the BC NDP platform attacked John Rustad, who is mentioned nearly twice as many times as Eby.

This epitomizes the BC NDP’s campaign, which appears not to be working — at least not working well. The fact that polling is as close as it is proves that the BC NDP’s campaign has been weak at best and potentially disastrous if they lose on Oct. 19.

Stay the humdrum course!

Is it time, therefore, to courageously admit fault and change course once again? No. With only a few sleeps before the final vote is cast, that isn’t quite feasible.

So, while it may sound illogical that the BC NDP double down on their underwhelming campaign, their best option may be to flex just how incredibly, incrementally reasonable they are.

At the same time, they should home in their attacks to clearly lay out the stakes of this election.

John Rustad has openly questioned both climate science and medical science. He has embraced conspiracy theories, even if just to pander to an audience.

Meanwhile, the rest of his party has little to offer beyond opportunistic BC Liberals, some municipal washouts and a dog’s breakfast of internet shitposters, who have expressed reprehensible views without consequence.

If they want to win, the BC NDP should emphasize the consequential nature of this election for the province’s future, itself at a precarious juncture. The party must directly appeal to Green voters, in addition to former BC Liberal voters: Now is not the time for protest votes.

John Rustad’s Conservative party doesn't represent moving backwards, the BC NDP should explain to voters who may feel that life 10 years ago was far better than it is now.

Rather, Eby should prosecute the case that the Conservatives represent unfit leadership, completely incapable of accommodating — let alone thriving in — a rapidly changing world.

Eby must be clear: John Rustad risks ruining the province for the children of British Columbia.

Preserving it is a job for boring, stable adults.

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