B.C.'s unofficial election campaign is in full swing

Premier David Eby strolled down Oak Bay Avenue this week alongside NDP candidate Diana Gibson, stopping for an iced Americano and talking to seniors about their concerns around health care.  B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad has been touring northern B.C. and plans to visit several gurdwaras this weekend in vote-rich Surrey, where the party is hoping to pick up seats.

B.C. United Leader Kevin Falcon is making another policy announcement Thursday and B.C. Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau has been knocking on doors in the Victoria-Beacon Hill riding. 

The provincial election campaign doesn't officially start until Sept. 21, but the four party leaders are already in campaign mode, delivering their pitch on the fix for British Columbians' major frustrations: the cost of living, high real estate prices, crime and social disorder. Eby, Rustad and Falcon are all going into their first election as party leaders, while Furstenau is going into her second.

The New Democrats currently lead in political donations, and they will get the largest subsidy from Elections B.C. based on the vote count in the 2020 election.

The party will receive $1.62 million. The Official Opposition B.C. United will get $1.15 million, the B.C. Greens $514,000, while the B.C. Conservatives will receive $64,982. However, after seven years in power, the NDP also carries the weight of voter frustration on the affordability crisis, house prices, crime and social disorder. UBC political scientist Stewart Prest said this election will be, in large part, "a referendum on B.C. NDP performance on these files where there's a lot of frustration." B.C. NDP campaign manager Marie Della Mattia, who brings with her the experience of working on former premier John Horgan's election campaigns in 2017 and 2020, says the party is confident it can put forward concrete policies to help voters with growing costs. 

"It is definitely feeling like a Cinderella story," says B.C. Conservative campaign manager Angelo Isidorou. The party has the most nominated candidates so far, with 83. The NDP has 78 candidates confirmed, B.C. United has 57 and the B.C. Greens 31. However, Rustad's rush to hand-pick most of his preferred candidates for 93 ridings has been rocky.  Members of at least one riding association say they're frustrated the leader parachuted in a candidate with few ties to the riding. Rustad installed former B.C. Liberal leadership candidate Gavin Dew as the candidate in Kelowna-Mission and ousted the existing candidate, Alexandra Wright.

A new website has popped up called firejohnrustad.ca, which purports to be the work of disgruntled B.C. Conservatives who say Rustad is diluting conservative values to try to appeal to more voters. They cite Rustad's recruitment of former B.C. United MLAs and candidates, including Richmond's Theresa Wat. CBC News has not been able to confirm who is behind the website, and Rustad alleged it was set up by a rival party, although he did not provide evidence to support that. Rustad defended his leadership style, saying the party has grown from 500 members to about 9,000. "There may be some people who are disgruntled about that. I'm not too worried about it," he told CBC News.

Isidorou says the party has to evolve if it wants to become a big tent party.

"The old B.C. Conservative Party got two per cent in the polls. The old B.C. Conservative party couldn't field a full slate of candidates. The old B.C. Conservative party couldn't speak to all British Columbians," he said.

The Official Opposition B.C. United is trying to rebound after losing several MLAs and candidates to Rustad's party, including Wat, Elenore Sturko, Lorne Doerkson and Chris Moore. 

Werner is a long-time B.C. Liberal who has worked on the leadership campaigns of Ellis Ross and Todd Stone and worked on the federal Conservative campaign in 2021 as the senior regional organizer for British Columbia. 

The B.C. Green Party, meanwhile, is fighting to keep its two seats in the legislature.

Adam Olsen, the MLA for Saanich North and the Islands, is not running again. Leader Sonia Furstenau is not running in her current riding of Cowichan Valley, which is being redrawn, but will run instead in the NDP stronghold of Victoria- Beacon Hill. The Greens have brought in campaign manager Maureen Balsillie, who most recently worked with the Ontario Greens and helped flip a riding in Kitchener from NDP to Green in a 2023 byelection. 

She said the party will have a full slate of candidates, but the strategy is to really focus on about six ridings where the party believes it has a strong chance of winning.