British Columbia Premier David Eby (3rd R) and his wife Cailey Lynch (4th R) and Prime Minister Mark Carney (2nd R), MLA Mable Elmore (R) attend the Candlelight Vigil near the scene where a car drove into a crowd of people during the Lapu Lapu Festival on April 27, 2025 in Vancouver, BC. (Photo by Andrew Chin/Getty Images)
B.C. Premier David Eby has avoided a leadership review after 82.3 percent of delegates attending the B.C. NDP convention on July 15 voted against holding a review.
Out of the 740 delegates at the convention in Victoria, which is running from Nov. 14 to 16, 609 voted against holding a leadership review.
In his speech to the convention on Nov. 15, Eby said his government will be prioritizing resource projects to ensure the province remains prosperous and to “sustain strong public services for generations to come.”
He added that among the projects his government is focused on are the North Coast Transmission Line, meant to power mining, as well as LNG projects in northwest B.C. He also repeated that his government will remain opposed to Ottawa lifting the tanker ban in northwest B.C., something Alberta has been pushing for to enable more oil and gas exports to international markets.
Eby told reporters on Nov. 13 that he was looking forward to hearing from party members and the leadership review. When asked if he had a particular level of support in mind, he said he was looking for a “healthy majority.”
“Obviously, I want 100 percent, but a healthy majority and support for the hard work going ahead,” he said.
Two years ago, Eby received 93 percent support from his party. Since then, the province has undergone an election in which the NDP won by a narrow margin. The New Democrats took 47 seats in the 2024 election, the BC Conservatives got 44, and the Green Party won two seats.
The government is also facing challenges with provincial union contracts and questions about its dealings with First Nations over land title rights after a BC Supreme Court justice ruled in August that the Cowichan First Nation had land title rights to parts of the City of Richmond and the Fraser River.
Eby said the convention was an opportunity to meet with delegates from other parts of the province.
“I get to meet face to face with the people who really drive the NDP in every corner of the province. It’s a chance for me to engage with them about what their ideas are, what their suggestions are, what their critiques are.”
Eby, a former attorney general under the late NDP Premier John Horgan, took over from Horgan as the B.C. NDP leader and premier in 2022 after Horgan stepped down due to illness.
Union Contracts
The convention began a day after Eby’s government saw the end of the longest public service strike in the province. The BC General Employees’ Union voted to accept a contract on Nov. 13 after its members had been on strike for eight weeks.
Eby’s government will need to work on agreements with other provincial unions whose contracts have expired, including those for teachers and nurses.
The Canadian Press contributed to this report.
Chandra Philip is a news reporter with the Canadian edition of The Epoch Times.