BC NDP must ‘adapt,’ ‘build bridges,’ says Surrey MLA

The New Democrat, whose 27-vote election victory is credited with giving British Columbia Premier David Eby a slim majority, says he’s building bridges in his community and the party needs similar relationships across the province.

Harry Begg’s narrow victory over the BC Conservative candidate in Surrey-Guildford is still subject to a judicial recount, but for now it gives the NDP the 47 seats it needs to form a majority in BC’s 93-seat legislature.

Begg, a former RCMP officer first elected in 2017, was greeted with hugs and handshakes Wednesday as the new NDP caucus met in the legislature for its first meeting since the Oct. 19 election.

“I don’t build walls. I build bridges. We need to build bridges here,” Begg said, referring to communities across the province.

On election night, Begg trailed BC Conservative candidate Honveer Singh Randhawa by more than 100 votes, but more than 600 mail-in and absentee ballots remained to be counted.

He had cut the margin to 12 votes by the time mail was counted on Sunday, and then he finally overtook Randhawa on Monday, a couple of hours after absentee votes were counted.

He now said he was being called a “comeback kid.”

“There are many names besides what I am usually called that I will not tell you,” he said with a smile.

Begg said he echoed previous comments from the premier, who said voters had sent a strong signal to the NDP that they wanted change.

“I know they want change in the way we operate, and that’s what we’re doing,” he said. “We have to do this. We must adapt.”

In 2020, the NDP won a majority in government, occupying 57 of the 87 seats in the legislature. But after all the ballots were counted on Monday, the New Democrats held a razor-thin majority of 47 seats in the enlarged legislature.

The BC Conservatives won 44 seats and the Green Party won two seats.

Eby said one of his first tasks is to form a new cabinet after losing five ministers during the election and seven who did not stand.

BC Conservative Leader Jon Rustad said he plans to ensure his new caucus puts strong pressure on the NDP to help everyday people in the province.

He said Tuesday he knows residents don’t want to go straight to another election, “however, when I look at the damage David Eby has done, if he’s going to continue down this path, I would have no choice.”

A statement from the British Columbia Chamber of Commerce and Industry calls on all members to prioritize improving the province’s economy.

“Without a strong economy, affordability will remain elusive for British Columbians,” it said.

The province is lagging in many sectors, he said, noting that 12,400 manufacturing jobs have been lost since 2017 and more than 10,000 forestry jobs have been eliminated over the past four years.

“This is unprecedented and unsustainable,” the chamber said.

It said that throughout the campaign, participants heard that families, communities and businesses were facing extreme affordability challenges.

“Rising prices for essentials such as housing and food are putting enormous pressure on households, while many small businesses face increasing difficulty paying wages and staying open.”

On Tuesday, Eby told the media that he heard from voters in a tight election that they want the NDP to do better on issues including public safety.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 30, 2024.