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Election Candidate Bonanza | Political Capital Daily · Political Capital with Rob Shaw

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  Speaker 1: visit helijet.com. It's Thursday, September 24th, 2026, and this is
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  Speaker 1: Political Capital Daily. Good morning, happy Thursday to you. I'd
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  Speaker 1: say we're nearing the end of the week, but the
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  Speaker 1: week doesn't end in a provincial election campaign. It just
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  Speaker 1: goes on and on for 32 days. This is the
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  Speaker 1: second full day of campaigning in the 44th provincial general election.
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  Speaker 1: Let's talk a bit about, I don't have any guests
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  Speaker 1: in the show with me this morning, so let's talk
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  Speaker 1: a bit about the structure of the show in a
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  Speaker 1: general election campaign. Typically, I'm able to get sort of
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  Speaker 1: what's happening this morning for you to kind of set
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  Speaker 1: your agenda, let you know what's going on, but it
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  Speaker 1: becomes more difficult in in an election because the parties
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  Speaker 1: don't want the other parties to know what they're doing
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  Speaker 1: and when so that they don't send protesters or rabble-rousers
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  Speaker 1: to their rivals' events. I remember an election in 2017
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  Speaker 1: where the BC Liberals literally sent around a truck called
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  Speaker 1: a troll truck to shout insults out at NDP events.
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  Speaker 1: So the parties don't really want the other parties to
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  Speaker 1: know And I'm not able to get that information to
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  Speaker 1: you this early in the morning. I will when I can.
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  Speaker 1: It's frustrating and I'll share it when I can. But
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  Speaker 1: for now, I don't have anything for you this morning.
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  Speaker 1: We'll talk more about the campaign, the announcements, the context,
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  Speaker 1: the type of thing you need to know so you
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  Speaker 1: can understand the day as it unfolds in front of you. Plus,
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  Speaker 1: the BC Conservatives do not yet have a tour functioning.
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  Speaker 1: I'm told they're going to try and get it going
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  Speaker 1: by this weekend, which is sort of miraculously fast for
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  Speaker 1: a campaign. It started with nothing. The BCNDP do have
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  Speaker 1: a tour. It's in the Lower Mainland. That is all
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  Speaker 1: I'm able to say about it this morning. Instead, let's
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  Speaker 1: bring you up to speed on the political news from
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  Speaker 1: the last 24 hours. It's more like a tsunami. We're
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  Speaker 1: going to start with names in and out of the
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  Speaker 1: provincial election campaign. A big one here. Former Finance Minister
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  Speaker 1: Brenda Bailey announcing she will not run again in Vancouver,
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  Speaker 1: South Granville, partly in her statement due to recent cancer diagnosis,
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  Speaker 1: but she also said she's cancer-free now. And there is,
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  Speaker 1: like a lot of people know, tension behind the scenes
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  Speaker 1: between Bailey and Premier David Eby in the last few years.
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  Speaker 1: If that's not part of what is at play here
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  Speaker 1: with the time she had to front a budget and
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  Speaker 1: deficit she perhaps wasn't as comfortable with, but it was
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  Speaker 1: on behalf of the Premier, I would be very surprised.
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  Speaker 1: That is a riding. Bailey won handily with 64% of
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  Speaker 1: the vote in the last election, so one that New
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  Speaker 1: Democrats will hotly contest to replace her as the candidate.
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  Speaker 1: Bailey is the fourth major cabinet minister to announce she
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  Speaker 1: is not running for re-election. There was also Agriculture Minister
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  Speaker 1: Lana Popham in Saanich South. She had clashed with the
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  Speaker 1: Premier over the 50-50 agriculture food processing rule that EB
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  Speaker 1: wanted to bring in on protected farmland. The other two
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  Speaker 1: notable ones, we've talked in the past, Health Minister Ravi
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  Speaker 1: Kalan in North Delta and Kelly Green in Richmond. Kalon,
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  Speaker 1: I think we've said this here, a hugely consequential member
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  Speaker 1: of the EB cabinet, the minister of everything from jobs
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  Speaker 1: to housing, now health. Also, at one point, worth mentioning here,
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  Speaker 1: often listed as a potential candidate to replace EB should
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  Speaker 1: he ever fall within his own party and need to
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  Speaker 1: be replaced, for lack of a better way to phrase
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  Speaker 1: deposing a leader inside an internal party coup. It never
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  Speaker 1: really got that far, but Health is not an easy
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  Speaker 1: portfolio to maintain your reputation when it is in the
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  Speaker 1: middle of just non-stop bad news right now. I'm not
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  Speaker 1: sure if that played a part in Canelon's decision. He
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  Speaker 1: said that he just simply wanted to try something new
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  Speaker 1: after 10 years. But big cabinet ministers not running in
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  Speaker 1: this election. On the other side of the ledger, the
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  Speaker 1: BC Conservatives, another big name, announcing they're not running again.
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  Speaker 1: Late on Tuesday, former Conservative leader John Rustad, who's been
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  Speaker 1: the MLA for Nachaku Lake's since 2009. That's a bit
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  Speaker 1: of a surprise because Rust had just been invited back
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  Speaker 1: to the BC Conservative Caucus after he was fired and
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  Speaker 1: rehired and fired again by leader Carrie Lynn Finlay. It
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  Speaker 1: looked like he was going to run. I spoke to
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  Speaker 1: him last night. He told me that at a recent
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  Speaker 1: media conference, he called out Christy Clark and Gordon Campbell,
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  Speaker 1: former premiers he served under, and told them to butt
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  Speaker 1: out and move on from provincial politics. Their time was over.
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  Speaker 1: And he told me afterwards, he thought, well, maybe my
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  Speaker 1: time is over too after 17 years in politics, and
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  Speaker 1: so he decided not to run. One of the most
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  Speaker 1: consequential politicians in the last few years, he was fired
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  Speaker 1: from BC United over his views on climate change in 2022,
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  Speaker 1: went on to become the first MLA of the BC
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  Speaker 1: Conservatives in recent times, then leader, then charged it up
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  Speaker 1: with the help of some organizers like Angelo Isidoro and
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  Speaker 1: Asha Esti and others. Got that party flying at warp
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  Speaker 1: speed to the point it almost defeated the NDP. Got
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  Speaker 1: 44 seats, just a couple shy in the last election
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  Speaker 1: in 2024. Rustad taking the credit, as he should as
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  Speaker 1: the leader, for the success of the party there with
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  Speaker 1: some others. His retirement, a moment of note in BC
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  Speaker 1: politics for someone who accomplished something noteworthy that the history
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  Speaker 1: books will record today. The rest of the incumbent BC
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  Speaker 1: Conservative MLAs were announced late yesterday as all candidates and
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  Speaker 1: all running again, with the exception of Surrey's Linda Hepner,
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  Speaker 1: who has retired. We're not sure if that includes Rhianne Gaspar,
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  Speaker 1: the Abbotsford Mission MLA who quit her seat so KLF
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  Speaker 1: could run. It may. We're not clear yet. Another big
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  Speaker 1: name that is now running on the Conservative ticket, Carolyn Elliott,
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  Speaker 1: the second place finisher. In the Conservative leadership race to KLF,
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  Speaker 1: she lost by 60 votes on that fourth and final ballot.
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  Speaker 1: She has promised to run for the party in a
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  Speaker 1: riding that they're figuring out now, too. So there's an
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  Speaker 1: aim to keep an eye on. Some other major moves
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  Speaker 1: I want to go through here before we hit our
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  Speaker 1: first break. BC Green MLA for Saanich North and the Islands,
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  Speaker 1: Rob Botterill, announcing his retirement after one term. Botterill makes
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  Speaker 1: way for Green leader Emily Lowen, who had spoken earlier.
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  Speaker 1: about ambitiously growing the party into new ridings during her
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  Speaker 1: leadership bid last year, but is instead taking what I
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  Speaker 1: think is the safest riding in the province for a
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  Speaker 1: Green to win, although it is tougher in recent years.
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  Speaker 1: Botterill kind of squeaked it out in uncomfortable fashion in 2024.
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  Speaker 1: So Lohan taking her best shot at becoming an MLA there.
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  Speaker 1: Speaking of the Greens, their former leader, Andrew Weaver, reappeared.
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  Speaker 1: On to the political scene, this time as a candidate
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  Speaker 1: for Centre BC in Oak Bay, Gordon Hedge. You might
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  Speaker 1: remember Weaver, the Nobel Prize winning climate scientist who had
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  Speaker 1: a consequential moment in 2017 as the leader of the Greens,
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  Speaker 1: helping to topple the Liberal government and give the votes
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  Speaker 1: necessary to the NDP's John Horgan to become Premier. Part
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  Speaker 1: of that bromance between Weaver and Horgan. Weaver left politics,
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  Speaker 1: he left the Greens, he is not a fan or
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  Speaker 1: a member of the Greens, as are a bunch of
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  Speaker 1: protester radicals, and he has been championing this idea of
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  Speaker 1: a centrist alternative to the Conservatives and the NDP, and
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  Speaker 1: he was a supporter of Mike Bernier as the Centre
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  Speaker 1: BC leader before that party basically had a big membership
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  Speaker 1: growth of eight MLAs and then lost seven of them. So, leader...
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  Speaker 1: Of the Centre BC is Eleanor Sturco, and her first
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  Speaker 1: sort of big profile candidate here is Andrew Weaver. That
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  Speaker 1: sketches out a whole bunch of activities here. It is
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  Speaker 1: an interesting time when it comes to candidates because everyone
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  Speaker 1: is sort of scrambling to try and find their candidates.
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  Speaker 1: The nomination period ends October the 3rd, so parties are
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  Speaker 1: trying to get as many names as they can up
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  Speaker 1: and running in different ridings. to fill those seats. You're
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  Speaker 1: going to see a lot of names and news on
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  Speaker 1: that in the coming days. Let's take a break, and
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  Speaker 1: then we'll talk a bit more about what's going on
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  Speaker 1: on the election campaign. Political Capital Daily Free each and
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  Speaker 1: every morning, thanks to our premier sponsor this season, Airbnb
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  Speaker 1: in Vancouver. Mornings start with a coffee from Denman Street
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  Speaker 1: and a walk around English Bay, and an afternoon is
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  Speaker 1: well spent at Dim Sum in Chinatown. Nothing beats happy
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  Speaker 1: hour oysters in Yaletown, perhaps followed by a karaoke at
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  Speaker 1: a small bar in Manhattan.
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  Speaker 2: Pleasant.
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  Speaker 1: That's the magic of a stay with Airbnb. You get
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  Speaker 1: real local hosts who can give you the best local tips.
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  Speaker 1: Thanks to Airbnb for its support. Now back to the show.
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  Speaker 1: All right, the major activities in the campaign so far,
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  Speaker 1: including yesterday, I expect we'll see them carry into today.
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  Speaker 1: Premier David Eby, the BC NDP leader, was at the
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  Speaker 1: Peace Arch border crossing, saying he will triple the amount
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  Speaker 1: of U.S. healthcare workers coming into British Columbia with a
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  Speaker 1: new $ 15 million investment in forgiving loans and paying moving
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  Speaker 1: expenses for those American healthcare workers. Mostly, he used that
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  Speaker 1: press conference to ramp up his rhetoric that the BC
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  Speaker 1: conservatives want to turn bc into america junior that a
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  Speaker 1: vote for them means privatized health care and that they
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  Speaker 1: want to cower at the very thought of trump at
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  Speaker 1: one point doing a little physical cowering routine at the
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  Speaker 1: podium uh as long as well as various other insults
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  Speaker 1: here's a clip of what he had to.
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  Speaker 2: Say crucial moment who's going to uh uh represent them
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  Speaker 2: in the choice they want to make about the direction
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  Speaker 2: of this province working together building protecting our people standing
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  Speaker 2: up to trump Or folding, put the liquor back on
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  Speaker 2: the shelves, hope that Trump stays away, embrace his policies,
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  Speaker 2: turn us into America Junior, refuse the $ 20 billion plus
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  Speaker 2: investment to the federal government in our port just down
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  Speaker 2: the road here. It's going to create jobs across the province.
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  Speaker 2: That's the conservative vision.
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  Speaker 1: The reference to the Conservatives wanting to put American booze
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  Speaker 1: back on store shelves was accurate earlier this year. There
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  Speaker 1: were some MLAs who came out and said they would
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  Speaker 1: like to see that done to kind of appease the Americans,
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  Speaker 1: a show of good faith in the negotiations. Since then,
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  Speaker 1: there's been a couple leadership changes. And new leader Lorne
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  Speaker 1: Dirksen out yesterday saying he will not put American booze
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  Speaker 1: back on store shelves while there is a trade war
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  Speaker 1: with the United States, repeating his calls that Trump is
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  Speaker 1: a bully, trying to chip away at some of the
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  Speaker 1: lines that the premier is using against the conservatives when
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  Speaker 1: it comes to the Trump issue. I'm not sure if
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  Speaker 1: it's going to stop Eby from saying these things, but
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  Speaker 1: that is the conservative response. Another interesting early framing in
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  Speaker 1: this election, like last night, Eby continues to use this
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  Speaker 1: metaphor in his speeches, his first and his second so far,
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  Speaker 1: on BC wildfires, saying that the summer wildfires in the
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  Speaker 1: province are like Trump. They're spreading and through the province.
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  Speaker 1: They're dangerous. You have to build fire breaks to stop them,
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  Speaker 1: not walk away when you see the smoke. I'm not
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  Speaker 1: sure why he hasn't got a bit more flack for
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  Speaker 1: using a fire season that killed an 80-year-old woman and
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  Speaker 1: burned down 500 structures as a metaphor and a campaign tool.
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  Speaker 1: But late last night, some footage emerged of Lorne Dirksen,
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  Speaker 1: the interim leader, in his riding in Caribou Chilcotin during
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  Speaker 1: his first term in office after a 2020 and global
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  Speaker 1: cameras had caught up with him at a fire line
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  Speaker 1: where he'd gone to check out the fire as an MLA,
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  Speaker 1: saw it was short-staffed, grabbed a hose, and ended up
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  Speaker 1: out in the bush fighting the fire while the cameras
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  Speaker 1: were interviewing him. Craftily, the conservative campaign was pushing out
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  Speaker 1: social media graphics last night saying, Lorne fights fires, EB
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  Speaker 1: uses them for campaign metaphors, which was a kind of...
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  Speaker 1: creative bit of crafting there to try and push back
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  Speaker 1: on the Premier's speech. We'll see how successful that is
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  Speaker 1: from the Conservatives. Their one advantage at this point is
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  Speaker 1: because Lorne Dirksen is a relative unknown. There is a
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  Speaker 1: time here, a consequential time, to paint an image of
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  Speaker 1: him for voters who are going to get to know him,
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  Speaker 1: get a sniff test of him. And the Conservatives are
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  Speaker 1: trying hard to point him as a salt of earth.
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  Speaker 1: Everybody likes him, getting his hands dirty, working in his riding.
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  Speaker 1: honest kind of down-to-earth guy, and the conservatives and the
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  Speaker 1: NDP are saying he's just another conservative leader who wants
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  Speaker 1: to give in to Trump, has radical policies, mega-style politics,
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  Speaker 1: and would bring culture wars to the province. So we'll
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  Speaker 1: see which one of those framings begins to catch on
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  Speaker 1: in the early days of the campaign. I imagine we
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  Speaker 1: will see more aggressive work from the conservatives when their
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  Speaker 1: actual tour campaign with Dirksen begins next. this weekend all
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  Speaker 1: right that is catching you up to speed with what
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  Speaker 1: you need to know this morning as always busy times
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  Speaker 1: in bc politics as the morning gets going the campaigns
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  Speaker 1: will get going the news will start flying i'll gather
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  Speaker 1: it all up and i'll bring it to you and
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  Speaker 1: more tomorrow on political capital daily make sure you subscribe
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  Speaker 1: some videos there as well. So check out those fun
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  Speaker 1: Political Capital Prime on Fridays as well. We'll see you tomorrow.
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  Speaker 1: Take care.