'Total disbelief': B.C.'s snap election throws curveball into municipal campaigns

During Tuesday’s live broadcast of B.C. NDP Leader David Eby’s speech announcing a snap provincial election, municipal politicians from around the province where contacting each other to commiserate.

Prince George Coun. Cori Ramsay said her phone was lighting up Tuesday with a group message that included municipal politicians from around B.C. expressing their frustration and concerns. The thrust of their comments, she said, were along the lines of: “I can’t believe this is happening right now,” and, “I’m going to throw up right now.”

At the Union of B.C. Municipalities last week in Vancouver, the province’s annual local government convention endorsed an emergency resolution calling on the province to respect the local government election process, and wait at least four weeks before calling an election, to avoid overlapping elections.

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Ramsay, who oversaw last week’s convention as UBCM president (her term ended last Friday), said Tuesday’s election call didn’t come as a surprise after the past week’s rampant speculation but still left her and other municipal candidates in “total disbelief.”

“With the critical issues facing B.C. communities, voters deserve to have a campaign period dedicated to local issues,” Ramsay said. “Instead, the noise of the provincial election will draw media attention and voter attention away from local campaigns, and these overlapping campaigns run the risk of suppressing voter turnout.”

Tuesday’s provincial election call, coming just three days after the start of the official campaign period for B.C.’s municipal elections, raises several questions most local political organizers and candidates haven’t had to grapple with before.

It was the topic of much conversation among the politicians, operatives and journalists at the UBCM last week. Many wondered if municipal candidates might abruptly change lanes and run provincially.