British Columbians have gone to the polls on an election day marked by torrential rain and high winds across much of the province.
Here’s the latest on the race to form the next provincial government between the New Democrats, led by David Eby, and John Rustad’s B.C. Conservatives, with Green Leader Sonia Furstenau hoping her party can maintain a presence in the legislature:
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8:57 p.m.
B.C. Green candidate Rob Botterell has won the riding of Saanich North and the Islands, maintaining his party’s presence in the provincial legislature.
However party Leader Sonia Furstenau was defeated after switching ridings to Victoria — Beacon Hill.
The Greens went into the election with two seats in the legislature.
The riding of Saanich North and the Islands was formerly held by the Green’s Adam Olsen, who was first elected in 2017, serving as the party’s house leader in the legislature
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8:55 p.m.
B.C. Conservative candidate Jody Toor has been elected in the new riding of Langley-Willowbrook.
Toor beat NDP candidate Andrew Mercier who is minister of state for sustainable forestry innovation.
Toor was the subject of controversy during the campaign after the Hospital Employees Union filed a complaint against her with the College of Complementary Health Professionals of BC.
They say she presented herself as a medical doctor despite not being registered with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia.
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8:51 p.m.
B.C. Conservative candidate Brent Chapman has been elected in the riding of Surrey South.
He defeated the NDP’s Haroon Ghaffar, who was the only other person running in the urban riding.
Chapman was the focus of significant controversy and calls for him to be removed as the Conservative candidate over social media posts he wrote that called Palestinian children “inbred” and “time bombs” and for agreeing with a podcast host who described the residential schools topic as a “massive fraud.”
Conservative Leader John Rustad stood by Chapman, saying it would be up to voters to judge.
8:40 p.m.
About 40 minutes after polls closed, more than half of B.C.’s ridings already have a winner declared, but the race to form government is still too close to call.
Early returns show the New Democrats and the Conservatives neck and neck.
Both NDP Leader David Eby and Conservative Leader John Rustad retained their seats, Eby in Vancouver-Point Grey and Rustad in Nechako Lakes.
Green Leader Sonia Furstenau, however, lost in Victoria-Beacon Hill to New Democrat Grace Lore.
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8:35 p.m.
B.C. Green Leader Sonia Furstenau has lost her bid for re-election to NDP cabinet minister Grace Lore.
Furstenau ran for re-election in Victoria-Beacon Hill after representing the Cowichan Valley riding since 2017.
Lore is the incumbent in the riding, having first been elected in 2020.
She is the minister of children and family development.
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8:30 p.m.
NDP Leader David Eby has been re-elected in his riding of Vancouver-Point Grey.
Eby was first elected in the riding in 2013, beating out then-premier Christy Clark.
He was acclaimed as NDP leader in October 2022, replacing John Horgan.
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8:22 p.m.
Two NDP ministers have been re-elected in their ridings.
Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon has been re-elected in Delta North and Attorney General Niki Sharma has been elected again in Vancouver-Hastings.
Kahlon is also the NDP house leader and was first elected in 2017.
Sharma is the first woman of colour to serve as B.C’s attorney general and was first elected in 2020.
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8:18 p.m.
B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad has been re-elected in his riding of Nechako Lakes, which he has represented since 2005.
In August 2022, Rustad was banished from the provincial Liberal caucus, now BC United, and went on to be acclaimed as leader of the B.C. Conservatives.
Incumbent Bruce Banman, who crossed the floor from BC United to the Conservatives in 2023, has also been re-elected in Abbotsford South.
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8:05 p.m.
NDP Leader David Eby is awaiting the results of the election in a hotel room at the party’s Vancouver election night headquarters surrounded by family members, including his wife, children and in-laws.
Eby is seated on a couch with his wife Cailey Lynch, who is holding their youngest child, Gwen, who was fast asleep.
Eby’s son Ezra is playing cards and his daughter, Iva, is colouring.
He looked relaxed and comfortable in the minutes before results were set to arrive.
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8 p.m.
Supporters and candidates of the B.C. Conservatives began filing into the party’s election headquarters at Rocky Mountaineer Vancouver Station as polls closed at 8 p.m.
People could be seen mingling around seven rows of white chairs that faced a stage where Leader John Rustad is expected to speak after the count.
Behind the platform is a large British Columbia flag.
Four smaller flags flank each side of the stage, and large screens that had displayed the Conservative Party of British Columbia logo started playing election coverage.
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8 p.m.
The polls have closed for the 2024 B.C. provincial election.
This is the first provincial election using electronic tabulators and Elections BC has said it expects to have substantial results within the hour.
The election also saw a record number of advance ballots cast, with more than one million people voting prior to election day.
To win a majority, a party has to come away with at least 47 seats in the 93 seat legislature.
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7:50
John Coupar, B.C. Conservative candidate for Vancouver-Little Mountain, says he believes his party will likely win the election.
He says he’s hopeful but uncertain about whether he will win his riding, noting that he knew it would be a tough race when he joined because Vancouver “tends to be an NDP stronghold.”
He says he was a member of the park board for 11 years and hopes that people see that he “gets things done” and that is reflected by him winning his riding.
Coupar says there was “a lot of negativity from the NDP” throughout the election but regardless of the result, all members of the party should be proud.
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7:20 p.m.
New Democrat Ravi Kahlon, B.C.’s housing minister, says he’ll be in two locations tonight, starting at the NDP’s election night headquarters at the Marriott Pinnacle Hotel ballroom in downtown Vancouver, then joining volunteers at his Delta North riding.
Kahlon says he did a lot of door knocking during the campaign and many people wanted to talk about housing.
He says he heard from many people who were supportive of the NDP’s approach to building more affordable homes.
He says health care was also a top issue for voters.
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7:00 p.m.
Elections BC says at least three voting sites have been shut down due to power outages.
Two sites in Cariboo-Chilcotin in the B.C. Interior were closed, as well as one in the Lower Mainland riding of Maple Ridge East, with voters being redirected to other sites or asked to call the election agency for voting options.
Several sites in Kamloops, Langley and Port Moody, as well as on Hornby, Denman and Mayne islands, were temporarily shut due to power outages associated with wild weather but reopened by mid-afternoon.
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6:30 p.m.
Independent candidate Karin Kirkpatrick, who is running for re-election in the riding of West Vancouver-Capilano, says her campaign has been told voters who can’t get to a location to cast their ballot because of the extreme weather may still be able to vote by phone.
Elections BC says telephone voting is available for voters in emergency or exceptional circumstances who are not otherwise able to vote by calling 1-800-661-8683.
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5:45 p.m.
An election-day storm stalled voting in several areas of the province.
Torrential rain and high winds knocked out power to voting places in more than half a dozen locations.
Voters on Haida Gwaii, on Denman, Hornby and Mayne islands, in Kamloops, the Bulkley Valley, Langley and Port Moody had to delay their votes because of power outages.
The lights remain out at Alexander Robinson Elementary school in the riding of Maple Ridge East and election officials are on site to direct voters to other polling stations.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 19, 2024.
The Canadian Press