By Canadian Press

Timeline: The political shakeups leading up to the 2024 B.C. fall election

Sep 21, 2024 | 4:02 AM

VICTORIA — There has been a major upheaval in British Columbia politics since the last provincial vote in 2020. Here’s a look at the political timeline, resulting in two party leaders who are both running for the first time as premier in the Oct. 19 general election.

Feb. 5, 2022: Kevin Falcon wins leadership of the Opposition BC Liberals. Falcon would take his seat in the provincial legislature after winning a byelection in Vancouver-Quilchena, vacated by former Leader Andrew Wilkinson.

June 28, 2022: B.C. premier and NDP Leader John Horgan announces his intention to resign due to health reasons, kicking off a leadership race where a number of perspective candidates ultimately decline to run.

Aug. 18, 2022: Falcon removes Nechako Lakes MLA and former cabinet minister John Rustad from the BC Liberal caucus over tweets about climate change. Rustad sits as an Independent in the legislature.

Sept. 10, 2022: Elenore Sturko, a former RCMP sergeant considered by some to be a star candidate under Falcon’s BC Liberals, wins the Surrey South byelection with 52 per cent of the votes cast.

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Oct. 19, 2022: Climate activist Anjali Appadurai is disqualified from the B.C. New Democratic Party leadership race, leaving attorney general and Vancouver-Point Grey MLA David Eby as the lone candidate. Eby was acclaimed as leader days later.

Nov. 18, 2022: Eby is sworn in as B.C.’s premier.

March 31, 2023: Rustad is acclaimed as leader of the B.C. Conservatives, shortly after joining the party and becoming its only representative in the provincial legislature.

April 12, 2023: The BC Liberals under Falcon rebrand to BC United.

June 24, 2023: The NDP wins both the Langford-Juan de Fuca and Vancouver-Mount Pleasant byelections by more than half of the votes cast. The B.C. Conservative candidate in Langford-Juan de Fuca came in second, drawing more than twice the amount of votes as his BC United rival.

Sept. 13, 2023: Abbotsford South MLA Bruce Banman defects from the BC United caucus, joining Rustad and the Conservatives. The move gives the B.C. Conservatives two seats and official party status.

May 31, 2024: BC United caucus chair and Cariboo-Chilcotin MLA Lorne Doerkson crosses the floor and joins Rustad’s Conservatives.

June 3, 2024: Sturko also defects from BC United to join the B.C. Conservatives, saying “we can only ignore the polls for so long.”

July 30, 2024: Former cabinet minister and Richmond North Centre MLA Teresa Wat also leaves BC United for the Conservatives, becoming the fourth sitting United MLA to defect ahead of the fall election.

Aug. 28, 2024: Falcon suspends the BC United election campaign, throwing his support behind the B.C. Conservatives led by Rustad. Falcon says the best thing for the future of the province is to defeat the NDP, but that can’t be done when the centre-right vote is split.

Sept. 3, 2023: Rustad welcomes three BC United members of the legislature to the Conservative fold, Ian Paton, Peter Milobar and Trevor Halford. Other candidates, including Shirley Bond and Todd Stone end their campaigns.

Sept. 16, 2023: Karin Kirkpatrick, a BC United candidate who had already said she wouldn’t run again in the next election, reversed her decision, saying she’ll run as an Independent. She’s joined by four other BC United MLAs to run as Independents, including Mike Bernier, Dan Davies, Coralee Oakes and Tom Shypitka.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 21, 2024.

The Canadian Press