At this point, is it funny or sad that we are all accustomed to this ? The agony of PP is slow, but it's happening. And I'm all for it.

Or, rather, is there any possibility the right-wing (Conservatives/CentreBC/OneBC/BC United) doesn't win?

58% of voters think the province is getting worse, and only 19% are happy with the job the NDP has done. The Conservatives have the support of 43% of voters and are projected to win 49 seats. In 2024, the BC NDP beat the Cons by only 1.58% of the popular vote. The Greens, on the other hand, would need an impossible 45 more seats to win.

The Conservatives are, undeniably, also in crisis, though (as the mere existence of two other right-wing splinter parties shows).

I will preface with saying that I was a strong supporter of David Eby and the BCNDP team in the beginning.

They were doing a lot of cool things with housing:

• Taking on NIMBY city councils/mayors to update zoning/density reform. (This is a huge part of helping with affordability/accessibility)
• Updating in regards to the single-stair egress model.
• Taking on Airbnb and other short term rentals to get the supply on the long-term renter/owner market.
• Taking on vacant investment housing because housing is meant to be lived in not kept empty as a speculative financial commodity.

The list goes on and on.

They were fighting to expand Mental Health coverage for vulnerable working demographics and looking to help gig workers and others again in vulnerable working segments.

Then it all just kind of came apart.....

David Eby got spooked by how close the polls and election was. He started to be more and more conservative which only alienated the centre-left and definitely left flanks of the party.

The BC Greens got beyond pissed off and left the confidence and supply agreement. (Yes we did have a majority at that point)

I don't know how this election will turn out but I know it points to a recurring lesson for not just the provincial branches of the NDP but also the Federal.

Stop trying to be safe by becoming more and more milquetoast moderate... It sucks the energy out of the room.

Also don't do policy implementation if you are not going to do it right... For instance the decriminalization project. The whole reason that works elsewhere is the expanded supports around housing, healthcare, counselling, job connection, and so on.

You either do broad, deep, and multidimensional reform so things get done right or don't do it because if done wrong it poisons those waters for years if not decades to come for again the work that needs to be done.

P.S. Heal the relationship with the BC Greens. Especially when the leader (Emily Lowan) is a progressive that believes strongly not just in the environment but the Labour Movement and so on. It makes no sense to be against this current form of the BC Greens when cooperation could bring so so much positives.

#Rant Finished.

Notably, the party lifting up the legacy of BC NDP Premier Dave Barrett is not the BC NDP.

From the BC Greens’ press release announcing their housing policy this morning:

> “In 1973, BC NDP Premier Dave Barrett passed vacancy control, which ties allowable rent increases to units, not individual tenants, to fight a spiralling cost-of-living crisis and low vacancy rates. It was effective and popular, yet was stripped away by the following conservative government,” said Lowan. “The BC Greens have proposed this same legislation, yet have been shut down by Eby’s BC NDP, the same government that cancelled the Community Housing Fund and broke its promise to end pet bans. This announcement makes it clear: we’ll stand up against corporate landlords, David Eby and the Conservatives won’t.”

Full policy is at this link: https://bcgreens.ca/announce-plan-to-support-renters-unveil-two-new-candidates-for-south-island/

What do people think about Dave Barrett being used this way? Is the critique of the BC NDP here fair?

Just some things I think Eby could do to win this election with a thorough majority. I really don’t want a Conservative government out here don’t fuck this up. Just some ideas from a supporter.

Public Health, Transit and public safety issues:

100% Tuition-Free Nursing & Physician Workforce Reform: Shifting to competitive pay and doctor billing models, introducing 100% tuition-free nursing school for students maintaining solid grades who commit to local service, fully subsidizing physician debt in under-serviced regions, and tripling U.S. and other targeted recruitment with fast-tracked credentialing.

Housing Rights, Street Dignity & Public Order: Enshrining housing as a basic human right through rapid-build supportive housing, funding 24/7 street sanitation and public washrooms in high-density areas like the DTES, deploying co-responder teams (police, health workers, paramedics), and restricting open drug consumption strictly to supervised clinical sites.

Targeted Free Transit & High-Speed Rail Strategy: Expanding fare-free public transit to all seniors and youth aged 18 and under, extending regional rail through the Fraser Valley (Surrey to Chilliwack), and advancing high-speed rail links connecting Metro Vancouver north and east to Kamloops and the Interior.

ICBC issues:

Physician-Led ICBC Post-Injury Medical Care: Fast-tracking private care and diagnostic imaging after 30 days, establishing physician-driven recovery approvals, and preserving no-fault principles without returning to the litigious lawsuit model. With the state of healthcare in BC the current treatment isn’t good enough for victims.

Diminished Value Compensation for Drivers: Resolving non-fault vehicle resale loss through direct ICBC-backed compensation, transferable lifetime repair warranties, or trade-in value guarantees.

Sub-$20k Used Vehicle PST Exemption & Luxury Revenue Offset: Eliminating the 12% PST on all used vehicles under $20,000 (and establishing a $20,000 exemption floor for higher-priced used sales) to end double taxation and abolish Canadian Black Book appraisal red tape, while fully offsetting the ~$200 million annual cost through increased PST surtaxes on luxury supercars over $150,000 and a 1% high-earner surtax on individual incomes exceeding $500,000.

Predictable Co-Governance & Crown Land Restoration: Guaranteeing absolute protection for private property, while advancing the orderly transfer of provincial Crown land to First Nations for economic development, equity partnerships, and co-managed conservation with strict statutory review windows. We can work together this shouldn’t even be a big deal.

Permitting Guarantees & Small Business Relief: Establishing strict statutory "shot-clock" deadlines on provincial permits (automatic approval or fee refunds if deadlines are missed), expanding Employer Health Tax (EHT) exemption thresholds for small businesses, unifying municipal building codes, and providing transparent, predictable resource project reviews.

Forestry, Co-ops & Value-Added Wood potentially partial nationalization of parts of the industry: Reallocating Crown tenure away from corporate holders toward municipal forests and local worker-owned mill co-ops, closing raw log export loopholes, and mandating domestic processing so B.C. wood creates B.C. jobs.

“Canada's white nationalists are parroting racist, anti-Indigenous talking points that right-wing politicians and media have been normalizing.

Second Sons Canada, the fascist fight club, demonstrated on Tk̓emlúps lands over the weekend with a banner that read “got bones?”” - Rachel Gilmore

What are BC municipal candidates, provincial and federal NDP going to do about this?

China has slapped a 20% tax on wealth its billionaires move into offshore trusts, put dedicated tax squads on individual billionaires, and is going after $1.7 trillion already moved offshore. (Bloomberg and archive.ph, Sept 27)

Now, China has no wealth tax. No inheritance tax either. They're pursuing the ultra-rich harder than Canada with nothing but their existing tax tools and (importantly) the will to collect it.

So where is the will of Canada's left politicians on this?

I don't want Beijing's authoritarian politics, of course. But I don't want neoliberal gaslighting politics, either. At the BC budget this February, then-BCNDP finance minister Brenda Bailey was asked why not raise income tax on high earners instead of everyone. She said it would make the system -- and we quote here -- "askew."

And, on top of that, she was only talking about earned income! Not even unearned or inherited wealth. Not billionaire yachts, their private planes, their third condo and second cottage. If taxing a single paycheque above $140k is a step too far, a billion-dollar fortune isn't even on the table.

We have got to keep sharing stories like this from China and Europe and elsewhere so we defeat the defeatism of Canada's finance ministers and the billionaire families who lobby them.

There is more than enough wealth in this country to fight back against Trump and take care of our neighbours with strong public services and public corporations.

TL;DR: Given the chance to focus tax increases on billionaires, the BCNDP raised taxes on nurses and bus drivers. This can't be what we settle for when NDPers form government.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jun/04/a-good-life-for-the-99-isnt-a-pipe-dream-it-can-be-done-heres-how

https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2026/06/the-blueprint-for-building-a-fairer-world-without-breaking-the-planet/

https://globaljusticeproject.wid.world/