CentreBC

They jumped very high, very quickly at the end there.

32 candidates from Centre BC, 32 from One BC, 92 candidates from the NDP, which is worth pausing and just mentioning here because that is not a full slate from the party that called the snap election, knew it was coming, planned it.

The one riding that's missed, Peace River North, where the incumbent Jordan Keeley is currently facing a charge of sexual assault.

Now, he does have a Conservative candidate against him in a riding that the NDP, it was a long shot for them to win anyways.

Yeah.

But still an impressive showing for the Greens, who did, I mean, continue to impress me in this campaign.

Centre BC and One BC, it's so few candidates are really just playing kind of spoiler split votes in some key ridings right now.

And the Conservatives and the NDP with their almost full slates battling it out everywhere else.

We've got lots of news today, October fifth.

I'm gonna get to the BC election in a second, but let's start in Alberta.

Breaking news this morning, Cenovus Energy has agreed to buy Athabasca Oil Corporation for five point seven billion dollars, cash and shares.

Athabasca shareholders can take twelve dollars cash a share or zero point two six four of a Cenovus share, and the closing is set for December.

Uh, yeah, I can't think of a more polite term.

Uh, the Greens have seventy-three candidates.

Uh, Center BC ended up with thirty-five, and One BC with thirty-three.

Prediction time.

The Greens, surging with 73 candidates.

Centre BC with 35, and One BC with 33.

With the two major parties sort of deadlocked in the polls, if it remains that way, the election is going to be determined by vote splitting, and it really will be riding by riding.

Yeah, I would be really curious-

Leader of Centre BC Eleanor Sterko says technical difficulties meant three of its candidates aren't running.

It's really disappointing to know that so many of our candidates, and even candidates from other parties, actually struggled.

One BC leader Dallas Brodie says her party also faced technical glitches, and some candidates classified as unaffiliated are actually with her party.

Locally, no, I don't think so.

Um, yeah, I know, now Rosalyn Bird, uh, she went to Center BC and-

For a split second

... yeah.

I wonder, there must have been some, some work done to bring her back in, right? They obviously wanted her.

I, I, quite likely, but I think it's just a matter of looking at the situation.

If she stayed with Center BC here in this riding, chances are she would not get elected, a conservative would.

Yeah.

So of decided voters.

38% NDP, 38% Conservative, 13% Green, 5% 1BC, 4% Centre BC, 2% Other.

And then just to highlight a few things here, NDP voters slightly more certain to vote, 40% to, of those certain to vote, sorry, I should put it that way, of those certain to vote, there's a bit of an NDP edge, 40 to 38 on that.

Metro Vancouver, 40 NDP, 39 Conservative.

If you look at those

smaller parties, Mike, based on your experience, it feels to me like the Greens are pretty much where...

They have been historically, but we have two parties we didn't have there last time, right? We have the 1BC and Centre BC.

Are those small numbers still enough to affect some races?

I've talked to somewhere between 90 and 100 people.

Centre BC says only a fraction have had their nominations formally accepted, but the party is unlikely to field a full slate.

1BC in a similar position.

And the Greens say they have a stronger field of candidates than the official numbers currently show.

The NDP and Conservatives focused on winning enough ridings to form government.

while the three smaller parties looking to turn their support into seats.

The Greens could compete for votes in some ridings where the NDP is strong, Centre BC and 1BC looking to draw support away from the Conservatives.

And in a first-past-the-post system, even a relatively small shift in votes can matter in a close race.

Several polls also point to disapproval of Premier Eby's decision to call an election so soon.

The Greens and smaller parties like 1BC and CentreBC are currently projected to receive a much lower share of the vote.

Premier David Eby has announced a plan to address rising grocery costs.

During a campaign stop in Kuala Lumpur on Friday, Eby stated that an NDP government would introduce what he's calling price guards for essential food items like milk, eggs, cheese, and poultry.