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Adam Pankratz: A warning from B.C. — don't pull an Eby

The NDP leader called an election two years early and it was a devastating political blunder for his party

A new word entered the political lexicon of British Columbia Saturday night: “to Eby.” Sadly for its namesake — outgoing premier David Eby — it is not an auspicious word. It means massive self-inflicted failure due to a colossal and hubristic miscalculation. Indeed, the scale and magnitude of Eby’s misreading of the B.C. electorate in calling his early snap election cannot be understated and it may well be the greatest political blunder in Canadian history. The resultant electoral rout will be studied and referenced for decades as a stunning backfire and cautionary tale of what can happen when a politician loses sight of the people and makes decisions for their own political benefit.  

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Broad and rich though the English language may be, few words adequately convey how bad this loss was for David Eby and the NDP. The B.C. Conservatives won 64 seats. The NDP limped in with 27 seats and the Greens took two. That’s a blowout. That’s a walloping. That’s a repudiation. That’s the voters of British Columbia roundly and unequivocally saying to David Eby and the NDP: “Get out.” It is a summary political execution and Eby tendered his resignation as premier and NDP leader his brief concession speech.

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