B.C. Conservatives say Eby will 'regret' calling early provincial election

Election call expected as B.C. premier to speak this afternoon

Why David Eby is considering a snap election

September 16|

Duration

2:37

B.C. Premier David Eby isn’t ruling out a snap election, but why is this suddenly being discussed? And what impact could it have on local elections underway across the province? The CBC's Justin McElroy takes a closer look at how speculation could turn into reality.

B.C. Premier David Eby has announced a news conference in the provincial capital of Victoria at 12:15 p.m. PT on Tuesday. 

There, Eby is expected to announce that the lieutenant-governor has granted his request to dissolve the Legislative Assembly and call a snap election for October 24, sending British Columbians to the polls barely two years after the last provincial election. 

The NDP government is expected to call the election while local elections are underway across the province, and during a tumultuous time in B.C. politics.

On Sunday, the opposition B.C. Conservative Party changed leaders, as Kerry-Lynne Findlay resigned after various disputes and controversies that caused 14 MLAs to leave her party during her four months as leader. Later that day, two-term MLA Lorne Doerkson became the party's interim leader.

Two days before that, a dissident group of eight ex-Conservative MLAs led by Peter Milobar took over a small party with no electoral representation called CentreBC, and is trying to quickly organize itself while campaigning as a political middle ground between the NDP and Conservative Party. 

The other two parties in the legislature are the Greens led by Emily Lowan and OneBC led by Dallas Brodie. But Lowan has no seat in the legislature and Brodie faced significant internal dissent last year that saw her only other MLA leave the party. 

All of that political uncertainty likely factored into Eby's decision to consider an early election. Publicly, however, he has remained consistent over the past week, stating his sole focus is ensuring a stable legislature that can move efficiently during a trade war with the United States.

As of today, the NDP holds 47 of the 93 seats in the legislature, one above the majority threshold.