Premier David Eby sailed through his latest leadership review vote with 82.3 per cent of NDP convention delegates in support.
The vote was held at the 2025 NDP convention in Victoria on Saturday, Nov. 15. Delegates supported Eby’s leadership with a vote of 609 to 131. A result below 50 per cent triggers a leadership race.
The convention continues through the weekend, with elections for the party’s executive scheduled for Sunday.
Eby’s speech to convention delegates preceding the vote laid out his vision to make the province the “economic engine” of Canada, to get “big things done” and to “build it together.”
This included strong language supporting the labour movement, and followed a day of unions flexing their influence in convention debates.
Dissenting voices from those seeking more environmental protection were generally left on the losing side of debates, as the NDP’s focus on prioritizing the economy was clear in convention resolutions.
Despite some delegates calling the North Coast Transmission Line a “subsidy” for natural gas fracking operations, a resolution to support it still passed.
“I welcome the debate, I welcome the discussion,” Eby said. “It’s important to make sure we are addressing climate change and carbon pollution.”
But overall, Eby received an enthusiastic reception and delegates were, for the most part, aligned with the government’s agenda.
A report from the treasurer also painted a rosy picture of the party’s finances, with debt paid off and the NDP coffers “election ready,” should the government fall. The NDP only holds a one-vote majority in the legislature, so there is always a chance it will not survive to the next scheduled election in 2028.
B.C. Conservative MLA Trevor Halford, who was at the convention as an observer, said the “good vibes” presented in the convention don’t match the lack of progress by the NDP on public safety, healthcare and other issues.
“The problem is that when you step out of this convention, when you step onto the streets, whether it’s Victoria, Surrey, Prince George or Vancouver, you can see very clearly that nothing has gotten better,” he said. “In fact, things have gotten considerably worse.”
Key resolutions include a call to build ferries in B.C.
Roughly half of the total resolutions were heard on Saturday, with the others scheduled for Sunday.
While these are not binding on the government, they do signal the priorities of the party rank-and-file, and at times the government itself, when backed by a minister or the premier.
Most seemed to align with NDP caucus priorities, but a few showed the government at odds with delegates.
This was the case with the first resolution of the day, which calls for the B.C. government to build ferries in Canada and prioritize B.C. shipyards. It passed with overwhelming support.
The resolution also includes a few specific asks, including that the province call on the federal government to reinstitute a 25-per-cent duty on 100-per-cent foreign-made ships.
This resolution comes in response to the decision by BC Ferries to order four large new ships from a Chinese state-owned shipyard. When this was announced earlier this year, the Crown corporation justified its decision based on cost and timelines.
Eby has defended the decision, saying that he is unhappy to see the ships will be built in China, but that no Canadian companies bid on the contract, and that he did not want further delays to getting badly needed new ferries.
Federal NDP leadership candidate Rob Ashton, currently the president of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada, spoke vociferously in favour of the resolution.
Ashton urged delegates to “send a message” to the B.C. and federal governments that “we demand better and we demand Canadian shipbuilding in this province and across this country.”
Ashton said after the vote that this resolution is not meant to be a rebuke against the premier — he blamed BC Ferries CEO Nicolas Jimenez — but he does urge the B.C. government to change course.
“If there is an ability to have those ferries built here, they should do that,” Ashton said.
A resolution backing the North Coast Transmission Line project also exposed some division within the party after it passed with far less than unanimous support. The electrical line would bring electricity across northern B.C. to power major resource projects, and is a major priority for Eby’s government.
Eby spoke in support of a resolution that would encourage the B.C. government to take public equity stakes in major projects, arguing taxpayers should benefit from projects that receive public money.
Details are still sketchy on what projects this would include, but the resolution still passed with near-unanimous support.
After Eby’s speech, a resolution urging the NDP to expand ICBC beyond automobile insurance to other areas, including home and renters’ insurance, passed with strong support.