Do B.C. election results mean U.S.-style 'entrenched tribalism' is here to stay?

As British Columbians face an uncertain week ahead until Elections BC finalizes the results of the nail-biter race, the results are already being scrutinized and analyzed to determine what they’re saying about the mood of the electorate and the future of politics in the province. 

After a night with see-sawing election results, Elections BC has now finished the initial vote count and the results remain nearly tied, with the NDP leading with 46 seats, suggesting David Eby's return as premier of a minority government – for now.

In a subdued speech late Saturday, Eby said that while he disagrees with the B.C. Conservative leader on many things, he “will absolutely acknowledge that (John Rustad) spoke to the frustrations of a lot of British Columbians.”

For his part, John Rustad vowed to unseat the NDP as soon as possible and send voters back to the polls to secure a mandate for his party. 

The verbal sparring between the two leaders included their different stances on policy positions, but was often marked by personal attacks – Rustad calling Eby a communist and a radical, Eby firing back by calling Rustad a conspiracist and generally a weird guy – that only intensified during the campaign.

The razor-thin margin for the NDP suggests British Columbians were fed up with the status quo, and sceptical Rustad was ready to govern.

“We have a deeply divided British Columbia, we have a deeply divided society and the results are reflective of that,” said veteran political strategist, Kareem Allam. “We are now seeing that these trends that we’re seeing in American politics are now firmly entrenched here.”

It’s not unusual for campaigns to dig up dirt on each others’ candidates, but this year was exceptional: one of Rustad’s candidates apologized for past racist comments, while another was nowhere to be found after initially calling herself a doctor, even though she studied at a “quantum university.” 

Overall, Allam says many groups felt offended or left out of the discourse, which is promoting “entrenched tribalism going forward,” posing a risk to our democracy as voters increasingly vilify one side or another and essentially pick a political team to support.

While Eby pledged to be a unifier in his chagrined speech, it’s unclear how he plans to do that, leading Allam to paint a grim picture of U.S.-style methods encroaching on B.C. politics.

“The days of debating nuanced policy campaigns is over,” he predicted. “We are now going to be locked into a permanent campaign and it will never stop: the electioneering will never stop, the negative ads will never stop.”