As the first week of the B.C. election campaign winds down, two polls point toward Conservative momentum as the two major party leaders Thursday traded political stings, with B.C. NDP Leader David Eby suffering a wasp attack.
Eby was delivering remarks in Chilliwack on Thursday while on the election campaign trail when the insect interrupted him, prompting him to swat at his neck and identify it as a “bug.”
But seconds later he was apparently stung, scrunching up his face in a grimace as he told reporters it was a bee that had made its way down his collar.
In fact, it was a yellowjacket that Eby eventually flung to the ground where it was later stepped on by a member of his staff.
The interruption was reminiscent of the moment in 2022 when Ontario Premier Doug Ford accidentally swallowed a bee during a news conference.
“The bee is not gonna make it,” he said.
Eby later quipped on social media platform X that “with three hungry kids at home, this bug will not go to waste.”
That was a reference to a speech by B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad in May last year in which he expressed concern about a cricket factory in Ontario, saying children should not be expected “to eat bugs.”
The barbs came as the polling firm Leger reported the Conservative Party of B.C. "continues to build" momentum in jumping ahead of the B.C. NDP with 45 per cent support among decided voters, up three points from its previous poll and two points ahead of the NDP, which dropped a point. The B.C. Greens, meanwhile, under Leader Sonia Furstenau sit "in a distant third place" with 10 per cent, down one point.
Leger published its poll Wednesday afternoon, hours after Angus Reid released a poll that shows 45 per cent of decided and leaning voters would support the provincial New Democrats while 44 per cent would support the Conservatives. Each party was up one point from Angus Rid's previous poll. The Greens gathered 10 per cent.
Eby, who was campaigning in Chilliwack Thursday morning, said many polls will appear between now and the election.
"The focus for us continues to be on the priorities of British Columbians," he said, adding these include getting access to a family doctor and helping out with affordability.
"The Conservatives will also speak out issues that they care about: that climate change is a hoax, that COVID was a hoax and that kids are being forced to eat bugs. There are different election strategies, we will see how they turn out."
Rustad's cricket factory remarks were first referenced yesterday and came as part of a larger speech from May in which he questioned various policies designed to fight climate change, while praising truckers as part of the 2022 Freedom Convoy protest.
"This plant produces 40,000 tons of bug protein for human and animal consumption," Rustad said at the time. "We should not expect our kids to be eating bugs. We should not be expecting our kids to not be able to afford a reasonable quality of life."
Today, Rustad also cautioned against reading too much into the polls.
"We are in the middle of a campaign and campaigns matter," he said. "Obviously, the momentum that we have been building really for the last year and a half continues to build and that is very encouraging, but there is a tremendous amount of work that needs to be done between now and election day and we are not going to be letting up."
When asked about the "bugs" comment, Rustad said he made that comment as part of a broader critique of agricultural policy.
"Some countries like that (insects as a source of protein), some people may even like that — that's fine," he said. "Personally, I like my meat to come the old way, meaning we should make sure that we support domestication (of animals) in our food chain."
On social media, he accused New Democrats of being "desperate to keep talking about COVID and bugs" and wanting an "unserious election" because "they have failed B.C. families on everything that matters."
Each poll offers differing regional perspectives.
Leger shows the Conservatives with a small lead in Metro Vancouver and a larger lead in areas outside of Metro Vancouver and Vancouver Island.
Angus Reid shows the B.C. NDP leading by 24 points in Metro Vancouver and five points in Surrey/Richmond. Conservatives, meanwhile, are leading by 14 points in the Fraser Valley and eight points in communities such as Maple Ridge, the Coquitlams and Pitt Meadows.
"With voters in B.C.'s North and Interior comfortably changing their loyalties from B.C. United to the B.C. Conservatives, the electoral map is unlikely to change much in those parts of the province," Angus Reid suggests, as the Conservatives lead by 23 per cent in B.C.'s Interior. "The same cannot necessarily be said in and around Metro Vancouver."
"The B.C. Conservatives appear not only to have picked up whatever was left of the B.C. United vote, but have eaten into the Green vote as well, putting the pressure on the NDP," it continues.
The polls appear as leaders prepare for a televised debate scheduled Oct. 8. According to Leger, as of Sept. 23, Eby continues to have the highest personal approval rating (45 per cent) ahead of Rustad (37 per cent) and Furstenau (34 per cent). Angus Reid shows similar figures with Eby at 45 per cent, Rustad at 34 per cent and Furstenau at 33 per cent.
When it comes to the question of who would make the best premier, Eby leads Rustad by 11 points in the Leger poll and eight points in the Angus Reid poll. It also says 44 per cent of British Columbians find Rustad holding views that are “too extreme” for him to be premier. Thirty-four per cent disagree with this statement.
On the other side, more than half of British Columbians surveyed by Leger -- 54 per cent -- see the province heading in the wrong direction with 38 per cent seeing B.C. heading in the right direction.
The Angus Reid also suggests a growing belief among British Columbians that neither party can fix its problems. Voters favour the B.C. NDP on health care and emergency preparedness, while the Conservatives have advantages on opioid and addiction crisis.
"That said, no party receives even 40 per cent on any of these measures, suggesting that residents are divided about who should be given the keys. On housing costs and the overall quality of life there is little difference between the BC NDP, the Conservative Party, and the feeling that none of the parties will make much difference."
— with a file from CP
