BC War Room - Ep. 1: How Did We Get Here?

BC War Room, a new weekday podcast from Sitka Media, opened its first episode with NDP strategist Michael Gardiner and Conservative strategist Azim Jiwani reviewing the first week of the British Columbia election campaign.

Both hosts said the week was rough for Premier David Eby, who called the election shortly after the resignation of NDP party executive Carolyn Findlay. Jiwani called the election call "a mistake, in my opinion, for the NDP," arguing Eby's original plan had been built around Findlay staying on. Gardiner countered that Eby had reasons to go early, including a one- or two-seat majority and a cabinet minister recovering from cancer surgery, but said the campaign did not frame that case well.

The two disagreed sharply on the Conservatives and the deficit. Gardiner said Lauren Dirksen's "no new taxes" pledge came with "the understood goal of the conservatives to bring the deficit down dramatically." Jiwani rejected that, saying "nobody, nobody said anything about bringing the deficit down dramatically."

For the issue of the day, the pair took on the "ballot box question," the idea each party wants voters holding when they mark a ballot. Gardiner defined the term, citing 1996's "who's on your side," and said the NDP's question, "who will best stand up to Donald Trump," partly backfired.

Jiwani was harsher, calling it "too cute by half" and said it "backfired badly," arguing Conservatives can frame the question as "who would you rather have a beer with."

The hosts split on Center BC too. Gardiner said the party could cut into the NDP vote rather than the Conservative vote. Jiwani said he had seen no data for that, and that One BC is the clearer threat to conservative votes.

Jiwani presented the show's trend line, built with Public Opinion Canada Research, showing the Conservatives up 11.5 points at the end of the first week.

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