Conservatives pulling votes away from Greens during first week of B.C. election campaining: poll

The latest numbers suggest the upcoming provincial election is coming down to the wire.

New data from the Angus Reid Institute has found a “statistical tie” between the BC NDP and the BC Conservatives with 45 per cent and 44 per cent of those surveyed set to vote for those parties, respectively.

The Institute surveyed 1,215 British Columbians between Sept. 20 and 22.

While Angus Reid says the NDP’s portion of the polls has remained relatively consistent between 2020 and 2024, “the difference this time around is that their competition has cauterized a more significant portion of the vote.”

Angus Reid says the Conservatives have picked up 30 per cent of 2020 BC Green Party voters, bolstering its numbers from those who defected from the now defunct BC United party. The Institute says the NDP has picked up just over 20 per cent of Green votes from the last election.

“On core issues, the NDP are currently seen as better to handle health care (+12 over BCC) while the BC Conservatives are trusted more with economic growth (+10) and neighbourhood safety (+14). On housing affordability, British Columbians give neither the NDP nor the Conservatives an edge,” Angus Reid shared Wednesday.

The Institute believes momentum in the coming weeks, in the lead-up to the Oct. 19 election, will be key.

“Leaders David Eby and John Rustad have both generated more negative than positive impressions from British Columbians in recent weeks, while the same is true, to a smaller extent, of the lesser-known Green Party leader Sonia Furstenau,” it said.

From those surveyed, 10 per cent of people are set to vote for the Greens, Angus Reid found.

The pollsters also found that 50 per cent of those surveyed believe “John Rustad hold views that are ‘too extreme’ for him to be premier,” with 34 per cent disagreeing with that statement.

“British Columbians appear to support the BC NDP carbon tax proposal more than the BC Conservative alternative. Seven-in-10 (70%) say they support removing the consumer carbon tax but keeping the tax on industry emitters, while 47 per cent say they are supportive of eliminating the tax completely,” Angus Reid found.

Meanwhile, the pollsters found that almost 20 per cent of voters are still “undecided” when it comes to their voter intention.