OPINION: B.C. leaders are rizzing up Surrey \u2013 but will they still love us tomorrow?<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Published 9:00 am Monday, October 12, 2026<\/p>\n
Dear Lorne and Dave,<\/p>\n
We\u2019re dispensing with \u201cMr. Doerkson\u201d and \u201cMr. Eby\u201d right up front, because with number of times we\u2019ve seen you lately, surely we\u2019re on a first-name basis by now.<\/p>\n
This provincial election campaign has sure made us popular with both of your gangs, a.k.a. the Conservative Party of BC and the BC NDP.<\/p>\n
Not gonna lie, it\u2019s a little overwhelming to feel like the hard-to-get popular girl. Everyone wants to take us to prom, and everyone covets our considerable assets. We can\u2019t help being a 10 \u2013 electoral seats, that is. They\u2019re just so damn tempting, and you know you want to grab \u2018em. <\/p>\n
We can see it in your eyes. And your speeches. And your repeated return trips to our friendly neighbourhood shops and parks to talk about all the things we want to hear, like how we should pay less tax and how we need to fix health care and how we all need to unite against the existential threat that is Donald Trump and the U.S. tariff war.<\/p>\n
We see you, Lorne, calculating the chances of a blue wave that starts at the southern bank of the Fraser River and engulfs us come Election Night.<\/p>\n
And we\u2019ve gotta admit, it\u2019s not out of the bounds of possibility. But nothing\u2019s a lock quite yet, unless you count Surrey-White Rock, where Trevor remains the most reliable of wingmen. The other nine? We\u2019re still deciding.<\/p>\n
We see you, too, Dave; we can tell you\u2019re not letting it go without a fight. And maaaaaaybe we won\u2019t turn you down flat \u2013 yet. <\/p>\n
Neither of you should take us for granted, is what we\u2019re saying.<\/p>\n
Remember that fight Garry and Honveer got into over us last prom night in Guildford<\/a>? Yeah, that\u2019s probably gonna happen again, except now Garry\u2019s facing down other-Garry, and other-Garry also has name recognition in his favour<\/a>.<\/p>\n Nothing\u2019s really a whole lot more certain in any of the other eight ridings.<\/p>\n Mind you, while you two are lining up your Garrys and other assorted wingpersons, don\u2019t flatter yourselves that you\u2019re the only partners we\u2019ve got at this dance.<\/p>\n Take Elenore. She was a strong bet when she wore blue, but now she\u2019s started her own red-hued posse and moved back to Surrey South<\/a>. She could draw enough votes from either or both of you to take the win there, though Megan\u2019s gonna swing hard for Lorne<\/a>. And over in Serpentine River, Elenore\u2019s got Judy in her posse and folks already know Judy, so never say never there either.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s the thing, Lorne and Dave: We don\u2019t want to go home with either one of you if you can\u2019t promise that you\u2019ll treat us better.<\/p>\n Like for real.<\/p>\n We\u2019ve been left behind for so long, by so many leaders of so many political stripes, that we don\u2019t even know where to start.<\/p>\n But given we have almost the same population as Vancouver and they get more of just about everything than we do, don\u2019t blame us for feeling slighted.<\/p>\n