Among decided and leaning voters, the BC Conservatives lead the BC NDP by just under 8 points, 44.7% to 37.2% with the Green at 11.2%, One BC at 5.7% and Centre BC Party at 1.1% rounding out the field.
Looks like malpractice.
Eby and the NDP have been in power long enough, and various recent trends lines have been negative enough, that people want a change. Even with its dysfunction, the conservatives are the most viable alternative -- the greens only managed to field like 77 out of 93 riding candidates. NDP and Con are at like 92 and 93? You can't even vote green in various areas of the lower mainland of vancouver, the most populous area of the province, theoretically overflowing with potential candidates, and which is far more left-leaning than areas like the conservative interior/north.
Plus, intentionally calling an election during a time of negative trends, just because your opponents are in disarray and you think you can win? It's like a couple people want to have a foot race, with the NDP choosing when the race starts -- and they intentionally wait until their opponents are off in the bathroom, to fire the starting pistol. That's a really shit look for a leader, even if they 'likely' will win the race, it's not the sort of action that inspires people to 'follow' in general; it's pretty clearly immoral, even if politically expedient. I've heard more than a few people comment on it. We'll see how it pans out for eby on election night, but it's definitely the sort of behaviour people don't generally seem to want to condone/support.