I know it is very very early but I thought it may be fun to throw some names around for the next leader of the BCNDP :)

My opinion:

1. Bowinn Ma

2. Gord Johns

3. Nathan Cullen

4. Tanille Johnston

(The above is not in any kind of order)

All of the above are extremely likeable, work horses, and most of all with climate/environmental and other focuses that could win back some of the disillusioned voters in the next cycle - Especially if the BC Conservatives destroy Old-Growth Forests and other natural wonders of the province that many of us are extremely worried about.

Last night, the people of Ashfield--Colborne--Wawanosh elected 5 councillors, including former NDP Leadership Candidate, Tony McQuail.

McQuail ran on a platform of three priorities: 1. returning to having council meetings in the evenings, 2. examining the value of returning to a ward system. 3. examining proposals for development and growth to ensure they support values of rural communities and enhance the ecological health of the lands and waters.

Notably, he chose to not have election signs during this election, and instead donated the savings of not having to buy signs to the United Way.

Here's an article that goes over his platform.

It's a great day to be a Tonyhead.

UPDATE: It has just occurred to me that Tony is not the only member of the McQuail family to win an election last night, his daughter, Rachel McQuail has been elected as a school trustee in the Waterloo Region District School Board.

https://www.biv.com/news/commentary/rob-shaw-bc-ndp-prepares-to-select-interim-leader-after-election-defeat-12944873

“There is some good in this world Mr.Frodo, and it’s worth fighting for!”

Similar to her father, Tony, who's first political office was as a school trustee in Huron County. Rachel ran on a platform advocating for increased funding, engaging with families and their needs, and listing to educators lived experiences.

Similar to Tony, she ran a minimal campaign, her website lists off all her campaign expenses and the amount of contributions. She spent a total of $523.94 during the campaign. She ran with a slate of five for the four Kitchener trustee seats up for grabs, and three of them have been elected.

Last night was a great night for the McQuails.

I knew as soon as Tory said he wouldn't run for re-election, it was game over. Bradford destroyed any momentum he had when he talked about selling off Toronto's drinking water, a crazy political blunder.

We weren’t kidding about what not turning out to vote would result in

​

I think it tells a more complete story when you include the people that didn't vote.

Stats from Wikipedia which sourced from ElectionsBC.

“Did British Columbia just experience a massive right-wing populist wave? If you only looked at the seat map on Sunday morning, you might think so.

Federal Conservatives are calling it a “strong majority mandate,” and Donald Trump even shared an article celebrating the outcome. But when you look at the actual data from Elections BC, that narrative falls apart.

Rather than this being a blue wave, it was a devastating progressive turnout collapse sparked by an unforced, cynical snap election gamble that backfired.

In this video, I also get into: Why you can’t blame this on Green Party "vote splitting"
1. How David Eby's centrist drift and broken promises alienated his own base.
2. The public service gutting within Doerkson’s platform
3. The Conservatives plan to repeal DRIPA, triple LNG, and axe CleanBC…:(.
4. Why the progressive supermajority in Vancouver municipal council just 7 days earlier proves the left is ALIVE AND WELL.”
- Hassan Pirbhai

There are 7 new city councillors; 6/7 of the new councillors are on the centre-left to left. In 3 of those wards, they are to the left of the previous city councillor.

The new councillor is to the left of the previous councillor

University Rosedale - Layton is to the left of Saxe

Beaches East York - NES is to the left of Bradford

York South Weston - Padovani is to the left of Nunziata

The new and previous councillors are about the same on the political spectrum

Toronto Centre - Moise and Curran are both progressives

Toronto Danforth - Fletcher and Ehrhardt are both progressives

Parkdale High Park - Perks and McNally are both progressives

The new councillor is to the right of the previous councillor

Scarborough North - Shaun Chen is a centrist

The only ward that shifted right was Scarborough North, where we lost progressive champion Jamaal Myers. However, for some context, Scarborough North has never been a progressive riding; Myers only won it last time because the incumbent councillor passed away mid-election and all of her advance votes were thrown out. Also, Chen has been an MP there for over 10 years.
Aside from Scarborough North, though, I'd say this was a big success.

We need a socialist who can campaign in hope, not another technocrat who will campaign on contrived focus-grouped messaging.

Feel free to discuss, celebrate, and/or commiserate about your Ontario city election here tonight!

• Toronto results
• Ottawa results
• Mississauga results
• Brampton results
• Hamilton results
• London results
• Markham results
• Vaughan results
• Kitchener results
• Windsor results
• Richmond Hill results
• Oakville results
• Burlington results
• Greater Sudbury results
• Oshawa results
• Barrie results
• St. Catharines results
• Guelph results
• Whitby results
• Cambridge results

https://studentvote.ca/bc/results/

I wanted to wait a few days after the election before posting this.

The first thing is to acknowledge that there is most likely some very tough times ahead for vulnerable people, the environment, public workers, and so on. It is going to be very important that grassroots organizing/solidarity takes place as best as is possible to help on these many fronts.

One of the best things about being a progressive/leftist is not being in a reactionary/regressive cult. We can be highly critical to broaden, deepen, and sharpen understandings in an on-going and evolving process. We can also in good-faith, respectfully, and substantively celebrate positives that did happen.

David Eby and the BCNDP team did some good with housing, vulnerable working demographics, mental health, and so on. In particular with housing and workers rights we should have doubled and tripled down.

When it comes to the toxic drug supply that is causing so much pain and destruction in our communities we should have done a more analytical & holistic set of reforms. Decriminalization works when coupled with the needed supports: Treatment, Housing, Counselling, Job Placement, and so on. You can't just leave people to "figure it out"

*This is an important thing to be aware of in all policy areas. You either do it correct/substantively or not at all because if you do it wrong it can poison the waters for quite some time.\*

We dropped the ball big time on Old-Growth Forests and some other areas of climate/environmental action.

We alienated some of the Unions that are closely aligned with the party. (Unions, Federation of Labours, Labour Councils, and so on are our life blood.)

This is a time to really sit with our successes, failures, and be honest/transparent/accountable.

We need to come back with a profound & inspiring message. Policies that actually get accomplished and not just talked about.

We have a lot of outreach and genuine relationship building that needs to take place.

It's time for the real work to begin. Period.