B.C. still waiting final election results

If the NDP wins, however, there will be a new ag minister

British Columbians still don’t know who won the election on Oct. 19.

As of Monday morning, David Eby and the NDP are leading or elected in 46 ridings, while the Conservatives and John Rustad are leading or elected in 45 ridings. The B.C. Greens secured two seats, though party leader Sonia Furstenau lost in Victoria-Beacon Hill.

In B.C., 47 seats are needed to form a majority government.

Multiple ridings are too close to call.

Two ridings – Juan de Fuca-Malahat, and Surrey City Centre for example, will have mandatory recounts because the candidates are separated by fewer than 100 votes.

And that recount is scheduled to take place from Oct. 26 to 28, Elections BC says.

If the NDP wins, there’s at least one certainty to go along with it.

B.C.’s ag community would have a new voice in the legislature in a new Eby cabinet.

That’s because Pam Alexis, the minister of agriculture and food at the time of the writ drop, lost her seat in Abbotsford-Mission.

Reann Gasper won the riding for the Conservatives, capturing 13,254 votes to Alexis’s 10,558, a difference of 2,696.

Other ministers lost their seats too.

• Rachna Singh, the minister of education and child care, lost to Mandeep Dhaliwal in Surrey North.
• In Langley-Willowbrook, Andrew Mercier, the minister of state for sustainable forestry innovation, lost his seat to Jody Toor.
• Dan Coulter, the minister of state for infrastructure and transit, lost in Chilliwack North to Heather Maahs.
• And Nathan Cullen, the minister of water, land and resource stewardship, lost to Sharon Hartwell in Bulkley Valley-Stikine.

Provincial election watchers don’t have to wait long to get their next dose of election night drama.

Voters in New Brunswick head to the polls on Oct. 21. And people in Saskatchewan vote on Oct. 28.