British Columbia·NewB.C. Premier David Eby did not rule out calling an early election if his government cannot pass the bill to support the North Coast Transmission Line. Eby said he will “stake his government” on Bill 31 passing.’The last thing I want is an election but we’ll be prepared if it’s necessary,’ Eby saidKatie DeRosa · CBC News · Posted: Oct 29, 2025 9:33 PM EDT | Last Updated: 22 minutes agoListen to this articleEstimated 3 minutesB.C. Premier David Eby speaks to reporters in the Legislature halls Wednesday. (Katie DeRosa/CBC)Premier David Eby did not rule out calling an early election if his government cannot pass the bill to support the North Coast Transmission Line.Bill 31, introduced last week, would fast-track construction of a multi-billion dollar power transmission line that would double the amount of electricity that flows from Prince George to Terrace. “This is non-negotiable for us. This bill must pass,” Eby said. “I would stake our government on it. The last thing I want is an election but we’ll be prepared if it’s necessary.”The North Coast Transmission Line is designed to power critical mineral projects and LNG terminals in B.C.’s north. Eby’s comments came the day after the B.C. Conservatives tried to delay the bill by presenting a hoist motion, which would have slowed the bill’s progress by at least six months. Their motion, however, did not pass. In response to the hoist motion, Eby accused the B.C. Conservatives of pulling a “stunt” that would have put thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in revenue at risk. “It is the economic future of this province,” Eby said. The NDP has a narrow, one-seat majority and in cases of confidence motions, Speaker Raj Chouhan — MLA for Burnaby-New Westminster — is able to break the tie. The NDP government and the B.C. Greens have an agreement that the two Green MLAs will vote with the government on confidence motions. However, the party’s new leader, Emily Lowan, has said she wants to renegotiate that agreement. The B.C. Greens have criticized the bill, saying while they support the section of the bill that allows for Indigenous co-owners of the transmission line, they are not in favour of what they say is “a public subsidy for resource extraction.”B.C. Green MLA Jeremy Valeriote says the party does not support the bill in its current form, but he voted in favour of the bill at its second reading in order to negotiate changes at the committee stage. “If the premier wants to call an election I think it will be for reasons other than Bill 31,” Valeriote said. “He’s welcome to use that as an excuse if he wants.”NDP House Leader Mike Farnworth says he’s looking into making the bill a confidence motion, which means if it doesn’t pass, the government will fall. B.C Conservative Leader John Rustad mused whether or not the province has the electrical capacity to power the line. (Ethan Cairns/CBC)B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad says the government does not need the legislation to build the North Coast Transmission Line and questioned whether B.C. has the electrical capacity to power it. As for the possible early election call, Rustad said: “Let’s dance.”He says he’d be interested to see what the public thinks about Eby’s record on protecting private property rights, and the state of the health care system and the forestry industry. ABOUT THE AUTHORKatie DeRosa is the provincial affairs reporter for CBC British Columbia. She is based in Victoria. You can contact her at katie.derosa@cbc.ca.
B.C. Premier prepared to call early election if bill for North Coast transmission line voted down
