BC NDP Short One Candidate as Registration Deadline Passes

B.C. NDP Leader David Eby speaks during a provincial election campaign announcement at the DP World Fairview Container Terminal at port, in Prince Rupert, B.C., on Sept. 28, 2026. The Canadian Press/Darryl Dyck

The B.C. NDP will run candidates in 92 of the province’s 93 ridings in the Oct. 24 snap election, leaving Peace River North without a party nominee.

On the ballot for the riding are Independent Jordan Kealy and Conservative Party candidate Curtis Whitford.

Kealy, who was elected under the Conservative Party of B.C. banner in 2024 with 74.4 percent of the vote, is the current MLA for Peace River North, where he now sits as an Independent. Located in northeastern B.C., the riding includes Fort St. John, Fort Nelson, Taylor, and Hudson’s Hope.

The deadline for candidate registration in the snap election was 1 p.m. on Oct. 3.

“Weird, I got 154 signatures in one day... and I think I was the 4th candidate approved by BCElections,” Kealy wrote on social media following the deadline that day.

The NDP confirmed the omission in a statement shared by political pundit Rob Shaw on social media on the same day, with B.C. NDP campaign director Cheryl Oates saying the party would run with 92 candidates.

“We were waiting on the final official candidate list from Elections BC but the paperwork for our candidate in Peace River - North was incomplete, which means we will likely have 92 candidates on the ballot,” she said.

The B.C. NDP announced the snap election on Sept. 22, with Premier David Eby saying the province faces an “existential moment” due to trade pressures and tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration.

Eby said the province needs a clear mandate to protect jobs, open new markets, and reduce dependence on the United States, while maintaining investments in health care, housing, and public services amid economic uncertainty and political instability.

While the omission does not prevent the NDP from forming government—the party needs 47 of the 93 seats for a majority—it means NDP supporters in Peace River North will not have a party candidate to vote for on Oct. 24.

Major parties have run incomplete slates in B.C. elections in the past, particularly smaller parties with limited organizational resources. However, the NDP’s omission is notable because it is the governing party and called the snap election itself. In the 1996 election, when the NDP was also in government, the party fielded candidates in both Peace River North and Peace River South, according to Elections BC records.

“I’ve never heard of a governing party planning and calling an early election but then being unable to fill all the ridings w/ candidates,” Shaw wrote on social media on Oct. 3.