Bob Mackin
In October 2026 in British Columbia, not only can you vote early, but you can legally vote often.
By often, I mean twice, in two different elections. Thanks (or, no thanks) to Premier David Eby calling a snap provincial election.
The Union of B.C. Municipalities pleaded with Eby not to encroach upon the local government election campaigns, which end Oct. 17. But he did so anyway. Don’t let that discourage you from having a say on who runs your municipality.
B.C. Premier David Eby (Zoom/Murray)
Advance voting is underway in communities big and small, but the dates vary.
Follow the links for more information.
In Vancouver, it continues Oct. 7, 10 and 13, Surrey is Oct. 7, 10, 14 and 15 and New Westminster Oct. 7-10 and 14.
Richmond is Oct. 7-10, Burnaby is Oct. 7 and 10, but Victoria is Oct. 7, 13, 14 and 15.
City of North Vancouver (Oct. 7, 10, 13-15) has more advance voting days than District of North Vancouver and District of West Vancouver (Oct. 7, 10 and 12).
This is your time to have your say about who runs your community. You won’t get another chance until October 2030, when there is likely to be another provincial election. Thanks to Eby disregarding the fixed election date law in 2026.
Around the Rim
In the Taiwan News, a member of the U.K.’s House of Lords, appeared at a celebration of Taiwan’s upcoming National Day. Lord Rennard said Taiwan should be represented in the World Health Organization and other United Nations bodies.
The U.K. Parliament passed a motion in 2024 critical of the UN General Assembly Resolution 2758, the 1971 policy that recognized the People’s Republic of China.
Rennard expressed concern about the Chinese military air and naval incursions and increased cyberattacks, disinformation, misinformation and deepfakes targeting Taiwan.
OpenAI chief strategy officer Jason Kwon “could not explain why Australians are among the world’s most distrustful of AI,” according to ABC News Australia. Kwon flew Down Under to appear at a parliamentary hearing into AI after a medicare statistics hack.
“He acknowledged OpenAI should have told the Australian government about the Medicare hack sooner, rather than waiting to establish more facts.”
Chow Hang-tung, organizer of a vigil in Hong Kong to remember the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, is appealing a seven-year, three-month sentence for inciting subversion.
Hong Kong Free Press reported that former lawmaker Lee Cheuk-yan was sentenced to seven years in prison and Albert Ho, also a former lawmaker, pleaded guilty and was jailed five years and two months.
Chow, Lee and Ho were members of the now disbanded Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China.
Cascadia Calling
Power and land usage by data centres is under the microscope in Oregon.
The Oregonian reports incentives for tech companies top $450 million a year, “the result of lopsided negotiations between trillion-dollar companies and volunteer city councils and county commissions across the state.”
Said the executive director of governance watchdog Common Cause Oregon: “That doesn’t mean artificial intelligence is inherently harmful, or that data centres don’t bring benefits to the communities where they operate. But she said it’s clear that in Oregon, the benefits accrue primarily to the companies themselves.”
Cascadia Daily News reported on the Oct. 6 arrest of Bellingham’s James Cody Bryant, who lived on Verona Street in the Roosevelt neighbourhood, for conspiracy to murder persons in a foreign country.
The 30-year-old Bryant befriended 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar online and is accused of coaching the fellow transgender to commit a livestreamed mass-shooting in Tumbler Ridge on Feb. 10. The livestream lasted 20 seconds, but Van Rootselaar killed eight and then died of suicide.
Hullo Ferries workers averted tragedy in Nanaimo when they calmly faced a passenger armed with a knife on Oct. 4.
CHEK News reported Dena McCaughey, 50, was charged with assault with a weapon, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose and obstructing a peace officer.
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