Who Is Lorne Doerkson, BC’s Next Premier

Lorne Doerkson has led the B.C. Conservatives to a landslide victory over the incumbent BC NDP in the Oct. 24 provincial election, ending David Eby’s tenure as premier.

A former newspaper publisher, Doerkson secured a decisive win on Oct. 24, positioning himself to become B.C.’s 38th premier and returning the Conservatives to power for the first time in almost a century.

The sweeping victory elevates Doerkson to premier just over a month after he was named interim leader of the B.C. Conservatives on Sept. 20. His party executives previously said they would amend the current constitution so that he stays on as permanent leader if he becomes premier.

The victory also marks the first time the B.C. Conservatives have won an election and formed a majority government since 1928, when Simon Fraser Tolmie led the party before leaving office in 1933.

Doerkson, 58, entered the election campaign on short notice. Eby called a snap election on Sept. 22, just two days after Doerkson replaced his former leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay. Findlay resigned following the departure of several MLAs from the Conservative caucus over disputes with her leadership.

Doerkson first learned about Findlay’s resignation and his nomination as interim leader by his caucus during a layover in Amsterdam while on a flight home from South Africa that weekend. He received a call from his caucus asking if he would accept the nomination, and he agreed.

Eby had said that he called the snap election not to capitalize on turmoil within the Conservative party, but to give his governing NDP a new mandate to address trade disputes with the United States. Doerkson said at the time that the NDP leader would “regret” his decision to call the election.

Rodeo Announcer, Newspaper Publisher, Politician

Doerkson was born in New Westminster, raised in Surrey, and built his life in Williams Lake, a city located at the heart of the B.C. Interior, 550 kilometres north of Vancouver. Prior to entering politics, the premier-designate spent 20 years working as a newspaper publisher, and then moved into financial planning.

A resident of the Cariboo area in the Cariboo Chilcotin Coast region for nearly three decades, Doerkson has also been a small-business owner, a Rotary president, a rodeo announcer, and an active volunteer. He is married and has two daughters.

Doerkson was first elected in 2020 as an MLA representing the Cariboo-Chilcotin riding under the banner of the B.C. Liberal Party, which was renamed BC United in 2023. In 2024, after being re-elected, he crossed the floor to join the resurgent B.C. Conservatives after talks between the two parties to merge collapsed.

Doerkson was the third MLA to leave BC United to join the B.C. Conservatives, following former party leader John Rustad and Abbotsford South MLA Bruce Banman.

In his victory speech to supporters on the night of Oct. 24, Doerkson said he knew all about rebounding from setbacks.

“I have watched a lot of people get thrown at a rodeo and I’ll say I’ve been thrown a few times myself,” the former bronco rider said. “But what I have learned from that (is) you pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and you get back on.”

Energy, Red Tape, Income Tax

While delivering his victory speech, Doerkson said he would triple natural gas production by 2035, reiterating his position from the 33-day election campaign that his party would create a “B.C. energy superpower plan.”

At the same time, the premier-designate said the B.C. Conservatives would “cut red tape like it’s never been cut before,” reinforcing the party’s message of speeding up project approvals, building the necessary infrastructure for growth, and attracting investment to the province.

As well, Doerkson said he wants to see more ports and rail built to increase export opportunities.

He also promised to cut income tax by $1,000 a year per person and ensure “no new taxes” would be introduced in the province under his leadership.

Public Safety, Overdose Crisis

On public safety, Doerkson has pledged to hire more law enforcement officers to address street disorder in the hardest-hit neighbourhoods. His platform also includes establishing a specialized unit to combat extortion, racketeering, and gang violence.

The B.C. Conservatives also plan to address the province’s overdose crisis by expanding access to naloxone, ending the “safe supply” approach, and focusing on addiction treatment.

DRIPA, SOGI

One of Doerkson’s top promises during the election campaign was to repeal the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA) if elected.

Passed in 2019 under former Premier John Horgan’s NDP government, DRIPA commits British Columbia to aligning its laws with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). UNDRIP is a 2007 non-binding U.N. declaration that details the rights of indigenous peoples regarding self-determination, land ownership, and laws concerning consent.

Doerkson has argued that, as DRIPA raises concerns about private property right, it “has not created the security” for British Columbians. He said his party nonetheless is “committed to working with First Nations” to address the issue.

While he didn’t make the SOGI (Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity) curriculum guidance a central issue in the campaign, indicating in media interviews earlier on that it wouldn’t be a focus point, he did say later that his government would remove it, saying it has been a divisive issue. SOGI has been at the centre of controversy amid concerns raised by parental groups that schools and institutions were going in an ideological direction.

‘Thank You’

Doerkson acknowledged Eby, noting that public life “asks a lot of a person and a lot of their family.”

“He has given to this province for years, of both of those things. So thank you very much, David Eby,” he said. Doerkson also congratulated Green Leader Emily Lowan “on an incredible campaign.”

Jennifer Cowan, Omid Ghoreishi, Paul Rowan Brian, and The Canadian Press contributed to this report.