Western Standard - October 25, 2026


Lorne Doerkson delivers victory speech as BC Conservatives projected to win majority

CORY MORGAN SHOW： Premier Smith stands alone

Episode Stats


Length

17 minutes

Words per minute

119.11

Word count

2,027

Sentence count

133

Harmful content

Hate speech

1

sentences flagged


Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
00:00:00.000 BC is definitely blue!
00:00:10.000 Oh my goodness, thank you so much everyone.
00:00:18.000 We are so glad that you're here.
00:00:20.000 Thank you to everyone in this room.
00:00:23.000 And of course, everyone watching at home, what a night this is.
00:00:28.000 Together, we seized this opportunity, you guys, and together, we voted for a better British
00:00:43.620 Columbia.
00:00:47.940 And from here, I will do everything in my power to get British Columbia back on track.
00:00:54.620 To our volunteers, you knocked on doors, rain and shine.
00:01:01.240 You did so much incredible work.
00:01:03.240 You put up signs.
00:01:04.760 You made the calls.
00:01:06.320 None of this would have been possible without your hard work.
00:01:10.380 And to every candidate that put their name on a ballot and to everyone who voted tonight
00:01:15.400 including those who voted for someone else. Thank you so very much.
00:01:27.080 I want to take a real quick minute just to introduce my family of course. I've got a
00:01:32.120 stepson Bryce here, my wife Shelly, my mom who is so proud and happy right now.
00:01:39.080 Her name is Bev everybody and she is so happy. Of course my beautiful daughters Miranda and
00:01:48.980 Shelby my granddaughter my stepson Damien we are so glad to be here but I also want to thank my
00:01:55.940 team at home because they have done an unbelievable job and I will say this Caribou Chilcotin is
00:02:02.900 is amazing. My campaign team there, of course, was Donna Barnett. Many will know her. She
00:02:13.940 is like a mom to me and I'm so grateful for her co-captaining the team with Brian Withage,
00:02:20.980 Kerry Siebert who did an amazing job of our fundraising, but I also wanted to thank a
00:02:26.900 A few people in the room, Rob and Angelina Bennett, Scott Tucker, Cain Fraser, Scott
00:02:32.660 and Twyla.
00:02:33.660 I don't know who else is out there, but thank you, Karibu Chilcotin.
00:02:44.220 I promise you I'm going to work as hard as all of those volunteers did.
00:02:49.700 I want to recognize David Eby tonight.
00:02:53.220 life asks a lot of us all and asks a lot of a person and a lot of their family and he has given
00:02:59.300 to this province for years of both of those things so thank you very much david eby
00:03:08.180 i also want to recognize emily lowen and congratulate her on an incredible campaign
00:03:14.580 british colombians can be grateful for her passion all that she's done to inspire
00:03:19.780 thousands of young british columbians to get involved so thank you emily
00:03:31.540 listen guys as most of you know i'm a guy from williams lake i was young
00:03:41.540 i love caribou chilcotin so much i was actually born in new west minister
00:03:46.820 I grew up in Surrey and I went to Bridgeview Elementary, then we moved north and I stayed.
00:03:52.660 And for 20 years I ran newspapers that was a very good education for me.
00:03:58.820 You learn what's really going on in a town who's hiring, who's closing, who's hoping,
00:04:03.700 and I've been of course the president of the Rotary Club and vice president of the Stampede.
00:04:08.340 I have watched a lot of people get thrown at a rodeo and I'll say I've been thrown a few times
00:04:15.700 myself. But what I've learned, what I have learned from that is that the bruises is that
00:04:22.760 you pick up yourself, dust yourself off and you get back on. And the crowd gets to its
00:04:32.960 feet for you because you're trying. That is the approach that I have brought to my political
00:04:40.840 life and as communities throughout my riding have fought fires and floods, I have stayed
00:04:46.160 with my neighbours and pitched in where I could. That taught me what strong leadership
00:04:51.880 for serious times really means. It isn't loud. It's showing up. It's telling people
00:05:02.420 the truth. It's keeping the promises that you have made. And it's owning it when you
00:05:07.900 get something wrong, and getting back to work.
00:05:12.560 Oh my God, I am so glad to see you guys tonight.
00:05:19.520 I'm going to shake every hand in the room if it takes me all night.
00:05:23.640 It taught me something else as well.
00:05:26.320 A province only works if all of it works, you guys.
00:05:33.840 For a very long time, a lot of British Columbians have felt like Victoria forgot about them,
00:05:39.960 like the map maybe stopped at Hope, but tonight the whole map counts for British Columbia.
00:05:49.300 I believe in British Columbia and I believe in all of it and I've seen all of it.
00:05:54.900 I've spent the better part of my life working and travelling to all corners of our beautiful
00:06:00.380 province, 100-mile house in Williams Lake, of course, Surrey and Maple Ridge,
00:06:04.780 Chilliwack and Kelowna, Saanich, Souk and Langford, Richmond and Vancouver. I have
00:06:10.900 had a lot of coffee in the last couple of weeks. Frankly, I've had quite a bit
00:06:16.160 tonight, but British Columbians are hard-working, trailblazing people. They
00:06:22.160 They want a fair shot at building something in this province.
00:06:30.840 And that is the oldest story in this province.
00:06:35.160 First Nations built lives and nations here for thousands of years.
00:06:40.500 And then came people who walked into the caribou with the clothes on their back and a dream.
00:06:47.160 They carved a wagon road up the Fraser Canyon to get to the gold.
00:06:52.040 And plenty of them went broke.
00:06:54.760 Plenty of those camps are ghost towns today.
00:06:57.300 But they went anyway for a chance to build something amazing.
00:07:02.800 That is the trailblazing spirit of British Columbia and it never left.
00:07:09.240 It just needs government that's on its side.
00:07:19.360 And together our best days are still ahead of us, my friends, I promise you that.
00:07:29.320 So when I say that we are going to supercharge British Columbia, I want you to know where
00:07:36.260 it happens. It isn't. It isn't going to happen on one street or in one city. It happens in
00:07:47.540 Kitimat, where BC natural gas leaves to power the world. It happens in Fort St. John, where
00:07:55.180 the gas comes out of the ground. In Prince George, Quinnell and Williams Lake, where
00:08:00.020 a mill job should still pay a family nicely. In Kelowna and the Okanagan, where orchards
00:08:11.900 run right up against the tech companies. Up and down Vancouver Island, where the fishing
00:08:18.480 boats still go out before the sun comes up. And in the Kootenays, where they've been
00:08:23.160 smelting metal in trail for more than a century. In Surrey, on its way to becoming the biggest
00:08:31.380 city in our province. And yes, in Vancouver, where the ideas and the head offices are.
00:08:42.160 Every one of those places is part of the same engine. A mill running in Quenelle keeps the
00:08:48.660 trucker working in Surrey. A mine opening in the north keeps a port busy in Delta.
00:08:54.420 It's one economy and it runs through every town on our map in British Columbia.
00:09:04.180 That is what a BC that works for everyone means. We will be the catalyst. I promise you that.
00:09:11.140 but you are the engine. So what do I believe in? Well, I'll tell you, it's simple for me.
00:09:19.940 Plain and simple, I believe in bringing investment back to British Columbia.
00:09:27.380 And we will host a business summit next year in Vancouver that will be the
00:09:32.340 envy of the world. We will welcome capital back to our province.
00:09:36.660 You can plan around a no, but you can't plan around a maybe.
00:09:43.320 I believe in cutting red tape.
00:09:45.660 I believe in energy.
00:09:47.540 We will double, yes, we will cut red tape like it's never been cut before.
00:09:56.420 We will double natural gas production by 2032 and triple it by 2035.
00:10:06.540 Folks, that is tens of thousands of jobs in our province and at least $6 billion a year
00:10:13.820 for hospitals and schools that we all depend on.
00:10:17.640 I believe in the people who build, dig and grow more fibre on the trucks, permits in
00:10:26.420 months instead of years and backing for exploration that finds the next mine in our province.
00:10:36.540 I believe in building the ports and the rail that get it all to market and the power to
00:10:46.860 run a new plant without years of waiting for grid connection.
00:10:52.540 Technology that keeps BC's ideas and jobs right here.
00:10:56.200 I believe in our young people and their futures being right here in our province.
00:11:01.520 I believe absolutely.
00:11:05.540 And I believe in you keeping more of what you earn.
00:11:12.560 A $1,000 tax cut is just the start with no new taxes in British Columbia.
00:11:25.400 I believe in health care that is fully and publicly funded.
00:11:30.080 I believe rural ERs and maternity wards that are actually open.
00:11:36.460 And I believe, yes, I believe in getting British Columbians the family doctors that they need
00:11:43.900 and the hospitals that are safe for our doctors and our nurses who work in them.
00:11:50.560 And I believe in public safety that protects our communities, makes sure criminals stay
00:11:56.020 behind bars and that those who need treatment actually get healthy in British Columbia.
00:12:06.740 I also believe in the protection of private property rights and that British Columbia
00:12:19.060 And British Columbia where parks are open to all British Columbians.
00:12:28.060 And I believe that we must pay in the right way.
00:12:32.200 Careful with your money and growing our economy so that careful is actually enough.
00:12:38.520 Because when a province believes in itself, things start to move in British Columbia.
00:12:48.040 Put it all together and here's what I want.
00:12:51.860 A British Columbia that is the most prosperous province in this country.
00:12:59.440 The place where investment goes first and the place where the best people choose to
00:13:05.120 build their lives.
00:13:06.440 I want BC where a hard day's work gets you a family home and a future right here in this
00:13:14.220 beautiful province.
00:13:17.220 I want to say a word to the people who aren't in this room, there is a place for you here.
00:13:28.040 Bring your ideas, bring your family, bring your ambitions and somebody will pick up the
00:13:33.640 phone in British Columbia.
00:13:36.180 And to the business owner that is thinking about taking what they have built somewhere
00:13:44.340 else in this country, I am begging you to stay because there are incredible times.
00:13:52.300 Throw it here. We are going to make it worth your while. I promise you that.
00:13:57.640 And to the young people of our beautiful province, I am telling you to stay. This is your home and I 1.00
00:14:04.680 want you to have your best days to happen here, close to your parents and your friends, in the
00:14:10.800 town that you grew up in in a place that you can afford. I promise to work for this and for you
00:14:17.760 every single day. And to our First Nations, and to our First Nations, this future is one that we
00:14:26.780 will build together as partners with the certainty all of us need. Folks, a baby was born in this
00:14:38.540 province tonight, maybe in Surrey, maybe in Williams Lake or Prince George,
00:14:42.500 Penticton or Port Hardy. But in 2036 that child turns 10 and I want our sons
00:14:49.920 and daughters to grow up in a BC that is the envy of the world, where their
00:14:57.440 parents can afford a home, where they don't have to leave town to get ahead.
00:15:02.720 Those trailblazers who walked into the Caribou didn't have a road map. They had
00:15:08.000 hope. And that is exactly what we all need right now, is hope.
00:15:18.700 Tonight British Columbia made a choice and it is going to be the honor of my
00:15:25.460 lifetime to serve you as your Premier.
00:15:38.000 And I am going to give this job everything that I've got, I promise you that.
00:16:06.040 And I also promise you that I won't get it all perfect.
00:16:10.480 But when I don't, I'm going to tell you and then I'll get back to work.
00:16:14.660 We've got a province to build and I can't think of better people to build it with than
00:16:18.960 you.
00:16:19.960 This is strong leadership for serious times.
00:16:23.200 Let's do this British Columbia!
00:16:30.040 We are going to get to work unlocking the endless possibilities of our province and our
00:16:35.940 people and in every corner of it I am ready to deliver for all British Columbians.
00:16:42.540 Thank you and God bless.
00:16:44.180 I want to shake every hand in the room.
00:17:00.040 Amen.