In an extraordinary incident reported by the Western Standard on April 30, the official X (formerly Twitter) account of Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber posted a blunt two-word verdict on Premier David Eby's claims about the Vancouver Whitecaps: "Liar liar pants on fire."

The comment appeared directly beneath a tweet posted by Eby, in which the Premier was defending his government's position on the potential relocation of the Whitecaps from Vancouver. MLS moved quickly, telling reporters that Garber's account had been hacked and that the comment was unauthorized. The post was subsequently removed.

David Eby
@Dave_Eby • Premier of BC
[Eby's post defending BC government's position on keeping the Vancouver Whitecaps in Vancouver]
Reply from @MLS_DonGarber (account now claims hacked)
"Liar liar pants on fire"
April 30, 2026 • Reported by Western Standard

MLS's "hacked account" explanation may be accurate — high-profile social media compromises do happen. But the incident has drawn attention for a different reason: it crystallized, in three words, a credibility question that has been building around Eby's government for months.

The Whitecaps Problem Eby Doesn't Want to Talk About

The Vancouver Whitecaps relocation question did not emerge from nowhere. Reports circulating in early 2026 suggested the club's owners were in discussions about potentially moving the franchise, citing concerns about stadium infrastructure, long-term MLS expansion plans, and the uncertainty created by BC Place renovation timelines tied to the FIFA World Cup.

The BC government has spent over $581 million on FIFA World Cup preparations — a figure that has ballooned from original projections — including $149–$196 million in BC Place renovations. Premier Eby has repeatedly framed this spending as essential to keeping major league sports and events in British Columbia for the long term.

Critics, including the BC Conservative caucus, have pointed out that the same government that committed to $581 million in FIFA spending simultaneously cancelled the Phase 2 expansion of Burnaby Hospital and terminated long-term care construction contracts across Fraser Health. The fiscal math is hard to reconcile.

A Pattern of Claims That Don't Hold Up

The MLS incident is unlikely to be the defining controversy of Eby's tenure. But it lands at a moment when the premier's credibility has taken repeated hits.

In the same spring 2026 session, Eby declared DRIPA legislative changes "non-negotiable" on April 1 — and then reversed course five separate times before abandoning the legislation entirely by April 20. He committed to revising the province's Indigenous rights law, met with Indigenous leaders, and then walked away from everything he had promised. The Vancouver Sun's Vaughn Palmer captured the moment precisely: when Eby said he "would've liked to have been right the first time," Palmer shot back: "How about the fifth time?"

On the fiscal file, Eby has presided over a collapse from a $6 billion surplus to a projected $13.3 billion deficit — the largest in provincial history — in just three years. His government's explanations have shifted from "temporary pressures" to "cost escalations" to "global economic headwinds," while the actual driver — a 54% expansion of the government workforce over the past decade — goes unaddressed.

"Liar liar pants on fire."

— Posted under Premier Eby's tweet by MLS Commissioner Don Garber's account, April 30, 2026. MLS says the account was hacked.

The Hacked Account Explanation

To be clear: MLS has stated that Garber's account was compromised. There is no confirmed evidence that the commissioner himself directed the post. Unauthorized account access is a documented phenomenon, and the league's statement should be taken at face value as far as the mechanics of the incident go.

What the incident cannot be explained away is the broader context: a premier who has made repeated, high-profile commitments — on DRIPA, on hospital infrastructure, on fiscal responsibility, and now on professional sports — and who has retreated, reversed, or been contradicted on virtually every front. Whether the MLS account was hacked or not, the viral reaction it produced — people sharing it, laughing at it, and filing it as a data point — reflects something about how Premier Eby is now perceived, both inside and outside British Columbia.

When "liar liar pants on fire" lands under your tweet and the internet can't stop sharing it, the hacking explanation addresses the mechanics of the post. It does not address why so many people found it credible.

What We Know

MLS Commissioner Don Garber's official account posted "Liar liar pants on fire" under a tweet by Premier Eby about the Vancouver Whitecaps, April 30, 2026. MLS says the account was hacked and the post was unauthorized. The incident is confirmed by Western Standard reporting. The broader credibility context — five DRIPA reversals, $581M in FIFA spending, a record $13.3B deficit, cancelled hospitals — is independently documented.

Sources: Western Standard — Jackson Loy, April 30, 2026 • Western Standard — DRIPA timeline, April 21, 2026 • Vancouver Sun — Vaughn Palmer