The numbers are in, and they are devastating for David Eby’s NDP government. The Angus Reid Institute released a province-wide survey today, May 5, 2026, that strips away every NDP talking point about “leadership,” “reconciliation done right,” and a province that is supposedly “heading in the right direction.” British Columbians have rendered their verdict, and it is a resounding rejection.

The headline finding: the BC Conservatives lead the BC NDP by 10 points in vote intention — despite the Conservatives currently having no permanent leader. The Conservatives are at 46%. The governing NDP have collapsed to 36%, the party’s lowest level of support since March 2020.

Let that sink in. A leaderless opposition party in the middle of a divisive five-way leadership contest is beating the sitting governing party by ten points. That is not normal politics. That is a government in free-fall.

Eby’s Approval: 33%

Premier David Eby’s personal approval rating has cratered from 53% in March 2025 to 33% today — a 20-point collapse in just over a year. A majority of British Columbians (55%) say Eby has done a “bad job” balancing Aboriginal title with private property rights. Even among voters who supported the NDP in 2024, opinion is split: 41% say he’s handled the file well, 34% say poorly, and 25% are unsure. That is not a base of voters “rallying behind their leader.” That is a base of voters losing faith.

The Angus Reid Numbers (May 5, 2026)

  • BC Conservatives: 46% (up 2 points)
  • BC NDP: 36% (down 6 points — lowest since 2020)
  • Eby approval: 33% (down from 53% in March 2025)
  • 55% say Eby has done a “bad job” on Indigenous land vs. private property rights
  • 47% support repealing DRIPA — including 26% of 2024 NDP voters
  • 51% believe BC’s economy will be “worse off” under DRIPA
  • 39% say DRIPA gives First Nations veto rights on land development; only 26% disagree
  • Survey: 804 British Columbians, online, April 24–28, 2026; margin of error ±3%

DRIPA: The Issue Eby Cannot Escape

The poll makes one thing crystal clear: the DRIPA issue, the Cowichan title decision, and the secretive February Musqueam agreement are not abstract policy debates. They are the issues driving voters out of the NDP coalition.

All five remaining BC Conservative leadership candidates have called for outright repeal of DRIPA. Until very recently, that position would have been dismissed as a fringe view. Today, 47% of British Columbians agree with them — and that includes 26% of British Columbians who voted NDP in 2024. A quarter of Eby’s own former voters now back repealing the signature legislation he has spent years defending.

This is not a polling blip. The trend is consistent across multiple pollsters. The Vancouver Sun reported the Angus Reid findings echo a recent Leger poll showing weakening NDP support and Eby approval. CBC and the Vancouver Sun have both run analyses of the February budget noting the NDP managed, in the words of one columnist, “to alienate everybody” — cutting public-sector jobs and services to the chagrin of left-leaning voters while running a record deficit that infuriates everyone else.

The Musqueam Deal: What Broke Eby

The Angus Reid analysis is blunt about what triggered the collapse. In February 2026, the federal government signed a landmark agreement with the Musqueam Indian Band recognizing Aboriginal rights and title across the band’s traditional territory in B.C. Eby publicly claimed he was kept in the dark until the announcement — only to be contradicted by federal officials who said he had been informed.

“British Columbians have lost confidence in this premier’s ability to balance Aboriginal title with private property rights. The data are unambiguous: 55% say he’s done a bad job. The Musqueam fiasco was a turning point.”

— Summary of Angus Reid Institute findings, May 5, 2026

Combine the Musqueam deal with last year’s Cowichan Tribes BC Supreme Court ruling — which recognized Aboriginal title over Crown and private fee-simple lands on the Fraser River in Richmond — and you get the picture British Columbians are seeing: a government that hands enormous concessions to Indigenous claimants, then either lies about its involvement or refuses to defend the policy in public. The trust is gone.

Regional Breakdown: NDP Collapse Outside Metro Vancouver

The poll’s regional breakdown shows just how narrow the NDP’s remaining base has become. The NDP performs best in Metro Vancouver, where it is in a tie with the Conservatives. On the Island and the North Coast, the two parties are also tied, with the BC Greens picking up a sizable contingent of disaffected NDP voters. But in the Fraser Valley, the Conservatives have 54%; in the Interior, the Conservatives have 52%. The NDP has been wiped out across rural and suburban BC.

The NDP’s Defence: There Isn’t One

What is the NDP’s response to all this? The same response they offer to every collapse in their support: ignore the numbers, accuse critics of bad faith, and announce more “consultations.” Eby has tried — and failed — to amend, then to suspend, parts of DRIPA. He backed down both times after backlash from First Nations groups. In late April, the government said it would “work with Indigenous leaders to find a resolution” before the fall legislative session. That is a press release. It is not a plan. And it is not what the 47% of British Columbians who want DRIPA repealed are asking for.

The Bottom Line

This is what democratic accountability looks like in slow motion. A government that pushed through a transformative policy without a public mandate, that hides behind “reconciliation” rhetoric to avoid scrutiny, that lectures British Columbians about what they should believe — is now watching its own voters walk away. Lowest support since 2020. 33% approval. 26% of NDP voters supporting repeal of the government’s flagship policy. The numbers do not lie. The NDP coalition is breaking apart in real time.

An election does not have to come tomorrow for these numbers to matter. They are already shaping the policy choices Eby’s government can and cannot make. They are already strengthening the hand of every backbencher in the NDP caucus who has private doubts about the direction. They are already telling the Conservatives, the Greens, and OneBC exactly which message wins votes.

British Columbians have made up their minds. The question is whether the NDP will listen — or whether they will keep walking the same path until the voters take the choice out of their hands at the ballot box.