‘Culture of skepticism’: B.C. election report cites weather manipulation claims

By Canadian Press on September 10, 2025.

VICTORIA — A new report into British Columbia’s 2024 provincial election finds no evidence of foreign interference, but acknowledges a “broader culture of skepticism and conspiracy” with mis-information and speculation about voting manipulation “now the norm.”

The report by researchers at the University of Toronto and Montreal’s McGill University cites examples including spurious claims that severe rainfall and flooding on election day on Oct. 19 were due to deliberate manipulation of the weather.

The report by the British Columbia Information Ecosystem Project says the atmospheric river weather event was the “centrepiece of a voter suppression narrative” accusing the B.C. NDP of using cloud-seeding to suppress turnout for the Conservative Party of B.C., which narrowly lost the election.

The report says the “viral spread” of that theory online “underscores the susceptibility of election discourse to misinformation,” and the level of mistrust among some voters.

The report also says that the discovery of a missed ballot box in the riding of Prince George-Mackenzie and yet-to-be proven claims of voting irregularities in the riding of Surrey-Guildford have became “rallying points for a broader set of fraud claims” that it says lack credible evidence.

The B.C. NDP’s Garry Begg won in Surrey-Guildford by 22 votes, but Conservative Honveer Randhawa has since launched a court challenge alleging voting irregularities.

British Columbia’s chief electoral officer Anton Boegman said in an earlier report that the election happened during a “much more challenging” information environment than previous elections, as he acknowledged mistakes which he said did not impact the overall outcome.

The NDP secured a one-seat majority in the election.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published September 10, 2025.

Wolfgang Depner, The Canadian Press