David Eby is promising to release a plan for his first 100 days in office, which will include policies on climate change, the health care crisis, the shortage of affordable housing and the toxic-drug crisis.DARRYL DYCK/The Globe and Mail
David Eby will be acclaimed as leader of the BC NDP on Friday after his only opponent was disqualified by the party, clearing the way for a speedy transition as the next premier of British Columbia.
The former attorney-general will replace John Horgan, who is stepping down because of health reasons. No date has been set for his swearing-in as premier, but it is expected in a matter of weeks.
Mr. Eby is promising to release on Friday a plan for his first 100 days in office, which will include policies on climate change, the health care crisis, the shortage of affordable housing and the toxic-drug crisis. All of these have been major files for the Horgan government, but Mr. Eby is promising to accelerate the work.
B.C.’s NDP leadership candidates face a major hurdle: Filling John Horgan’s shoes
His path to victory, however, was mired in controversy. Late Wednesday night, the party’s executive council decided to reject the other leadership candidate – a young woman who challenged the party’s establishment.
Anjali Appadurai, a climate activist and former candidate for the federal NDP, was disqualified after an internal party investigation found that she “engaged in serious improper conduct” by co-ordinating with environmental organizations to conduct membership drives – allegations that she has denied.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Mr. Eby vowed to reach out to Ms. Appadurai’s supporters and promised to tackle the issues that she championed in the race. “I want those climate activists to stick around, I want to work with them,” he said. “This is not how any of us expected this race to end. But I’m excited about getting to work.”
Mr. Horgan carried his party through two successful elections and is leaving office on a high note – he remains one of the most popular premiers in the country. His successor has no plans to dramatically change the course of government.
Mr. Horgan, who announced in June that he would resign after undergoing cancer treatment, told reporters that he is confident Mr. Eby will carry on with the same agenda that the NDP campaigned on in the 2020 election. “It was never about a new mandate, it is about continuing the mandate we were given by the people of British Columbia just two years ago,” he told reporters on Thursday.
“I am absolutely delighted that David has emerged, not just with the support of me but of the entire caucus, and, I would argue, the overwhelming majority of New Democrat members.”
Mr. Horgan bristled at questions about the process that eliminated Ms. Appadurai from the leadership race, and predicted voters will soon forget the affair: “They’re not worried about someone’s hurt feelings that they circumvented the rules and were called out on it. This will pass.”
Mr. Eby, a civil-rights lawyer and anti-poverty advocate who served for five years as B.C.’s attorney-general, was one of Mr. Horgan’s top lieutenants. He was responsible for tackling money laundering, campaign-finance reform and for restoring the publicly owned Insurance Corporation of BC to sound financial footing.
The party has been in power since 2017, and currently holds a majority in the legislature. The next scheduled provincial election is two years away.
Although he had announced his leadership bid in July, Mr. Eby ran a low-profile campaign and had only released one plank of his platform, on housing affordability, before Wednesday’s decision by the party abruptly ended the race.
While his 100-day plan is expected to include some familiar themes, he will also be pressed to address public safety. The opposition Liberals have spent weeks attacking Mr. Eby for his record as attorney-general, saying law and order has deteriorated because of a “catch and release” criminal-justice system that has seen prolific offenders consistently released on bail, and a rise in some urban centres of unprovoked, violent attacks on strangers.
The BC Greens, meanwhile, laid out the welcome mat for Ms. Appadurai and her supporters. “She and our caucus share a lot of common goals and visions,” Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau said in an interview. “To the people who signed up, excited about the prospect of a climate leader in the premier’s office, I say, don’t give up, that’s the outcome we need. We’re here, we’ve been doing this work and we are welcoming anyone who wants to join that effort.”
The BC NDP conducted an aggressive vetting process for new members, amid complaints from the Eby campaign about signup irregularities. Party president Aaron Sumexheltza, in an interview Thursday, could not say what will happen with the members who signed up to support Ms. Appadurai. “We welcome new members, as long as they follow the rules.”
Mr. Sumexheltza would not say how many new members were signed up during the abbreviated leadership race – in fact, he wouldn’t say how many members the governing party had before the race. “We’re in the thousands,” he said.
With a report from Xiao Xu in Vancouver
Justine Hunter