David Eby will be BC’s Next Premier, John Horgan to Step Down

The Georgia Strait

David Eby will be the next Premier of British Columbia, after winning the New Democratic Party (“NDP”) leadership race by default.

Eby, a former civil rights activist and BC cabinet minister, was Executive Director of the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association between 2008 and 2012, before going into politics.

In 2011, Eby ran as the NDP candidate in the riding of Vancouver-Point Grey, against newly sworn-in Premier Christy Clark of the BC Liberals. He lost by 595 votes to Clark. In 2013, Eby ran against Clark again, this time winning the riding, despite Clark winning the premiership again.

When the NDP won the 2017 British Columbia election, Eby was named by newly elected Premier John Horgan as attorney-general, and later, minister of housing.

As attorney-general, he tackled issues such as money laundering in casinos and fixing the notoriously broken ICBC.

On Jun. 28 this year, Premier Horgan announced he would be stepping down as premier and party leader of the NDP, citing a possible lack of energy to govern effectively.

“I have come to the conclusion I could not give six more years,” he said at a press conference.

“I am proud to say I’m cancer-free. While I have a lot of energy, I must acknowledge this may not be the case two years from now,” referring to his throat cancer diagnosis from November last year.

When the NDP leadership race began in July, many possible candidates for party leader dropped out, supporting Eby. Notably, the popular jobs minister Ravi Kahlon declined to run, citing personal reasons.

Endorsing Eby, he told Global News, “He’s compassionate, he’s thoughtful, and he’s delivered big things for this province already.”

With many thinking Eby would run unopposed, it was a big surprise when climate activist Anjali Appadurai announced her candidacy. Seen as an “outsider” candidate, she previously ran as the Vancouver-Granville NDP candidate in the 2021 federal election.

After her announcement, Eby told the Vancouver Sun that he was “frustrated” that Appadurai entered the race.

“I’m frustrated because obviously, she appears to be the only other candidate, which means, assuming I’m successful, it delays moving into the office by several months, and I see some profound challenges that need some urgent responses,” he stated.

Eby later apologized for his statement in a tweet.

“I’m not dismissive of Anjali’s campaign. Just the opposite - the race is healthier because she’s put herself forward as a candidate and I take her campaign seriously. I’m also very keen to get to work for BCers, and am sorry I expressed that urgency poorly to the Sun.”, the tweet read.

After aggressive campaigning with both candidates signing up thousands of members to vote in the leadership election, the NDP began investigating alleged violations of the Elections Act by Appadurai’s campaign.

In one incident, a member of Appadurai’s team offered to pay for individuals’ $10 membership fee during an Instagram live event.

The Elections Act makes it illegal for people to pay for someone else’s party membership.

When responding to claims of impropriety, Appadurai said her friend misspoke, and took down the video afterwards.

In another incident, Dogwood, a BC organization, was accused of improperly aiding Appadurai’s campaign by using its emailing list to sign up new NDP members.

Organizations are banned from making “political contributions” in the Elections Act.

On Sept. 16, Elections BC also opened an investigation into Appadurai’s campaign.

On Sept. 19, the NDP chief electoral officer Elizabeth Cull stated in a leaked report that the Anjali Appadurai campaign should be disqualified from the leadership race.

That night, the NDP executive body disqualified Appadurai from the race, which made Eby the leader of the NDP and premier-designate as the only candidate.

After Appadurai’s disqualification, Eby sent out an email to her supporters to let them know that they are welcome to stay in the party, and that he looks forward to working for everyone in the province.

In his first speech as NDP leader, Eby set out a plan for his first 100 days in office.

“At the end of those 100 days you will have seen announcements, activity from government, focused on delivering results for British Columbians that set out the groundwork for how, in the next two years, we are going to deliver significant change for British Columbians,” Eby stated.

Eby will officially become premier on Nov. 18 when John Horgan steps down.