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David Eby was acclaimed as leader of the BC NDP after his opponent was disqualified by the party.
The former attorney-general will replace John Horgan, who decided to step down because of health reasons. Eby will be swearing-in the premier of BC soon.
In his first address as Premier-Designate of BC, David Eby offered a vision of British Columbia to protect the most important parts of this province, people, services, and environment, while working to make it an even better place to live.
In his first hundred days as premier, Eby committed to launching initiatives to significantly expand available and affordable housing, create safer communities, redirect fossil fuel subsidies to clean energy, and improve access to healthcare. These actions will require meaningful partnerships with First Nations, municipal and regional partners as well as non-profits, service providers, and homebuilders.
Although in his address, he talked about protecting environment, his journey to the top post has been hit by controversy related to an environmentalist.
Late Wednesday night, the party’s executive council decided to reject the other leadership candidate and a climate activist
Appadurai 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.
“It’s disheartening to see the NDP subvert the democratic process within their leadership contest by terminating the candidacy of the only real challenger to the heir-apparent, David Eby, and slam the door on the thousands of British Columbians who joined the NDP to support Anjali Appadurai,” said BC Liberal MLA Elenore Sturko.
Appadurai while talking to media and her supporters said that there was “an assumption of illegitimacy” toward her campaign from the outset. She claimed a B.C. NDP report that found she worked too closely with a climate non-profit to draw new members was just a means to an end for the party’s executive committee.
“I believe that the evidence laid out in that report was cobbled together to support a pre-determined conclusion,” she said.
She said she planned to stick with the party despite not being allowed to complete her campaign. “This conversation we’ve started here is so much bigger than me, so much bigger than the B.C. NDP,” said Appadurai. “It’s about what we compromise for power … what we compromise for winning the next election.”
Eby, on the other hand promised to confront climate change. “ “The cost of housing, the strain on healthcare, and the impacts of climate change on our communities — we must confront the big challenges people are facing.”
In 2013, he defeated Christy Clark, the sitting premier. Eby is known to have tackled issues including money laundering, housing speculation, and the cost of auto insurance. As Attorney General, he got rid of big money in politics by eliminating corporate and union donations.
