B.C. Attorney General David Eby announces bid to become premier

Eby is so far the only candidate running to replace Horgan, who has said he no longer has the energy to seek re-election.

“The thought that I had 15 days ago was that the premier was going to carry through the fall session at a minimum. But certainly, we all knew that he was struggling with his health,” Eby said Tuesday in an interview before his announcement.

“I’ve got 48 colleagues who are backing me in this and with their support and their confidence in me I’m putting my name forward for consideration.”

There are 57 NDP members in the BC legislature.

Eby, who was born in Kitchener, Ont., and will turn 46 on Thursday, said he strongly urged Horgan to run for the party’s leadership in 2013 and co-chaired his campaign after the NDP’s tough loss to the BC Liberal Party.

He won his Vancouver-Point Grey riding in 2013 over then-premier Christy Clark, forcing her to run in a byelection in Kelowna.

The timing for his chance at the premier’s job wasn’t right then, Eby said, adding: “I was just recently elected. I didn’t even know where the bathrooms were in the legislature. My wife and I were expecting, and she was in school.”

Now, he represents a “generational shift” in the legislature, Eby said.

“I think if I’m successful, I’ll represent a new generation of leaders in British Columbia. I’ve got a young family and will be able to bring that experience to the legislature with me.”

He plans to spend the next two months touring the province with wife Dr. Cailey Lynch, who is a family physician, eight-year-old son Ezra and two-year-old daughter Iva.

Eby’s role in the legislature has included launching an inquiry into money laundering, calling on municipalities to take action on affordable housing and moving the Insurance Corporation of B.C. to a no-fault vehicle insurance model after comparing its financial state to a “dumpster fire.”

Pivot Legal Society founder John Richardson said he hired Eby in about 2004 for his first job after the now-attorney general was called to the bar.

Richardson, speaking earlier Tuesday, said Eby advocated tirelessly as a human rights lawyer for the homeless and under-housed residents of the Downtown Eastside and was “clearly talented and very smart.”

Eby would go on to write “The Arrest Pocketbook: A Guide to Your Rights,” for the B.C. Civil Liberties Association and become its executive director before embarking on a political career.

Pivot’s efforts to shift public policy on issues like poverty, homeless and drug use seem to have been a natural extension of his later work, Richardson said, although Eby did not articulate any intention to enter politics at the time.

“There are certainly a lot of issues that haven’t really moved,” he said. “We still look at the Downtown Eastside and see it’s still in the same dire straits as it was 10 and 20 years ago. So, perhaps with the power of a premier he’d be able to take some steps to address it.”

Eby said his work as a community advocate is now supported by every member of the legislature when it comes to services like supervised consumption sites and prescription opioids to help those struggling with addiction.

“I think my experience working with people with serious mental health and addiction leads me to believe that we can do a lot better. But it’s also an opportunity for us to respond to the crisis in many downtowns across the province. It can and should include mental health treatment in a more aggressive way.”

As for housing, Eby said the government could be building homes in partnership with First Nations and the private sector.

“It’s not something that government housing programs have typically been based on, but it’s obviously something that’s needed in British Columbia.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 19, 2022.

The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

B.C. Attorney General David Eby announces bid to become premier

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