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VANCOUVER — British Columbia will get a new prime minister’s nomination on Friday after a tumultuous NDP leadership race that ended with the disqualification of one of two candidates.
Following that abrupt conclusion, the state’s former Attorney General, David Evey, will replace John Hogan as prime minister.
Evie’s only opponent in the leadership contest, Anjali Apadurai, was disqualified Wednesday night. , is appointed Prime Minister.
At a press conference in Vancouver on Thursday afternoon, Eby said he had “mixed feelings” about the race results. I got
“Like all New Democrats, I am excited to have discussions about where government is and where it should go, and[I]have had those discussions statewide,” he said. Told.
Eby’s email said he knew it would be difficult for those who attended the party to support Appadurai and was committed to listening to members’ feedback.
How 46-year-old Eby got to the prime minister’s office isn’t the only unique chapter in his biography.
Coming from a background in activism for the marginalized, he was introduced to the state as a far-left figure advocating for the street-dwellers of the city’s downtown East Side.
Twenty years later, the tall, slim kitchener-turned-politician headed the third-largest state in the country.
It wasn’t a smooth start.
The disqualification of Eby’s only rival prompted accusations of backstabbing by party organisations, from her supporters.
The party’s chief election officer, Elizabeth Kull, reported that Apadurai was disqualified for “serious misconduct” in connection with signing new party members with the help of environmental group Dogwood BC. rice field.
“Inappropriate coordination with third parties (mainly Dogwood) played such an important role in Apadurai’s campaign that it is not possible at this time to create a level playing field and therefore the leadership election It has given us confidence that it is impossible to bring the campaign back to integrity,” Cal’s report said.
Cull’s report explains the reasons for Appadurai’s expulsion, but her supporters say she was wronged. fully supported.
“This is not the way everyone wanted it,” Hogan said. “Most of the nearly 5 million British Columbians run their own lives and worry about affordability, housing and healthcare. I’m not worried about anyone’s hurt feelings.”
Hogan said he was disappointed with how the race unfolded, but added that he was “extremely happy” that Evie would take over when Hogan resigned in December. decided.
Outgoing BC Prime Minister John Horgan said he was proud to have David Evey succeed him as NDP leader, following party officials’ decision to disqualify the only other promising leader. (October 20 / THE CANADIAN PRESS)
Gerald Byer, an associate professor of political science at the University of British Columbia, said Ebbie is not an “obvious” retail politician and seems a little “cerebral”, but he is able to relate to people through his image of humility and family. said it can. Man.
“He lives in an apartment on the UBC campus. He doesn’t live in a big rental house or anything like that.” It’s true for progressive politicians out there.”
Nearly 20 years ago, Eby spent his days helping the city’s most vulnerable people when they filed complaints against the Vancouver Police Department and other authorities about discriminatory treatment while working for the Pivot Legal Society. rice field.
Founded in 2001, the association works on behalf of the poor and marginalized to pursue government policies in their interests, and to challenge policies that do not. I’m here.
Prior to being elected to Congress, he also served as President of the HIV/AIDS Legal Network, Executive Director of the BC Civil Liberties Association, and Adjunct Professor of Law at UBC. He also wrote a handbook on arrest powers.
Years spent in Vancouver’s activist realm didn’t hurt him when he ran for his first seat as the MLA in one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the country.
In 2013, Ebbie elected Vancouver’s prime minister and incumbent Point Gray, Christy Clarke, who safely ran for a by-election in the state’s interior and returned to Congress. Eby soon became a housing critic for the NDP.
Andy Yan is the Director of the City Program at Simon Fraser University and has known Eby since his Pivot days.
Eby was a housing critic for NDP, where he and Yan published a controversial 2015 report on buyers from mainland China and their impact on Vancouver’s housing market.
Not long after their report, Evie found herself on the other side of the legislature.
In 2017, B.C.’s New Democrats and the state’s Greens overthrew the Liberal Party and, newly dragged down by voters, struck a trust-and-supply pact to run the state. Eby became Attorney General.
Eby embarked on a role in shedding light on the state’s money laundering problem and initiated investigations into casinos and other forms of money laundering.
In one of these investigations, the Cullen Commission on Money Laundering, he took aim at federal agencies and accused them of not cooperating with the investigation.
Eby is known to have called the situation “Financial Trash Bin Fire” because he also began working on the state’s public auto insurance agency, a state-owned enterprise that was plagued with problems.
To address this issue, no fault insurance was introduced into the system.
His platform as party leader, and thus prime minister, included a promise to introduce a reversal tax on real estate sales and a preferential law to prevent companies from buying rental homes.
Yan said Eby faces several challenges dealing with “complex files” plaguing the state. He said the prime minister’s nominee listens to the voices of the people he works with and hopes to continue listening to different voices.
“He was working on the Downtown East Side, dealing with the complex issues faced by long-term extreme poverty,” says Yan. “I’m trying to make a difficult solution that won’t make everyone happy.”
Yan, a prominent BC housing and development analyst, said the housing platform includes ideas he likes and ideas he doesn’t like. But Eby believes in listening to people for answers.
“Governance in this time of unrest and rage is incredibly challenging,” he said.
Eby has seen some friction lately with being a former circle. In August, the BC Civil Liberties Association issued a statement denouncing him for openly pondering the idea of involuntary treatment for drug users in the state.
“The right to decide what is done to one’s body is essential,” BCCLA’s Megan McDermott challenged Evie in an Aug. 24 statement. “Compulsory treatment of drug users cannot be justified in a free and democratic society.”
However, being unpopular with everyone in the old realm may not be a problem for Eby.
Yang points out that he cannot be prime minister of Vancouver and the state as a whole and that issue should be taken into account.
Byer likewise said he wasn’t worried about the leadership race and how its aftermath would hurt Evie.
“They will win the next election, not by getting 90% in East Vancouver, but by getting 45% in Langley,” he said. “They don’t have to please every climate activist east of Vancouver.”
Using files from The Canadian Press
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