Opinion: But Eby faces big perception issues when it comes to connecting with voters
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VICTORIA — The NDP leadership race appeared to be over Wednesday before it began, when Ravi Kahlon dropped out and endorsed David Eby.
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Kahlon, the employment minister, is one of the government’s most energetic and engaging ministers, with a growing base of support in the greater Vancouver and South Asian communities.
His reasons for withdrawing were personal and unquestionable.
“After careful consideration with my family, we have come to the decision that now is not the time for us,” he announced on social media.
His 12-year-old son figured prominently in his thoughts.
“Being a father is something I appreciate,” he told Rob Shaw of CHEK news. “It’s the most important job I have.”
Plus, there was the sobering reality of the prime ministerial job: not just the workload, but the 24-hour-a-day public view and the personal and vicious abuse that comes with it.
Retired Prime Minister John Horgan and his predecessors Christy Clark and Gordon Campbell fell victim to protesters arriving at their door.
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So when an ambitious and capable politician like Kahlon says he’s not ready to run for the top job, trust him, he’s thought it through.
Having made the decision to stay on the sidelines, he skipped the pretense of waiting to see who would run.
He called Eby, a favorite for the leadership but has yet to make his intentions official, and urged him to run.
“He is compassionate, considerate and has already accomplished great things for this province,” Kahlon told Global News.
Kahlon’s decision to stand down mirrors what Eby did when the party’s leadership opened up after the 2013 election.
Eby had defeated Premier Christy Clark on her Vancouver-Point Gray trip, forcing her to seek a seat through a by-election staged in the Okanagan.
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Giant-slayer Eby was already popular with the party’s activist base, and a fledgling leadership campaign was brewing.
But with a first child on the way, she had second thoughts.
Instead, Eby called John Horgan, according to the account in the book Matter of Confidence by reporters Shaw and Richard Zussman.
“I’m not running for leadership,” Eby told Horgan. “I think you have what it takes to win.”
Horgan had been planning to stay out of the race. Encouraged by others, he entered and was elected leader by acclamation.
Eby’s decision nine years ago did not preclude a future leadership offer. Kahlon’s followers were saying the same thing about his man on Wednesday.
For now, Kahlon’s endorsement cements Eby’s favorite status, with no plausible challenger on the horizon.
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Port Coquitlam Mayor Brad West was touted in some circles as an up-and-coming outsider with flashes of John Horgan’s populist flair. West quietly spread the word that he’s not ready to jump into the provincial arena.
West may make it to the legislature after the next provincial election, if longtime Port Coquitlam MLA Mike Farnworth drops out, as expected.
Some other NDP cabinet members can apply to raise issues or their own profile.
Bowinn Ma, the Minister of State for Infrastructure, weighed in on social media on Wednesday with something of a statement.
“I am not in politics to play games,” he wrote.
“I try to be thoughtful about when, where, how I express myself, but I am opinionated on some issues, even recalcitrant at times.
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“So I want to be honest with whoever becomes our new leader about what they can expect from me.
“Expect me to speak openly at the tables I am appointed to. You should know that I hate nonsense and pressure. We should not be afraid to stand up to the establishment, especially when the stakes are high. Let’s challenge the failures of capitalism with public solutions.”
If that’s a job application for the next leader, she brags a lot.
Ma also called on the party to select a “climate champion,” echoing party activist Ashley Zarbatany, quoted here earlier this week.
Ma wrote: “I want a leader who believes that addressing the climate emergency is a moral imperative, who takes an unequivocal stance against the expansion of fossil fuel extraction, including LNG, and ends measures designed to incentivize the industry. ”.
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So why didn’t she go do the job herself, someone asked on social media. Good question.
As for Eby, there is speculation that he could postpone the formalization of pending matters in his two ministries, that of the attorney general and that of housing.
Prime Minister John Horgan has told ministers that if they run, they must resign from the cabinet.
That was not the rule in the past.
In the 1996 leadership, Glen Clark remained Minister for Employment and Investment until the day he was sworn in as Prime Minister.
Likewise, Ujjal Dosanjh was still the attorney general when a party convention elected him as leader and prime minister in February 2000.
But the call is up to the prime minister and Horgan made it.
Eby also faces other challenges.
He is no Horgan when it comes to disclosure. On the contrary, he is a bit of a lone wolf.
It represents a riding on the west side of Vancouver, seen as urban and elitist in some quarters.
Plus Eby positions himself to the left of Horgan, who is more centrist and pragmatic.
The leadership is almost certainly yours. But after the populist Horgan, he has a lot of work to do to connect with the public.
