British Columbia Prime Minister John Horgan speaks to the media at the Pinnacle Hotel in Vancouver on June 28th. Mr. Horgan has announced his plans to resign in the fall.JENNIFER GAUTHIER / Reuters
John Horgan will step down as BC prime minister this fall, saying two cancer attacks and 36 years in government have left him without the intensity needed to commit to another term.
Mr. Horgan made the announcement Tuesday afternoon in Vancouver, telling reporters that his latest battle with cancer made him reflect on how he wanted to spend the remaining summers and reinforced his desire to pass the torch on to the next. generation.
“This summer I will turn 63 and I have been involved in public life, working in government, for 36 years,” he said. “I’ve been a deputy for 17 years, leader of the NPD for eight, prime minister for five years. I don’t want to look like a resume here, but if you add it all up, it’s very intense.”
The announcement of Mr. Horgan is following a withdrawal from the NDP’s mid-term cabinet over the weekend, but the prime minister said he had already decided during a walk with his wife to Otter Point on Vancouver Island about 10 years ago. days.
John Horgan’s power as BC NDP prime minister was his ability to connect with normal people
“Ellie and I were walking along the beach, laughing and reflecting on how many beaches we’ve walked in our lives … and it was just a moment when we said, ‘Let’s do more of this and less of that.’ , frankly., ”he said.
Horgan said he has asked BC NDP President Aaron Sumexheltza to work with the provincial council and executive to select a date in the fall for a leadership convention. Until then, the prime minister said he is focused on the issue of accessibility and the impact of inflation in BC. In addition, he will continue to be president of the Federation Council and will host Canada’s first primaries in Victoria next month to apply for federal funding to address staff shortages and growing public health waiting times.
“I fully intend to continue this battle to get the federal government to uphold the commitments it made to all of us and convene a meeting so that we can fix Canada’s most important program,” he said.
In May 2017, British Columbia voters chose the first provincial minority government in six decades, with the Liberals winning 43 seats, one less than the majority. The NPD won 41 and the Greens three. The new Democrats of Mr. Horgan and Andrew Weaver’s Greens signed an agreement to overthrow Christy Clark’s Liberals, with the Greens supporting an NDP minority government and allowing him to survive a four-year term.
The bet of Mr. Horgan calling early elections in October 2020 bore fruit when his NDP razed much of the Vancouver Metro, taking constituencies that have long been traditional redoubts of center-right liberals and returning Mr. legislature as prime minister of the first majority government of the NDP since 1996.
His government has maintained power through a series of crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic, a deadly heat dome, unprecedented flooding, growing pressure on the health care system, and a toxic drug crisis that has killed thousands of people. people.
The last press conference of Mr. Horgan ahead of Tuesday’s announcement was about halting the controversial $ 789 million plan to rebuild the Royal BC Museum. The prime minister stood alone while acknowledging that his government had taken “the wrong decision at the wrong time,” which led some to speculate that he was receiving the impact as he prepared to leave office.
Asked about the matter on Tuesday, he said he scoured the plan because he didn’t want it to become political football.
“I want people who care about that to show up, make a plan,” he said. “It will be a better plan than the one we presented because the public has never been so aware of the museum.”
Mr. Horgan revealed last October that he had discovered a lump in his throat. He underwent surgery and a biopsy and, the following month, announced that the pathology had confirmed that the lump was cancerous.
Mr. Horgan said Tuesday that he had undergone 35 radiation treatments and is now cancer-free, but that his energy is being assessed as the days go by, leading him to conclude that he could not commit to six more years on paper.
The next provincial elections are scheduled for October 2024.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau thanked Mr. Horgan his many years of public service.
“From our ambitious climate action, to making daycare more affordable, to the leadership you provided to keep people safe through COVID-19, I’ve always enjoyed working with you,” he wrote. Sr. Trudeau in a message posted on Twitter.
Alberta Prime Minister Jason Kenney said he regretted hearing the news.
“It has been a real pleasure to work constructively with John on a number of issues,” he said in a tweet. “We come from different political traditions, but we’ve always worked to find common ground.”
BC Green Party leader Sonia Furstenau said that while they have not always agreed on politics, their parties together created an era of unprecedented cooperation between parties.
“The legacy of our trust and supply agreement remains a model for the current agreement between the NDP and the Liberal Party of Canada,” Ms. Furstenau in a statement.
Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart said in a tweet that he received the news from Mr. Horgan with a heavy heart, calling him “the best prime minister British Columbia has ever had.”
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