Publication date: Aug 22, 2022 • 1 hour ago • 4 min read • 18 Comments BC NDP leadership candidate David Eby is ‘disappointed’ climate activist Anjali Appadurai entered the race because, robbing him of his projected coronation, he is delayed to crown the winner months. Photo by NICK PROCAYLO /PNG

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BC NDP leadership candidate David Eby is “disappointed” that climate activist Anjali Appadurai entered the race because, robbing him of his projected coronation, it is delaying the crowning of a winner by months.

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“I’m disappointed because obviously, she seems to be the only other candidate, which means, assuming I’m successful, it delays me moving into office by several months,” Eby told Postmedia News. “And I see some deep challenges that need some urgent answers.” Had Eby been recognized in his leadership bid, he would have been crowned NDP leader and prime minister shortly after the Oct. 4 deadline to enter the race. Instead, the winner will be announced on December 3rd. That means if Eby prevails, he has little time to influence the throne speech and the 2023 budget, which is presented in February. Eby says he has the support of 48 of the NDP’s 57 MLAs. Political observers wonder if the candid statement from Eby, 45, could give more ammunition to Apadurai, the rebel candidate who says she represents grassroots NDP members disillusioned with the compromises the party has made to remain in charge.

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Anjali Appadurai, director of campaigns for the Climate Emergency Unit, a project of the David Suzuki Institute, has announced her candidacy for the BC NDP leadership. Photo by Arlen Redekop /PNG Appadurai, 32, predicts her supporters will be galvanized by Eby’s assumption that the leadership race is a foregone conclusion, which she said resembles the same arrogance the BC NDP has used during five years in power. “There is no assumption of victory by the people representing my candidacy,” said Appadurai, director of campaigns for the Climate Emergency Unit, a project of the David Suzuki Institute. “There are legitimate interests presented by both candidates in this leadership race.” Appadurai ran for the federal NDP in the 2021 election, narrowly losing Vancouver-Granville by 258 votes to Liberal Taleeb Noormohamed. “The perception that (government) work will be delayed because of my candidacy is misleading,” Appadurai said.

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Premier John Horgan remains in his role until a successor is named and Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation Minister Murray Rankin has taken over as attorney general, a role that Abbey stepped down during his leadership. Eby qualified his statement by saying he also “loves” that Appadurai, who has called on the BC NDP government to take action for promoting the Site C megadam project and for subsidizing fossil fuel companies, is running for attention in the climate. urgent. “I love it because as a young activist I would have done it myself, I think.” Eby worked for the Pivot Legal Society and was the executive director of the BC Civil Liberties Association before successfully challenging then-premier Christy Clark in Vancouver-Point Gray in 2013, forcing her to call a by-election to regain a seat in the legislature.

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“The spectacle of someone inevitably running for prime minister in this case is a very tempting target (for political opponents),” said David Black, a political communication expert and professor at Royal Roads University. In all three cases where the BC NDP leader was recognized — Dave Barrett, Mike Harcourt and Horgan — the party won the next election. After former NDP leader Adrian Dix resigned following a resounding defeat to the BC Liberals in the 2013 election, Horgan initially ruled out running for leader, saying he wanted to make room for the next generation. Abbey abandoned his own aspirations to lead the party after he and his wife, Kayleigh Lynch, discovered they were expecting their first child, Ezra, now seven. Horgan eventually changed his mind, was recognized as leader, and went on to bring down the Clark government through a power-sharing deal with the BC Greens.

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“Another cheer for a party that has a kind of endorsement — even when it’s been successful — is a tempting target to say, ‘Let’s not miss this opportunity, let’s have this conversation,’ and Anjali Appadurai is going to bring that.” Black said. Black applies the ‘Goldilocks principle’ to party leadership races. If it is too tepid, the party is not having a healthy conversation about its future direction. Too hot and reinforcing deep divisions within the party, Black said. That’s during the fractious BC Liberal leadership race earlier, marked by legal challenges over voter fraud before Kevin Falcon won on Feb. 5 with 52 per cent support after five rounds of voting. Jeff Ferrier, a longtime NDP volunteer and public affairs specialist for Hill+Knowlton Strategies, said he believes a leadership race shaped by ideas rather than personal attacks is good for the party. Ferrier, who has known Eby for many years, says he suspects his comments are about “wanting to go to work.” “Every day you campaign for leadership is a day away from levers of government that you can use to solve problems and make life better for people.” [email protected]

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