British Columbia’s Attorney General and Housing Minister David Eby, who is to be the province’s next premier, arrives at a press conference in Vancouver on Oct. 20.JENNIFER GAUTHIER/Reuters
Five years ago, after the NDP formed a minority government in British Columbia by the narrowest of margins, Premier John Horgan tapped David Eby, a young civil rights lawyer, to solve some of biggest problems the province faced.
Chief among them was the financial implosion at ICBC, the provincially owned insurer that was tearing a $1-billion-plus a year hole into the public treasury, as well as troubling questions about dirty money coursing through B.C.’s economy – two issues left behind by the previous BC Liberal government.
Mr. Eby, as attorney-general, did solid work on both files. ICBC was back in the black within three years; on money laundering, while the problem is far from solved, interventions such as crackdowns at casinos have made a difference. Housing was added to his to-do list in late 2020. So when Mr. Horgan in June announced he was stepping down, after a second battle with cancer, Mr. Eby looked like the heir apparent.
Last Friday, Mr. Eby was acclaimed as the party’s new leader, and will be sworn in as premier in the coming weeks. What’s not clear are details of his plans. After taking the party’s helm on Friday, he spoke of the approach to his first 100 days in office, on the issues of housing, crime, environment and clean energy, and health care. It was mostly generalities; in a press release, the plan was presented in 55 words.
Mr. Eby seems to be operating on a trust-me basis. He does have the full backing of his caucus and a majority government with two years until the next election. And, sure, he has a respectable track record – as a deputy. None of this justifies the absence of a serious discussion of his plans with British Columbians as he rises to the top job.
This lack of clarity started during the party’s leadership race in the summer, which ended up being no race at all – and with, to the detriment of B.C., no debates. The party last week disqualified Mr. Eby’s only rival, climate activist Anjali Appadurai, who hadn’t previously held public office. The NDP said she broke rules regarding third-party supporters. But months earlier, Mr. Eby was already acting like the race wasn’t close; a first-born prince certain to become king. He toured the province, met people, listened to concerns, but didn’t have a platform and didn’t appear to try to bolster the BC NDP’s membership list. On his sparse website, his previous work in power was distilled into one-paragraph briefs.
The one thing Mr. Eby did talk about in detail was housing – and it is a welcome, long list of actions. His many proposals include: investments to alleviate homelessness and bolster Indigenous housing; the creation of “BC Builds,” in which the government will seek partnerships and use public land to construct middle-class housing; a tax on real-estate flipping; forcing new zoning on cities to allow three homes where only one detached house is currently allowed; $500-million to help non-profits buy rental housing; and enacting some housing-related recommendations from the recent money laundering inquiry.
Taken together, these ideas could stand at the fore of housing policy countrywide. Yet such details make for a dissonant contrast with Mr. Eby’s otherwise vague plans last Friday. On crime and safety, he said, “You will see action from our government.” On climate, he dodged questions about LNG and said B.C. will hit its emissions targets, as well as do more on old-growth forests.
It could be ventured that Mr. Eby isn’t a one-person show and, on issues like crime and health care, the NDP government has been working away in recent months, amid the leadership change. Mr. Eby did say part of his job is to continue to deliver on the NDP platform from the fall of 2020, the one that helped the party to a majority. That’s all well and good. But what does Mr. Eby, specifically, think?
What’s certain is he is a scrappy politician, willing to get aggressive and unafraid to take risks. One risk that recently backfired was his re-election endorsement of, and campaigning for, Kennedy Stewart, the now former mayor of Vancouver who was trounced in this month’s civic election.
Mr. Eby’s push for cities to add density will also surely antagonize some mayors. The idea to legislate like this isn’t unique – Ontario on Tuesday is poised to outline the same concept – but it’s a new frontier. Leadership will be key.
Riding a reputation of accomplishments got Mr. Eby’s to the premier’s chair without making detailed promises. Soon, he’ll have to deliver something a lot more tangible.