The Prime Minister of British Columbia, John Horgan, has announced his plans to resign before the next provincial election.
The two-term NDP prime minister made the announcement on Tuesday, saying he intended to run for another term, but decided he could not continue after undergoing “rigorous” treatment for breast cancer. throat in recent months.
“My health is good, but my energy flags as the days go by,” Horgan, 62, told reporters gathered in Vancouver.
“We came to the conclusion that I am not able to commit six more years to this job.”
Horgan, now cancer-free, said he will resign after his party does a leadership review in the fall. He will continue to serve as MLA for the Langford-Juan de Fuca constituency for the remainder of his term.
The announcement of the resignation comes after Organ’s cabinet met for a mid-term retreat in Vancouver this week. He said it is “tradition” for politicians to discuss their future plans during the summit, but had already made his decision after talking about it with his wife, Ellie, during a week-long trip to the West Coast. of Vancouver. Island earlier this month.
During the winter, the prime minister received 35 radiation treatments for throat cancer. The experience, he said, prompted him and his wife to reflect on how they would like to spend the rest of their lives.
“The diagnosis and treatment of cancer were rigorous … I wish I had more energy to do more, but I just don’t,” he said.
“My spouse and I felt it was time,” she added, referring to Ellie as “the love of my life.”
Horgan leaves a historical legacy with BC NDP
Horgan is the only two-term prime minister in the history of BC’s New Democratic party, having won his second term after calling early elections during the first year of the pandemic in the fall of 2020.
The party’s victory was remarkably decisive, winning 57 of the 87 seats in the legislature: the highest the NPD had ever won in a provincial election and the first time the party had won a majority government since 1996.
The success was based on Organ’s first term, in which he ousted former BC Liberal Prime Minister Christy Clark and reached a historic trust and supply agreement with the BC Green Party to form a minority government. .
In this first term, the NDP party enacted most of its campaign promises: to eliminate MSP premiums and tolls on the Port Mann and Golden Ears bridges, to raise disability and housing rates while raising taxes on the most rich and created a second-rate speculation tax. houses.
BC Prime Minister John Horgan hits the podium in Vancouver on Tuesday. Horgan, 62, will step down after the NDP conducts a leadership review in the fall. (Ben Nelms / CBC)
A second term has focused on a series of emergencies, from the pandemic to wildfires and floods. Despite a series of criticisms about the responses to these crises, polls found that Horgan remained more or less one of the country’s most beloved politicians. He also maintained the full confidence of the NDP caucus.
Speculation about the possibility of a mid-term resignation began last summer. Her attack with throat cancer was the second with the disease, after she had survived bladder cancer at the age of 40.
With his decision, Horgan has become the first prime minister of British Columbia to leave office without being ousted by electoral defeat, public scandal or pressure from his own party since former Prime Minister Bill Bennett resigned in 1986.
The Prime Minister of British Columbia, John Horgan, leaves the Government House in Victoria after swearing in his first term as Prime Minister on July 18, 2017. (Chad Hipolito / The Canadian Press)
Tuesday’s announcement moment gives the NDP plenty of time to carefully choose its next leader before the next election, which is scheduled for 2024. A long leadership race also gives room for the successor to establish a relationship with the public before the votes are cast.
Horgan began his political career as a legislative assistant in the 1990s, working in various political positions in various ministries before gaining his first term as a deputy in what was then known as the Malahat-Juan de Fuca horse. in 2005.
He served as opposition leader for three years, from 2014 to 2017.