David Eby enters NDP leadership race with support of 48 MLAs in his caucus

by Charlie Smith on July 19th, 2022 at 7:05 PM

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B.C.'s attorney general is poised to become the province's 37th premier.

Late today, David Eby became the first candidate to enter the B.C. NDP leadership race. And he has the support of 48 members of his caucus, making it practically inevitable that he will succeed John Horgan as party's leader.

After working as executive director of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association from 2009 to 2013, Eby was elected as the NDP MLA in Vancouver–Point Grey, defeating the incumbent, Premier Christy Clark.

In his years in opposition, Eby hammered the B.C. Liberals for their refusal to introduce campaign-finance reform and their reluctance to introduce demand-side measures to curb housing speculation.

When the NDP formed government in 2017, Premier John Horgan appointed him as attorney general, a position he continues to hold. In this position, Eby steered through reforms to the Election Act, banning union and corporate donations to political parties and capping individual contributions. He also hammered the B.C. Liberals for high liquor prices and for allowing money laundering in B.C. casinos.

In government, Eby continued castigating the B.C. Liberals for their oversight of casinos during their term in office, leading the way to a public inquiry.

Even though Eby publicly linked money laundering to rising real-estate prices, inquiry commissioner Austin Cullen came to a different conclusion, declaring that money laundering was not the cause of housing unaffordability.

After the 2020 election, Eby became the minister responsible for housing and turned into a vocal proponent for increasing supply to address the affordability crunch.

Eby's wife, Cailey Lynch, is a doctor and they have two young children.

Below, you can see some social media posts from two of the many NDP MLAs who were at Eby's announcement at Kitsilano Neighbourhood House.