Politics is full of rumours. It’s hard to know what parties are thinking. But lately, there’s been a rumour that BC Premier John Horgan will step down to allow a new leader to take the NDP into the next election.
NDP insiders have been whispering about Horgan’s replacement since before he took a timeout to recover from throat cancer.
The opposition BC Liberals certainly think Horgan will step down. Candidates openly talked about his replacement in their own leadership campaign.
Candidate Gavin Dew questioned whether his opponent, Michael Lee, could stand up to Attorney General David Eby. Dew figured Eby would be the frontrunner to take over from Premier Horgan.
But the scuttlebutt skyrocketed after Horgan made a few odd comments in an interview with CTV News. The Premier admitted his energy has “been flagging” and that he “probably jumped into the pool a little earlier than [he] should have” after his cancer.
Horgan didn’t totally rule out running for a third term. In the interview, he said, “as long as [he] can keep making a valuable difference [he’s] going to keep doing it.”
Yet, in the next breath, Horgan chuckled when asked about another rumour. Folks have been whispering that he’ll be the next Ambassador to Ireland. “I think I could probably pull that off. But, I don’t know, that’s not a bad idea. Next time I talk to the Prime Minister, I’ll see what he has to say about that.”
Isn’t it strange to hear a Premier wonder about another job after saying he’s too tired to be Premier? That doesn’t sound like a leader who’s charged up to lead his party into the next election.
No wonder NDP hopefuls are sharpening their elbows and positioning themselves as next in line.
Also, it’s no surprise that the BC government has been so rudderless lately. They seem to have no real plans for the growing affordability crisis, climate and extreme weather, the shortage of healthcare workers, and failing emergency response systems.
With a leader who is already thinking about his next gig, they’ve been unprepared for the big challenges facing our province.
