Guest column: Reluctant leader became B.C.’s most-loved ‘Premier Dad’

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By: Vaughn Palmer

Though John Horgan would become one of the most-successful and well-regarded B.C. premiers, initially he had strong doubts about whether he even wanted to lead the province’s NDP.

The New Democrats surprised themselves in 2013 by losing a provincial election pollsters and pundits alike expected them to win. Party Leader Adrian Dix took the fall and stepped down.

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Eyes turned to Horgan, a master of complex issues like energy and a formidable debater in the seething cauldron of the B.C. legislature.

Horgan dipped his toe in the leadership waters, then pulled it back. He saw only “difficulty, acrimony and divisiveness” in leading the New Democrats in those days of internal recrimination.

Eventually Horgan was persuaded to go for it and, in the spring of 2014, he won by acclamation.

But it was not long before he began to have second thoughts. The New Democrats were a fractious bunch after more than a decade in opposition. Nor did the job of relentless opposition suit Horgan’s temperament.

Too often he came across as “angry John.” Horgan passed the word in NDP circles that he was willing to make way for someone else. There were no takers.

Then Horgan got lucky.

The B.C. Liberals, made smug by their unexpected victory in 2013, campaigned with a mix of arrogance and incompetence. An NDP populist master stroke was ending bridge tolls which jump-started the party’s campaign.

By the time votes were counted, the NDP and Greens were poised to dislodge the Liberals with an unprecedented power-sharing agreement that installed Horgan as premier.

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Then something remarkable happened. I’ve covered 11 premiers — I’ve never witnessed a transformation like the one Horgan made in crossing from the opposition side to government.

Gone was “angry John,” the guy who couldn’t hide his frustration. In his place, “Premier Dad,” the happy warrior.

Apart from being of generally good cheer, Horgan also had a knack for cabinet government. He was good at delegating, giving ministers mandates and reining them in only when they went off track.

He was less of a CEO than chairman of the board.

Horgan appointed friend and ally Carole James as finance minister. Together they did much to dispel the NDP’s reputation for reckless budget making. The Horgan-James budgets were balanced until the pandemic hit.

When Horgan handed over power to David Eby two years ago, he left a $5.7 billion budget surplus. Eby promptly spent most of it.

Nor did Horgan in government allow his hands to be tied by positions he’d taken previously. In Opposition he posed in front of a sign that read “Site C sucks.” In government, he decided to continue building the multibillion-dollar hydroelectric dam.

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The Horgan government also approved the tax regulatory relief that persuaded Shell and partners to proceed with the $40-billion LNG Canada project now nearing completion in Kitimat.

Those two big projects helped sustain B.C. employment and investment through the downturn of the pandemic.

Horgan’s greatest gift to the NDP was the snap election he called in September 2020. The overriding issue became whether the electorate wanted to change governments in mid-pandemic, with the B.C. Liberal party led by an ineffective leader with a wrong-headed platform.

Horgan turned his minority into a solid majority. He was well on his way to sparking speculation about whether he would lead the NDP into a third term when cancer, which he’d survived earlier, came back a second time.

Before stepping down, he put a halt to the government’s ill-advised $1 billion, eight-year makeover of the provincial museum.

The fiasco had many authors. Horgan took the blame himself.

“I am the head of government,” he told reporters in a gold standard display of blame-taking. “Any failings on this initiative fall to me and to me alone.”

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On leaving office, Horgan talked about spending more time with his wife Ellie, “the love of my life.” As a student of history, he readily embraced his diplomatic assignment late last year as Canada’s ambassador to Germany.

Sadly, he didn’t know how long he’d have. Then again, who does?

“His sense of humour and affable personality made conversations with him enjoyable, even when we stood on opposite sides of the issue,” said Conservative leader John Rustad.

Vaughan Palmer is the Vancouver Sun’s provincial affairs columnist.

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