Eby ‘impatient’ to resolve B.C.’s hard issues of housing, opioids, affordability

David Eby thumbs through a stack of vinyl records at Zulu Records located in his Vancouver-Point Grey riding and says he’s reminded of his younger days working at a Sam The Record Man store over the Christmas holidays.

“Christmas Eve, we sold a lot of Jann Arden CDs,” he said, adding the last-minute shoppers were “all dudes.”

The leader of British Columbia’s New Democratic Party, wearing a short-sleeve collared shirt, black jeans and sneakers, sits casually at a table area near the back of the record shop.

Music is playing in the background, customers are browsing.

It’s a comfortable spot to talk politics, the provincial election, family, stand-up comedy and B-movies, and not generally in that order, Eby, 48, said.

A good place to start is BC United Leader Kevin Falcon’s move to suspend his party’s election campaign to support John Rustad’s B.C. Conservative Party in an effort to unite the right, which Eby said was expected by the NDP but still surprised him.

“We were always anticipating it because it’s happened so many times in this province’s history that the right would unite under a single banner,” he said. “The thing that was astonishing to me is they didn’t unite under the centre-right banner as they have for generations.”

The move “far right” to the B.C. Conservatives is asking voters to support a party whose leader does not believe climate change is real, a party official who has flashed a hand symbol associated with the alt-right movement and lifted the voice of Jordan Peterson, “one of the most sexist commentators on the internet,” said Eby.

“To unite under this banner sends a message to British Columbians that this is the direction they think we should go,” he said. “I’ve had many disagreements with the B.C. Liberals over the years, but they weren’t around issues about whether gay people had rights or whether climate change is real or about whether women should be treated with dignity and respect, and reproductive freedom.”

Eby surprised many this month when he announced his government would dump its long-standing carbon tax on consumers if the federal “legal backstop” requiring the province to keep the tax in place is dropped.

He said he’s been both anxious and committed to tackling B.C.’s big ticket items of housing, affordability, health care and the overdose crisis.

“I feel a huge urgency around these problems,” Eby said. “I’m impatient for us to resolve the health-care issues. I’m impatient for us to get the things built that people need, whether it’s transit or roads or anything else and I’m impatient for us to get on the other end of the drug crisis and to get affordable housing built.”

“So, I’m pushing government hard,” he said. “I’m pushing people hard to do as much as we can on these things.”

George Heyman, who has known Eby since 2013 when both Vancouver politicians were first elected to the B.C. legislature, said his colleague is a quick study who absorbs information and is willing to make difficult decisions.

“David Eby is not afraid to break the paradigm in how we’ve been dealing with very significant issues, whether it’s housing, whether it is the opioid overdoses,” Heyman said. “He is looking for solutions that will make a difference and he is looking for ways to implement them as quickly as possible and as soundly as possible.”

Eby’s process on decision-making involves hearing a diversity of opinions from within the NDP caucus and outside government, letting the ideas germinate for a period of time and then return for more discussion, which leads to a decision, Heyman said.

“He listens to people and he is compassionate and focused on finding the right mix of good policy for the future and meeting people where they are today,” he said.

Eby’s style is “go big or go home,” said Prof. David Black, a political communications expert at Greater Victoria’s Royal Roads University.

He demonstrated his approach when, as attorney general, he introduced reforms to restructure the Crown-owned and debt-plagued Insurance Corporation of B.C., said Black.

He said Eby has a “let’s-break-the-china-and-get-some-big-things-done style.”

He noted that in Eby’s 100-days speech after taking over as premier he was good at reading the public mood and their top-of-mind concerns: housing, affordability, health, public safety, the drug crisis and the environment.

Eby, who hasn’t won an election as premier, took over the job in 2022 after former premier John Horgan’s retirement due to health concerns.

He and his wife, Cailey Lynch, who’s a family doctor, recently welcomed a third child, a daughter Gwen.

While they spend much of their time at home, Eby said he and his wife are huge stand-up comedy fans and attend shows whenever they can.

“I enjoy it,” he said. “I think it’s maybe the difference between a lot of the heaviness and seriousness of this stuff that comes and shows up on your desk as premier, and the fact that comedians are able to turn some of the most serious and devastating stuff into something that can put a smile on your face.”

Eby, who invited comedian Charles Demers to speak at this November 2022 swearing-in ceremony, often starts his own news conference with an attempt at a joke.

“I find jokes are a good way to connect with people and connect with an audience,” he said.

While stand-up comedy is Eby’s first choice for entertainment, B-movies are a close second.

He said his most recent favourite is the 2010 sci-fi film “Stonehenge Apocalypse.”

“It’s magic,” said Eby. “It’s got all the great elements you want.”

But the enormity of the challenge of the election, which Eby has called “the starkest choice of a generation,” is never far from his thoughts, he said.

“For me, I feel the extra weight of the significance of the election in terms of can we preserve what’s made us successful over the years working together as a province,” Eby said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 21, 2024.

Dirk Meissner, The Canadian Press