Image Credit: Canadian Press

By Richard Zussman, Global News

Politics

John Horgan to announce he will step down as B.C. premier

Jun 28, 2022 | 12:53 PM

Nearly five years after forming a government in British Columbia, John Horgan will announce at 1:30 p.m. that he plans to step down as premier.

This follows weeks of speculation around his health and political future.

The 62-year-old was officially sworn in as premier on July 18, 2017, following a confidence vote in the B.C. legislature on June 28, 2017.

The BC NDP and the BC Greens voted together to defeat former Premier Christy Clark and Lt.-Gov Judith Guichon asked Horgan to govern with the support of the Greens.

The new premier will serve until the next provincial election, currently scheduled for the fall of 2024.

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Horgan came into power in 2017 with a focus on addressing affordability issues in the province.

The NDP immediately dropped tolls on the Port Mann Bridge and the Golden Ears Bridge and created a multi-point plan to address housing affordability.

The government has overhauled ICBC, pushed forward with both LNG and the Site C dam and increased payments for those on disability.

Horgan won re-election in 2020, the largest electoral victory for an NDP premier, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He also was summoned to Ottawa in 2018 over his government’s opposition to the Trans Mountain Pipeline, with B.C.’s position ultimately leading to the federal government buying the pipeline from Kinder Morgan.

In recent months, Horgan’s political future has been a focus of chatter in political circles around the province.

In November, he announced he had throat cancer and received dozens of treatments.

Just last week he spoke about being cancer-free.

He has also faced some political controversy of late, announcing he scrapped a $789 million Royal BC Museum project and took responsibility for pushing ahead the controversial and expensive project without public consultation.