BC Premier John Horgan pose for a portrait during an interview November 15, 2022 in Ottawa.Dave Chan/The Globe and Mail
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John Horgan, Canada’s ambassador to Germany and the former premier of British Columbia who steered his province through climate catastrophes, the COVID-19 pandemic and the largest act of civil disobedience in B.C.’s history, has died.
Mr. Horgan, a reluctant political leader and self-styled happy warrior, reinvented his New Democratic Party as a moderate centre-left vehicle that became electable again after 16 years of rejection by B.C. voters.
In his five years as premier, Mr. Horgan crafted landmark legislation to advance reconciliation with Indigenous peoples and gave a green light to the $16-billion Site C hydroelectric dam. His lesser-known reforms included the introduction of free tuition at public postsecondary institutions for former youth in foster care.
The BC NDP leader served as premier from 2017 until 2022, when he stepped down after developing cancer for the second time. He was later posted to Canada’s embassy in Germany last year, before being diagnosed with cancer again – this time in his thyroid – in June.
Mr. Horgan died at the age of 65 in Victoria on Tuesday.
“John was a firm believer in the ideals of public service,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a statement. “He saw it as a privilege, as a way to help others and make our country better. At every opportunity he was given, he served Canadians with a tenacity, passion, and dedication that very few could match.”
B.C. Premier David Eby, who replaced Mr. Horgan as premier and party leader in 2022, described his predecessor as his coach and mentor: “He was a consequential premier at a critical time in our history.”
Mr. Eby recalled Mr. Horgan’s sense of humour that earned him the moniker of Premier Dad, but also his flashes of anger.
“Many of you will remember too he had a bit of a temper from time to time,” he told members of the legislature press gallery. “If you hadn’t been yelled at by John Horgan, then you hadn’t truly worked with him. I truly worked with John Horgan.”
From 2022: John Horgan reflects on serving the province he loves and the big issues facing B.C.
Mr. Horgan returned from Germany to be with his family early in November.
“John passed away peacefully this morning at Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria. The wellbeing of British Columbia and everyone in it was everything to him,” a statement from his family says. “He was surrounded by family, friends, and love in his final days.”
Mr. Horgan is survived by his wife of 45 years, Ellie, and their two sons, Evan and Nate.
Sheena McConnell, who served as Mr. Horgan’s press secretary, visited her former boss in hospital just days before he died.
“He was his regular, feisty self, cracking jokes,” she said. “That’s why this is so shocking.”
The flag at the legislature in Victoria was lowered Tuesday to half-mast in his honour, and a formal service will be announced at a later date.
In 2017, Mr. Horgan pulled together a minority government, in co-operation with the BC Greens. With his affable demeanour and well-regarded handling of the pandemic, his personal popularity soared. He called a snap election in 2020 and was rewarded with a solid majority and the NDP’s highest-ever share of the popular vote.
Mr. Horgan’s legacy includes the passage, in 2019, of the Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, which was hailed as a landmark for reconciliation in Canada. The legislation provided greater influence to First Nations over law making – including resource development.
When the then-Liberal government of B.C. launched construction of the Site C dam, Mr. Horgan called the project a boondoggle. But as premier, he decided “with a heavy heart” to continue with the most expensive public-infrastructure project in the province’s history, despite spiralling costs. Today, the dam is almost complete.
Early in his government, Mr. Horgan promised to protect the province’s increasingly rare intact temperate rainforests, but slow progress led to dissatisfaction from activists. When a “war in the woods” erupted at Fairy Creek, he expressed frustration with protests against old-growth logging that led to the arrests of more than 1,100 people, mostly in his riding of Langford-Juan de Fuca. Mr. Horgan eventually worked with pro-logging First Nations in the region in a bid to quell the blockades.
At the same time that Mr. Horgan was enduring cancer treatment in 2021, he was managing a province that was facing escalating climate catastrophes, from devastating floods and wildfires, to a heat dome that killed 600 British Columbians.
“This situation we’re in right now … is going to have a long-lasting impact on all our lives,” he said at the time. “I don’t know how many times I’ve used the word ‘unprecedented’ in the past year, but it’s been a lot.”
Mr. Horgan spent 12 years in government in the backrooms as political staff before winning a seat in 2005. In his final speech in the B.C. legislature, Mr. Horgan said he was lucky to have served in politics: “I started opening the mail, and I got to be the premier.”