BC Premier John Horgan To Step Down

John Horgan has announced that he will step down as B.C. Premier this fall, saying two bouts of cancer and 36 years in government have left him without the intensity needed to commit to another term.

John Horgan has announced that he will step down as B.C. Premier this fall, saying two bouts of cancer and 36 years in government have left him without the intensity needed to commit to another term.

Horgan made the announcement Tuesday afternoon, telling reporters that his most recent bout with cancer caused him to reflect on how he wanted to spend his remaining summers, and bolstered his desire to pass the torch on to the next generation.

Mr. Horgan said he made the decision on a recent stroll at Otter Point, on Vancouver Island, with his wife, realizing he’d like more time to walk on beaches in the future.

Horgan said he has asked BC NDP president Aaron Sumexheltza to work with the provincial council and the executive to select a date in the fall for a leadership convention. Until then, the Premier said he is “singularly focused” on the issue of affordability, and the impact of inflation in B.C.

His government has held power through a series of crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic, a deadly heat dome, unprecedented flooding and a toxic drug crisis that has killed thousands.

Last October, Mr. Horgan revealed that he had discovered a lump in his throat. He underwent a surgery and biopsy and, the following month, announced that the pathology had confirmed the lump was cancerous.

Mr. Horgan said Tuesday that he had undergone 35 radiation treatments and is now cancer-free, but that his energy flags as the days go by, leading him to conclude that he could not make another six-year commitment to the job.