Geoff Meggs will become chief of staff to incoming NDP premier John Horgan

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      A three-term Vancouver city councillor is going to be the right-hand man to B.C.'s 36th premier.

      The NDP has announced that Geoff Meggs will be chief of staff to John Horgan.

      Meggs has resigned his council seat, which will lead to a by-election, but it won't change the balance of power at Vancouver city hall.

      That's because that even if a non–Vision Vancouver candidate is elected, the municipal party headed by Mayor Gregor Robertson would still have six votes in the 11-member chamber.

      As a Vancouver councillor, Meggs has championed a Broadway subway, removing the viaducts, designating Vancouver as a sanctuary city, and introducing restrictions on the short-term rental of apartment units.

      In the late 1990s, he was director of communications in the Glen Clark–led NDP government. Meggs has also held senior positions with the B.C. Federation of Labour and the Hospital Employees' Union, and served as a senior adviser to former Vancouver mayor Larry Campbell.

      The B.C. NDP caucus has several members who've been city councillors (Anne Kang, George Chow, Mike Farnworth, Rick Glumac, Bruce Ralston, Jennifer Rice, and Selina Robinson).

      However, none of them can match Meggs's depth of recent experience in dealing with the City of Vancouver and Metro Vancouver.

      The B.C. NDP has also announced that a former president of the B.C. Institute of Technology, Don Wright, will become the head of the public service. Former NDP leader Adrian Dix planned to appoint Wright to this position had the NDP won the 2013 provincial election.

      Wright is currently president of Central 1 Credit Union but will step down, effective July 7.

      B.C. NDP campaign director Bob Dewar will be special adviser to the premier after Horgan is sworn in.

      The appointment of Meggs has been welcomed over Twitter by some of his current and former Vision Vancouver colleagues.

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