Politics

So far, David Eby is the only approved candidate in the B.C. NDP leadership race

Anjali Appadurai and Cherry Smiley haven't received a green light yet from B.C. NDP provincial executive

by Charlie Smith on September 4th, 2022 at 6:18 PM
    1 of 1 2 of 1

      The deadline to buy a B.C. NDP membership to vote in the party's leadership race is midnight on Sunday (September 4).

      Even though there are three declared candidates, only one has been approved so far to seek the leadership and become B.C.'s next premier.

      "To be approved, a candidate must submit a completed application package and pay the application fee," B.C. NDP communications manager Heather Libby told the Straight by email today.

      "Once that is done, they will go through vetting and our Election CEO will make a recommendation about their approval to the BC NDP Provincial Executive," she continued. "To date, the only approved candidate is David Eby."

      The B.C. NDP election CEO is Elizabeth Cull, a former minister of health and minister of finance in the 1990s.

      The two other declared candidates are climate-justice activist Anjali Appadurai and Nlaka’pamux and Dine’ feminist Cherry Smiley.

      Appadurai, a former federal NDP candidate in Vancouvere Granville, has criticized the B.C. NDP government's failure in the past to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.

      More recently, Appadurai retweeted a Twitter thread by B.C. Green Leader Sonia Furstenau accusing the NDP government of refusing to follow the science around COVID-19 just as children are about to go back to school.

      Meanwhile, Smiley has argued in the past for the abolition of the sex trade. In addition she has criticized the way the schools deal with gender identification by being SOGI-inclusive.

      The B.C. NDP government has strongly supported SOGI-friendly policies in school districts.

      To seek the B.C. NDP leadership, candidates must pay a nonrefundable registration fee of $40,000.

      The first $15,000 installment is due by October 4 and a second $25,000 installment must be paid by October 19. 

      Comments