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Jennifer Whiteside speaks during a news conference about improving access to mental-health and addiction care for people in the Downtown Eastside in Vancouver, in May, 2024.ETHAN CAIRNS/The Canadian Press
Jennifer Whiteside emerged from a meeting of the decimated BC NDP caucus on Thursday as the party’s interim leader, an outcome she said she was not “necessarily expecting.”
But five hours and a pizza lunch after the meeting convened at the legislature, the outgoing labour minister had secured the unanimous support of the incoming caucus, in the wake of a devastating election loss on the weekend.
“I have to tell you, this is deeply, deeply humbling,” said Whiteside, who was re-elected in the riding of New Westminster-Coquitlam on Saturday.
Whiteside said British Columbians had sent the party an “important message” in the snap election, in which the B.C. Conservatives won a resounding two-thirds majority.
“They have asked that we sit as the official Opposition and we will take on that work with determination, with thoughtfulness, always putting people at the centre of everything that we do,” Whiteside said, surrounded by caucus members after the meeting.
Outgoing labour minister Jennifer Whiteside says it’s ‘deeply humbling’ to be named interim leader of the British Columbia NDP. Whiteside says British Columbians sent an ‘important m…Full Caption
Whiteside has previously served as minister of education, and minister of mental health and addictions.
By accepting the role of interim leader, Whiteside is excluded from seeking the post permanently.
She said Mike Farnworth would serve as house leader, while Niki Sharma would be caucus chair.
Outgoing Premier David Eby, who stepped down as NDP leader on election night, did not attend the meeting.
Whiteside said the caucus needed an interim leader in case premier-designate Lorne Doerkson decided to recall the legislature for a late-year sitting.
“In the event they call a sitting before Christmas, we need to be ready to go. We need to stand up for people in our communities,” she said.
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Preliminary election results have the Conservatives winning 63 seats, while the NDP ranks have been reduced to 28, and the Greens have two ridings. But the outcome in a handful of ridings is still pending and official certification of the results isn’t due until Nov. 18.
Before the meeting, fellow former ministers Sharma and Ravi Parmar spoke about the scale of the blunder made in calling the election, and described an emotional meeting on Wednesday where Eby apologized to the outgoing caucus for calling the snap poll two years early.
Sharma and Parmar both left open the possibility they may seek the permanent leadership.
Sharma, who was previously attorney general, said Eby “took full responsibility” at Wednesday’s meeting.
She said of the election call that “clearly it was a mistake, and now our job is to move forward.”
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She said the outgoing caucus meeting was an emotional affair, as colleagues bid farewell to each other.
“There’s no sugar-coating it. It was a tough day. We had to say goodbye to MLAs that were excellent, that really served their community well,” she said.
“So we were reflective, and I think there’s a resolve within that reflectiveness to figure out how we do the job that British Columbia has elected us to do now, which is as official Opposition.”
Sharma was noncommittal on the permanent leadership.
“Today is not about my personal ambitions or what I will choose, but it’s about our party and figuring out how we move forward,” she said.
Parmar, the outgoing forests minister, said the party and Eby clearly made the wrong decision to call the election.
“We got it wrong,” he said. “I think we owe an apology to British Columbians for doing so, and in particular to those that are vulnerable, who feel that the Conservative governments will not act in their interests.”
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Parmar, like Sharma, did not tip his hand about the permanent leadership.
“Too early to say,” he said. “I’m looking forward to spending more time at home, spending more time with my constituents.”
Neither Sharma nor Parmar would say if Eby’s decision to call the Oct. 24 election two years early received pushback from caucus, citing confidentiality.
“The premier made a decision, we all stood by him … clearly we made the wrong decision calling the election, and that’s something that we’re all going to live by,” Parmar said before the start of the incoming caucus meeting.
Politics, he added, was a team sport.
Asked to rate the level of frustration at the election call, Parmar said it was “about 10, absolutely.”
“I’m disappointed, I’m frustrated, but that disappointment and frustration can’t last four years, it can only last a few days,” he said.