David Eby, British Columbia's newest Premier takes office today in Vancouver ceremony

Premier Designate David Eby following his October 26th
meeting with the Lieutenant Governor Janet Austin.
Mr. Eby swears his oath of office as
Premier of British Columbia this morning
(photo from BC Gov't)

The long succession period for David Eby is almost at an end, the Premier Designate to take his place as the top elected official in the province at 10AM today, the Swearing in ceremony for the provinces 37th Premier set to take place at the Musqueam Community Centre in Vancouver.

Mr. Eby claimed the leadership of the BC NDP last month, setting the stage for the rather lengthy changeover period, which came with a suspension of a planned session of the Legislature this week. 

The tributes directed towards soon to be former Premier John Horgan rolled through social media on Thursday, the majority of them positive and offering thanks for his service. 

For his part, Mr. Horgan is already looking to a new challenge, offering his services towards the national debate over health care.

The departing Premier bidding his final farewell on Thursday evening.

As he takes to his duties today, Premier Eby has made much of his first 100 days and an ambitious plan towards such key areas as expanding the stock of affordable housing, taking on the difficulties on community safety, ongoing work on reconciliation and community building with Indigenous nations and improving on health care to name a few.

Next week Members return to  the Legislature for what should be a short few days of work before the Fall session comes to an end. The brief burst of time in the Chamber giving the Opposition side of the House a few days to offer their best wishes and take a few political shots as well we imagine before they gather again sometime in 2023.

There is also word of a cabinet shuffle to come in the first week of December, though how extensive that may be remains to be seen.

This morning's ceremony will be available on most of the BC based television channels and through the BC Government Facebook feed.

The new Premier hosts his first media availability following this oath taking at 11:15 this morning and it too will be available through the BC Government Social media stream.

With fixed election dates in place, Mr. Eby does not have to seek the endorsement of the electorate until October 19, 2024. Though as we saw from the last election which returned John Horgan to office, the fixed election date concept seems a bit flexible in interpretation.

More notes from the legislature can be explored through our archive page.