Many New West residents are mourning the death of former Premier John Horgan.
Horgan passed away this morning at Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria. He was 65.
Horgan, who became the leader of the BC NDP in 2015 to 2020, served at British Columbia’s premier from 2017 to 2022. In June 2022, Horgan announced he would be stepping down as premier and as an MLA after the party selected a new leader.
In late 2023, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Horgan was being appointed as Canada's ambassador to Germany. In June 2024, Horgan took an indefinite leave from his duties as ambassador to undergo treatment for cancer – the third time he’d battled the disease.
Former New Westminster MLA Judy Darcy said she is “heartbroken” at the passing of her friend and former colleague.
“He was larger than life. A really big personality guy. He had an enormous heart. This guy had a lot of love in his heart, and there was room in his heart for almost everybody,” she said. “He loved his job. He loved being able to make life better for people.”
When the NDP was in Opposition, Darcy, then the party’s health critic, and Horgan, party leader, travelled to some Interior communities to meet with British Columbians.
“He just loved people recognizing him on the street, stopping and having long chats with them about whatever was on their minds,” she recalled. “He got strength from the province, from the people that he served. That is what made him tick.”
Following the 2017 provincial election, Horgan asked Darcy to serve in cabinet as B.C.’s first minister of mental health and addictions. She appreciated his leadership.
“He saw his role, really, as being a coach to the team, both in Opposition and in government,” she said. “But in government he really thrived. He wanted to get things done. … He longed to be in government and to be able to actually make things happen, and he did. And he did it with such joy in his heart; he did it with incredible joy in his heart.”
Darcy believes Horgan’s legislative legacy will be the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA) but said his work on embarking on plans for a $10-a-day childcare system, getting rid of Medicare premiums, beginning work on the housing crisis, and removing tolls on bridge (including the Port Mann) were other accomplishments.
“He was very proud to take the tolls off the bridges. … He basically said it’s a matter of fairness – why should people travel on some bridges and have to pay tolls and on older bridges not pay tolls,” she said.
New Westminster-Coquitlam MLA Jennifer Whiteside attended caucus meetings in Victoria Tuesday in preparation for Wednesday’s swearing in ceremony. She said the meetings were “very emotional” as MLAs reflected on Horgan’s legacy.
“We are all thinking about John. We are all very much thinking about his legacy. John recruited me personally to run when Judy decided that she was going to retire,” she said. “When I think about John, I think about the example that he set for all of us, for the team. He got up every single day fighting to make life better for people across the province. He was so connected with community. He was somebody who led with such compassion and strength.”
Whiteside said Horgan was an “extraordinary” mentor.
“He was so rooted in strong values of community, of doing the right thing, of doing everything we could to take care of people,” she said. “His stories really fueled our determination to level the playing field and to do our very best for British Columbians.”
Whiteside said Horgan had an encyclopedic knowledge of politics and the political process, having worked in many different roles before becoming premier.
“I will remember him as a fierce advocate for people, as a compassionate leader and as somebody whose legacy we will be feeling in this province for many, many years to come,” she said. “It is a huge loss, a huge loss our province.”
Aman Singh, who served as Richmond-Queensborough MLA from 2020 to 2024, said he had no intention of running in the 2017 election, as he had a successful law career. But that changed after a brief meeting with Horgan.
“Running for the government was not in my purview of things I wanted to do at that time. I walked into that meeting, and I walked out sold,” he said. “We spoke, and the kindness and generosity that exuded from him – I was like, ‘Yeah, I can run with this person. This person believes in the same things that I do.’”
Singh said Horgan was an “incredibly kind” person.
“Pure kindness,” he said. “Kindness and generosity.”
Less than a year after taking office, Singh was diagnosed with colon cancer and underwent treatment that included radiation and chemotherapy, followed by surgery. Horgan was also dealing with a cancer diagnosis at that time.
“He was generous and empathetic,” Singh said. “The first time I saw him after I publicly disclosed, he gave me that big bear hug that he could. I think that said it all.”
New West ties
Horgan was no stranger to New Westminster.
In February 2020, Horgan visited Westminster Pier Park to announce that the province had awarded a construction contract to Fraser Crossing Partners for work on the $1.4-billion replacement for the Pattullo Bridge.
He had visited New Westminster in June 2017 in a less formal capacity – as a lacrosse fan.
Accompanied by local New Democrats, the then premier-elect attended a game at Queen’s Park Arena between the New Westminster Salmonbellies and his beloved Victoria Shamrocks. Following the game, he told the Record that he was thrilled to receive an autographed lacrosse ball from Wayne Goss, who had been his lacrosse hero while growing up and playing lacrosse in Victoria.
“He loved lacrosse,” Darcy said.
The premier-elect began the game wearing a red Salmonbellies jersey but removed it by mid-game to reveal a green Shamrocks jersey. It wasn’t the only time he would pull that trick.
Horgan later sported a New Westminster Salmonbellies jersey in the B.C. legislature – after losing a bet with Darcy about whether the Salmonbellies or the Shamrocks would win their playoff series.
“He meets me outside the caucus room, and we walk toward the legislature and the media are all snapping photos of it. Then he goes in and makes a little statement about it. It was a fun moment,” Darcy recalled with a laugh. “And then what do we discover, what does he have underneath? He’s got the Shamrocks jersey underneath.”
When Horgan left stepped down as premier, he gave Whitehead a Salmonbellies towel that he’d been given at one point – happy to have it repatriated to New Westminster. Whiteside regularly attends New Westminster Salmonbellies’ games.
“Now, this is the area of life where john and I disagreed a bit on. And that was on the ongoing everlasting battle between the Salmonbellies and the Shamrocks,” she said. “There was no greater fan of the game, the fastest game on two legs, than John Horgan. I am sure that the Shamrocks, had no stronger and more enthusiastic fan than him. He would always take an opportunity to point out to those of us from New Westminster that the Shamrocks were the superior team, even as every bit of much as we would be defending the honour of our beloved Salmonbellies. It was a very fun and a very friendly rivalry.”
Mayor Patrick Johnstone said he’s saddened to hear that Horgan has passed away after a too-short but deeply impactful 65 years.
“He was a man of principle and natural leadership, and always took time to talk – not just to tell me what he was up to, but to ask how my community was, how my family was, how I was,” he said. “He knew how to make the people around him feel valued, and that’s a leadership lesson we can all take from having known him.”
Johnstone said Horgan has made an impact on British Columbia.
“He brought meaningful change to the province, including the adoption of DRIPA and CleanBC, and it was his steady leadership though COVID-19 and his efforts to address affordability that most impacted our community. He supported health-care workers, brought in tougher renter protections, and kept our regional transit system fully funded through a pandemic,” he said. “Those were big moves that helped the most vulnerable in New West and provincewide.”
