Disqualified NDP leadership hopeful calls on B.C. to declare climate emergency
CTV
The NDP leadership hopeful who was ousted from her chance to compete for British Columbia's top political job says she's ready to take up an invitation to work with the man who will become the next premier.
The NDP leadership hopeful who was ousted from her chance to compete for British Columbia's top political job says she's ready to take up an invitation to work with the man who will become the next premier.
However, Anjali Appadurai called for a bigger push on climate change initiatives before she works with David Eby, who was automatically vaulted to the position of party leader after she was disqualified from the race last week.
“We haven't seen a signal of that qualitative shift in leadership that is going to signal an emergency-level response, that's going to signal the speed and scale of actions that are needed. We've seen a watered-down version of that,” Appadurai said.
Appadurai, 32, disagreed with a report by the party's executive that she engaged in “serious improper conduct” by working with third parties including the environmental group Dogwood BC, which was found to have conducted membership drives on her behalf.
The uproar following the report had Premier John Horgan blaming Appadurai's supporters for “thuggery” because he said they'd contacted volunteer members of the executive who met to decide her campaign's fate.
Despite the controversy, Appadurai has maintained her membership with the New Democrats. She said various people volunteered their time and she has no idea how many members their efforts drew to her campaign.
Appadurai said the NDP is still the best party to move ahead on climate change policies in a province that, within six months last year, experienced wildfires that nearly destroyed the town of Lytton, a heat dome linked to 619 deaths and floods that wiped out farmers' livelihoods and severed major highways.
