Meggs mulling provincial NDP run

Vancouver Coun. Geoff Meggs said he’s once again considering running for the provincial New Democrats in VancouverFairview.

Meggs, a close friend of NDP leader Adrian Dix and an old political warhorse in the former NDP government of Glen Clark, said Monday he’s under a lot of pressure from friends to seek the party’s nomination in Fairview, now held by Liberal Labour Minister Margaret Macdiarmid.

Meggs said the weekend announcement by Vancouver park board chairwoman Constance Barnes that she will seek the NDP nomination in VancouverFalse Creek only adds to the pressure.

“A lot of people have been urging me to run, and the time frame for my decision is getting short,” he said.

This is not the first time Meggs has mulled running in Vancouver- Fairview. He was being courted for the position last year when it appeared new Liberal Premier Christy Clark was considering calling a fall election. At the time, Meggs told reporters he wanted to seek another term on city council in the 2011 civic election, but also had provincial aspirations.

Meggs, whose wife is Jan O’brien, the NDP’S provincial secretary, said the party has agreed to hold a nomination meeting for VancouverFairview on Oct. 21. George Heyman, the former B. C. Government and Service Employees’ Union president, declared last year he would seek the nomination.

Meggs’ decision to run for office would create a showdown with Heyman.

The provincial election is scheduled for May, 2013. If Barnes or Meggs win a seat, civic byelections could follow.

Under the Vancouver Charter, the city may hold a byelection when there are six months or more remaining in a term. But the charter also allows council to not hold a byelection under certain circumstances when there are still enough people to make a quorum.