Dad- to- be Eby chooses fatherhood over bid to lead B. C.’ s NDP party

VICTORIA — NDP MLA David Eby has abandoned his bid for the provincial party’s leadership after the “happy surprise” that he is about to become a father.

Eby said he had a leadership campaign already organized and financed when he found out three or four weeks ago that his fiancée Cailey Lynch was pregnant with their first child. “It was a happy surprise,” he said. “We were certainly open to the possibility that this would happen, but it wasn’t part of the initial schedule. It’s exciting for us. It’s our first, and so we are pretty psyched.”

The decision not to run then became “a no- brainer,” said Eby, the MLA for Vancouver- Point Grey.

“The kind of father I want to be, and the kind of leader I’d need to be, these two things are not compatible. There are only so many hours in the day.”

The excitement of becoming a dad far overwhelms any disappointment at not running for the leadership, he said. Eby, a lawyer and former executive director of the B. C. Civil Liberties Association, is a rookie NDP MLA who was widely seen as a fresh young face for a party in need of rejuvenation after its surprise election loss in May.

The NDP has scheduled a leadership vote for Sept. 28 to replace Adrian Dix, who announced his intention to resign once a successor is chosen.

So far, no candidates have officially declared that they are running but several MLAs and federal NDP MPs have publicly withdrawn their names from consideration.

MLAs Mike Farnworth and Rob Fleming have both said they are considering leadership bids.

Eby said the long nature of the race has changed the dynamic of leadership announcements. “It’s a difficult situation,” he said. “That luxury of time has led to a behind- closed- doors leadership race where there are a number of people making calls and putting teams together, but on the outside it looks like there’s no candidates.”