Some of the newer faces in B.C. politics emerged last week, and you should get used to seeing them and hearing from them for some time yet.
Rookie MLAs such as Ravi Kahlon, Bowinn Ma and Rachna Singh from the NDP and Peter Milobar and Jas Johal of the B.C. Liberals found themselves in the limelight outside of the legislature, and they made the most of things.
They inserted themselves into the news cycle for a couple of days because they belong to a legislature committee that suddenly found itself dealing with an issue that is garnering widespread public interest: ridehailing.
There has been a long-running joke that B.C.’s legislature committees are called “standing” committees because they rarely actually "sit," or meet. This particular one is the Crown Corporations committee, which hasn’t sat for years, but it’s meeting now and it got a fair amount of media coverage last week.
The committee will produce a report on how to move forward with ridehailing by the end of next month, at which time I assume its members will be thrust into the public eye again.
This means the aforementioned MLAs will be carving out a public profile not usually accorded government backbenchers or rookie Opposition members. And this a good thing, because not only does it show renewal (to varying degrees) for both parties, but it also highlights the emerging diversity that both parties need to embrace.
Four of the MLAs are of South Asian descent, while two of them are under 40 (another committee member, the NDP’s Spencer Chandra-Herbert is 35).
As I’ve noted here before, the NDP is further ahead of the B.C. Liberals when it comes to diversity and renewal. In fact, it is interesting to contrast the new faces emerging at the ridehailing committee with what’s happening in the B.C. Liberal leadership race.
This past weekend, interim party leader and 22-year MLA Rich Coleman endorsed 24-year MLA Mike de Jong. In a video, Coleman said he had worked with de Jong for more than 20 years, a reference to the past that for some party members illustrates why “renewal” is an issue for them.
Gavin Dew, a youngish party activist, took issue with Coleman’s move in a Facebook post that sparked debate among party members.
“I have a ton of respect for Rich Coleman, as do we all,” Dew wrote. “But we need to look at the NEXT 20 years, not the last 20 years."
Ouch!
But while the Liberals grapple internally over the renewal issue, the NDP seems more confident with it. Which means you can expect newcomers like Kahlon, Ma, Singh and others to continue to be given high-profile assignments in the years ahead.
And even if the B.C. Liberals opt to pick a candidate who is a veteran like de Jong, or a party outsider like Dianne Watts, or a younger option such as Todd Stone, I would still expect Johal, Milobar and other rookie Liberal MLAs like Tracy Readies to be given greater responsibilities by whoever becomes party leader on Feb. 3rd.
Ridehailing is one issue, but there will be plenty more opportunities for the rookies to shine.
Keith Baldrey is chief political reporter for Global B.C.
