NDP not releasing names of executives who decided B.C.'s next premier

The vote to disqualify David Eby's sole opponent from the B.C. NDP leadership race came down to a few dozen party executives, whose names – for the most part – are not publicly available.

In a statement, NDP communications manager Heather Libby told CTV News the executive is a "democratically elected and dynamic group of 41 people" who hold a wide variety of views.

"The group is a majority women, and reflects the diversity of people in our province," Libby added.

The party has not confirmed how many of those 41 were present for Wednesday night's vote, which followed hours of debate and discussion about whether to remove Anjali Appadurai from the contest.

The decision was immediately slammed by the BC Liberals and B.C. Green Party, who decried the lack of a rigorous leadership campaign for the man who will soon be leading the province.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, outgoing premier John Horgan said he stood by the executive's decision to disqualify Appadurai over alleged breaches of party rules. 

Dismissing concerns about who had determined Eby should become premier unopposed, Horgan also highlighted the diversity of the executive, which is led by Aaron Sumexheltza, a lawyer and former chief of the Lower Nicola Indian Band.

"Almost 50 per cent are people of colour, so this is not about backrooms from the 1960s, this is about contemporary British Columbians making decisions in the best interests of the province," Horgan said. "I'm proud of the work they did."

The NDP's chief electoral officer found Appadurai had colluded with the non-profit Dogwood Initiative to bring in a flood of new members, including some whose memberships were labelled "fraudulent" because they were already associated with the Greens, contrary to the party's rules.

Appadurai has denied any wrongdoing.

"In 25 days, my underdog campaign, rooted in social movements and the support of thousands of everyday people across the province, brought in many more memberships than my front-runner opponent," she said Wednesday.

The premier suggested sharing the names of the executives who decided to eject Appadurai would lead to them being "ridiculed and abused" by her supporters.

"Leave them alone," Horgan said, getting heated at the line of questioning. "They were elected at our last convention. If you'd been paying attention, you would have been able to identify who they are."

Hours later, the party's soon-to-be-leader David Eby took a softer tone when discussing the decision to disqualify Appadurai, commending the former candidate's focus on climate change and promising to engage with the members who joined the NDP with the intention of voting for her.

"Climate change is an important issue for everyone in our province," he said. "The haze of forest fires, drought, floods in Abbotsford – this is a huge concern."

Eby, who is scheduled to become premier-designate on Friday, said he intends to hold a town hall meeting with NDP members, where he can appeal to Appadurai's supporters directly.

"I believe they're an important part of the future of our party and we have a lot of work to do together," he said.

With files from CTV News Vancouver's Bhinder Sajan