Few outgoing politicians have the chance to make goodbye speeches because they don’t leave their positions voluntarily.
John Horgan did leave the post voluntarily, resigning as premier last year and he is now stepping down as MLA.
Horgan, the longest serving NDP premier and according to polls, Canada’s most popular premier, gave an emotional farewell in the legislature, recounting his 30 years in Victoria.
He began his career in public service as a legislative assistant working with several ministries and ended it as premier.
He emphasized how lucky he was to have had the experiences he’s had and said he loved every minute of it. He noted David Zirnhelt was one of his early mentors.
One point he made was the value of collaboration between the different parties, and how that worked well during the recent hectic years of the pandemic and natural disasters.
Among the reasons John, who is 63, gave for his retirement, is that he felt it is time for younger people to be in politics.
Whatever the future brings for John, and I’m sure we’ll hear more from him, we wish him well and thank him for his years of service.
On the local scene, welcome home to Ivan Bonnell who had a longish stay in Kelowna hospital after his motor vehicle crash last October.
Shortly before the civic election, Ivan was seriously injured when hit by a pickup truck while riding his motorcycle. He spent several months recovering.
His injuries are mostly mended except for his leg. He’s in a wheelchair but hopes to be walking in a few months.
Ivan served on Williams Lake city council for 25 years, including a term as mayor.
That’s a long service. He was a candidate for council last year but unfortunately the accident put an abrupt end to that.
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