John Horgan was a man of the people, including the Christian community

“He was unique in generating warm feelings among his critics. Of the 11 premiers I’ve covered, none were held in such high affection as John Horgan.”

Veteran political commentator Vaughn Palmer concluded his November 12 Vancouver Sun article (‘John Horgan: Reluctant leader became B.C.’s most-loved premier’) with those words as he described in impact.

Those views were widely shared in the Christian community. For example, Frank Bucholtz, another veteran political writer, tweeted:

This is very sad news. John Horgan was a great guy, and well-respected by most B.C. residents, regardless of their political inclinations. I enjoyed several good chats with him when he was seeking the NDP leadership in 2011. He has left us far too soon.

And Vancouver Archbishop J. Michael Miller, CSB, issued the following statement .

I was saddened to learn of the passing of former B.C. Premier John Horgan. I know he was a man of faith, and I hold him in my prayers, trusting that he is embraced by God’s love. My condolences and prayers also go out to his family and friends during this time of loss.

Not everyone has been happy with the way the NDP dealt with faith groups under Horgan. Some churches were quite critical of the province’s Covid restrictions. When Horgan stepped down, Levi Minderhoud, ARPA Canada’s BC Manager, gave him a failing grade for his five years in office, saying, “The bottom line is that Horgan’s government did very little to steer British Columbia in a more God-honouring direction.”

Positive interactions

Horgan was certainly willing to work with the Christian community though. I can recall several examples.

1. Meeting with faith leaders during Covid

I posted several articles about Horgan and other government officials meeting with faith leaders during the pandemic.

For example, early in 2020:

Premier John Horgan spoke with Christian and other religious leaders March 11 to deal with questions about the impact and spread of coronavirus.

He tweeted after the meeting:

Thank you to the 100+ faith leaders from across BC who joined us on conference call to discuss steps to prevent the spread of COVID-19 & how to reach out to seniors/others who may have negative impacts from social isolation.

On December 17, 2020, I wrote:

Premier John Horgan, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix joined more than 200 faith leaders from around the province in a conference call Monday morning – and outlined a plan to engage more closely with many of those leaders. . . .

There have been seven conference calls with faith leaders since the beginning of the pandemic in March, and all have involved a considerable degree of mutual admiration between the provincial and faith leaders.

Horgan set the tone this time by stating, “I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart” for all the work done and sacrifices made by congregations and other religious gatherings. He said he wants to be sure faith leaders are kept up to date about the province’s efforts to contain the spread of the virus so they can continue their work in keeping people safe.

Several faith leaders had the opportunity to ask questions and make comments. Responses were invariably respectful and broadly supportive of the province’s leadership, though some were probing and even challenging.

2. BC Leadership Prayer Breakfast

Jason Byassee wrote an insightful comment about the 2022 BC Leadership Prayer Breakfast, which illustrates both Horgan’s willingness to engage with the Christian community, but also the sometimes odd nature of that engagement.

Here is a portion:

You might not believe me if I told you that once a year BC’s Christian and political and business leaders gather for prayer. The unbelievable part is ‘Christian.’ BC is justly proud of its multiculturalism, and candidates of all kinds don’t mind being spotted and photographed at gurdwaras and temples. But at a church? Nah.

Not to worry. This event is held in a hotel ballroom. It’s not an evangelistic event – no one is encouraged to change their life. It’s really a nonpartisan political rally. The premier and the leader of the opposition say nice things about one another. We congratulate ourselves on the glories of where we live. We pray an anemic, anodyne prayer. And we’re done by 9. What’s not to like?

At the most recent shindig (June 10), BC legend Jimmy Pattison was interviewed about his life and business career. This was much more interesting than the political frumpery and the standing for the head table rigmarole. . . .

So the prayer breakfast commemorates a sort of past that was never really present. For all that it does some good. We pastors don’t usually get to take selfies with the premier. . . . Last week Premier Horgan thanked us, sincerely, for the prayers for his health. And in other places in North America the prayer breakfast has morphed into a partisan rally, which hasn’t happened here. Those are good things.

The problem here is more subtle: the implication that this is somehow a Christian province. It not only isn’t, it never was. And that’s a good thing. Christians here are learning from our Jewish forebears: we’re going to have to be an insurgency for good, not an institutional mandator of . . . anything. Arguably, Jesus’ first followers would welcome us back into their good company.

3. Independent schools

As I wrote back in 2017, shortly after Green Party leader Andrew Weaver had agreed to support the NDP in government, the future of independent schools (many of which are Christian) looked secure.

The New Democratic Party has big plans for the province, now that it is back in power after 16 years of Liberal rule. Educational reform is high on its list of priorities, but fortunately it looks as though the party will not go after independent schools. I say fortunately, because BC Teachers Federation president Glen Hansman called earlier this year for an end to public funding of such schools.

The new Education Minister, Rob Fleming, is on record as supporting private education . . .

Fleming is supported in his stand by Premier Horgan, who wrote Peter Froese, executive director of the Federation of Independent School Associations in BC (FISA BC) to that effect March 17:

B.C.’s New Democrats fully support a parent’s right to choose the education stream for their children, whether it be in independent, faith-based or public schools. We recognize each family has different needs and believe they have the right to choose the school that best suits those needs. We do not have any plans to change the existing funding for independent schools nor the legislation that governs this funding.

Our aim if we form government, will be to strengthen and improve our public education system which has been eroded due to a lack of funding. . . .

That stance remained during Horgan’s time in office, though the NDP did reduce funding to a small number of independent distributed learning schools.

4. Metro Vancouver Alliance

I wrote about the Metro Vancouver Alliance Provincial Election Accountability Assembly, April 4, 2017 at the Italian Cultural Centre:

The leaders of the three main provincial parties were invited to the Assembly as far back as last July. John Horgan, leader of the NDP, was there. Andrew Weaver, leader of the Green Party, was there. Premier Christy Clark, leader of the Liberal Party, was not. . . .

Horgan and Weaver did have brief opportunities to address the crowd, but they spent more time listening to the commitments MVA was asking them to make. . . .

Metro Vancouver Alliance represents hundreds of thousands of British Columbians through major unions (Vancouver and District Labour Council, Canadian Labour Congress and others), churches (well over one-third of the member organizations are Christian – mainly Catholic and Anglican, but also Baptist, Lutheran and ecumenical), community groups and educational groups.

Vaughn Palmer noted in his article, “The B.C. Liberals, made smug by their unexpected victory in 2013, were governing as if they couldn’t lose. The result was a campaign with a mix of arrogance and incompetence.”

‘Premier Dad’

Palmer also noted a major shift in Horgan’s personality when he moved from leader of the opposition to premier:

I’ve covered 11 premiers, several of whom first served as leaders of the Opposition. I’ve never witnessed a transformation like the one Horgan made in crossing from the Opposition side to government.

Gone was “angry John,” the guy who couldn’t hide his frustration. In his place, “Premier Dad,” the happy warrior.

Thank God for his service to our province.