A profile sketch of John Horgan, leader of the NDP in British Columbia

VICTORIA — A sketch of John Horgan, leader of the NDP in British Columbia:

Age: 61.

Family: Married Ellie in 1984; two grown sons, Nate and Evan. His father died when he was 18 months old. He was the youngest of four children. In 2008, Horgan was diagnosed with bladder cancer but was later declared cancer-free after surgery and treatment.

Education: Earned a bachelor of arts degree at Trent University in Peterborough, Ont., and a master of history from Sydney University in Australia.

Career: As a young man, he worked in a mill in B.C. and in a joinery. He later worked as a backroom strategist for the NDP and in 2001, he started a management and research consulting company that did work for private and public sector organizations. He was first elected to the legislature in 2005 and acclaimed as party leader in May 2014.

Riding: Langford-Juan de Fuca.

Quote: “I guess I want to get the election behind us, not for myself but for the people of B.C., because they can’t afford to have partisan hectoring, uncertainty about whether bills will pass or not, which is what we’ve experienced over the past 3 1/2 years.” — Horgan at a news conference on Monday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 21, 2020.

The Canadian Press