As the newly crowned leader of the B.C. New Democrats, John Horgan acknowledged that he and the party will face challenges on the road to the 2017 election.
Horgan, who was acclaimed to the Opposition's top spot Thursday, was officially inaugurated during a Sunday afternoon ceremony in Vancouver.
"We have three years to earn the trust and support of British Columbians," Horgan said. "It's an uphill battle... but rumours of our demise have been greatly exaggerated."
Horgan is being realistic, said Bobby Deepak, who ran for the NDP last year in Prince George-Mackenzie.
"He understands these challenges but he's willing to find solutions and set B.C. on a path to prosperity, both economically and socially," said Deepak, who backed Horgan from the onset of his candidacy for leader.
Sussanne Skidmore, who ran for the party in Nechako Lakes, was also a Horgan supporter from Day One.
Overcoming challenges with voter engagement will be a hurdle for the new leader and the party to work out, Skidmore said. One of Horgan's priorities over the summer will be to introduce Horgan to people across the province and get a grasp of their issues, she said.
"[Horgan] has already spent time in the north and developed relationships with people," said Skidmore. "It's going to be a lot of work, but I can't think of a better guy for the job."
Former Prince George-Valemount candidate Sherry Ogasawara also keyed in on Horgan's "balanced approach" and understanding of the province's natural resources industry as a way forward in carving a path towards forming government.
During his speech, the Vancouver Island MLA singled out the economy as one of the issues he said has been taken away from the party.
"The B.C. Liberals think they have the corner on the economy," he said, noting that especially the working class need to be looking to his party as a "place to park their boats."
The fact that Horgan was acclaimed doesn't mean that the party doesn't have a strong leader, Ogasawara said, pointing to previous premiers Dave Barrett and Mike Harcourt and NDP heads who were uncontested.
"The person who's best positioned to be the leader is who's stepped forward and has been acclaimed," she said. "I'm confident that this is not just something that sort of just happened."
There was a measure of loss by not being able to have the kinds of debates on policy issues and party direction that may have occurred had Mike Farnworth not dropped out of the leadership race early last month, said Deepak.
"However, I believe that there have been strong messages sent to the party as a whole and the two leadership candidates - whether it be Mr. Farnworth or Mr. Horgan - in the sense that the econony has to be a significant part of the discussion going forward when it comes to party policies," he said. "[Horgan] understands that and he also understands that you can't have a healthy economic policy without having a plan in place for our natural resources and a plan going forward for how we're going to be using our natural resources in the best way that supports communities, that supports people."
The party will be presenting a unified front, said Skidmore, with NDP members across the province on board.
"I'm really happy with the way things turned out," she said. "I think John proved to everyone he was a really strong leader."
