Leader profile: David Eby's journey from activist to Gen X premier

One-on-one with David Eby While he’s a familiar face to British Columbians, the story of David Eby’s journey to the province’s top job is less well known.

He has led the province as premier for a little under two years and in that time David Eby has been described as everything from thoughtful and prepared to an extremist and a radical.

A local political podcast even called him an "affable nerd."

But despite the scrutiny and the range of critiques hurled his way, Eby’s journey to Victoria and the top job in the province is an unlikely story and his family life isn’t all that different from many British Columbians: he lives with his wife and three young children in a strata townhouse complex not far from the public school his son attends.

CTV News sat down with the NDP leader for a one-on-one interview at Zulu Records in Kitsilano, one of his favourite stores.

He has little time for record-shopping these days, but music has been a big part of his life since his teens, when he took piano lessons (reaching the Grade 8 level in the Royal Conservatory of Music) and then later picked up the guitar; he played in a couple of local bands in Vancouver until his political career started taking off.

“(I’m) definitely a Gen X guy, there's no doubt about it,” said the longtime pescatarian. “Sub Pop and kind of grunge from the 90s was very influential on me and maybe bands like the Pixies would ring a bell for people.”

GROWING UP IN ONTARIO

David Robert Patrick Eby was born in 1976 in Kitchener, Ont., to a teacher and a lawyer who went on to have three more children.

“It was a busy house and you can imagine the teacher ran the show, and so mom was the strong firm hand making sure that everybody was in order,” he said.

“It was a great way to grow up and the key rule in the Eby family was fairness, because if one kid got something another kid didn't get, or if someone got to stay up too late and another kid didn't get that, then the wheels came off the bus in a hurry.”

Eby served in student government in high school but wasn’t considering a career in politics. Despite being known for his legal activism now, he wasn’t even interested in becoming a lawyer and studied biology in his first year of university.

“I wanted to rebel in that way and so I fought it, fought it, fought it,” he said, until he saw lawyers using the courts to advocate for the poor and disadvantaged.

“The reason I got into law school was to sue politicians, not become a politician, and so it is strange that I find myself here but I'm glad for the opportunity.”

A LIFE-CHANGING SUMMER JOB IN VANCOUVER

Eby took a summer job with the BC Civil Liberties Association after finishing law school, visiting Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside for the first time and witnessing the poverty and struggles of people living on the street.

“I thought 'How could this be happening in Canada?' and it was just so obvious to me where I would be doing my work,” he said.

He would work for both the BCCLA and the Pivot Legal Society, giving frequent media appearances as he advocated for the homeless, spoke on issues around police use of force, and other challenges faced by those on the margins of society.

It was during this time he published a book on how to sue the police and another book titled “The Arrest Handbook: A Guide to Your Rights.”

Those documents and his legal activism would provide ample fodder for his critics, but Eby describes those years as formative and humbling since he learned tough lessons about what truly helps people.

Early in his advocacy career, he thought shutting down slum landlords was the goal and got a reality check when a housing service provider told him that would only send more people to live on the street.

“You might have what you think are the best ideas of what you think should happen, but unless it's connected to the people who are sending you to do the work, you're actually going to do more damage than good,” he said.

FINDING POLITICS AND LOVE

In 2008, Eby dipped his toe into politics by running for a Vancouver city council nomination and lost.

Then, in what was a David-and-Goliath battle, he signed up as the NDP candidate in Vancouver-Point Grey, running in a 2011 byelection against Christy Clark after she’d won the BC Liberal nomination and became premier.

“We had a good team together and we worked really hard and it was amazing and we had so much energy,” he said, describing a tireless effort to knock on doors and introduce himself to voters face to face.

That was also the time his friends introduced him to Cailey Lynch, a nurse who’d grown up in the Kootenays but had moved to Vancouver

“I remember sitting at an Indian restaurant and and she's like ‘I'm thinking of going back to school' and I was like ‘Oh, really?'” he said with a laugh. “I said, 'You can do whatever you want, it'd be amazing,' and I had no idea how long medical school was. I had no idea how much it cost or how long the residency program was.”

Lynch is now a family doctor and occasionally makes public appearances with Eby. It had been a test of their fledgling relationship for him to run for public office, but she was supportive of his ambitions.

When he faced off against Clark again in 2013, he defeated the sitting premier and earned his seat in the B.C. legislature for the first time.

ATTORNEY GENERAL TO PREMIER

Eby went on to serve as critic for various ministries while in Opposition. When NDP leader John Horgan formed government after the 2017 election, he appointed Eby attorney general, with housing and ICBC in his portfolio.

Horgan, who enjoyed high popularity ratings throughout his tenure, stunned the province when he announced he was facing a second cancer diagnosis in 2022 and would be stepping down as premier.

The NDP declared Eby the party leader after a fraught internal process, making him premier in the fall of 2022.

When CTV News asked if he still stays in touch with Horgan, Eby said he does, and that "it's nice to be able to call him up and talk to him about things that are going on."

PREMIER DAD

As Eby’s public profile and political star have soared, his personal life has changed considerably. Lynch gave birth to Ezra in 2015, and Iva followed a few years later.

Early this year, they announced a third pregnancy in the runup to the election. Gwendolyn was born in June, with her proud parents posting a delivery room selfie to announce the news.

“My life right now is the kids and the family and it's work,” said Eby. “It's a lot of fun and it's all-encompassing and it's a real privilege and I'm very grateful for it.”